Status of oral polio vaccination program for international travellers and its determinants: an experience from a designated centre of West Bengal

Authors

  • Manisha Sarkar Department of Community Medicine, Raipur Institute of Medical Sciences, Raipur
  • Urmila Dasgupta Department of Community Medicine, Medical College, Kolkata, India
  • Saikat Bhattacharya Department of Community Medicine, Medical College, Kolkata, India
  • Krishna Das Bhattacharyya Department of Community Medicine, Medical College, Kolkata, India
  • Salil Kumar Bhattacharya Department of Community Medicine, Medical College, Kolkata, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20171353

Keywords:

OPV, International traveller, adequate gap, Determinants, Polio infected countries

Abstract

Background: In order to maintain the polio free status of India, it is vital to monitor the ongoing oral polio vaccination for international travellers. The aim of the study was to determine the status of oral polio vaccination program for international travellers from India to polio infected countries and to find out the determinants of deviation from proposed guidelines.

Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 101 International travellers from November 2014 to April 2015 at a designated Polio vaccination centre for international travellers in Kolkata. A pre-designed pre-tested schedule was used to collect oral polio vaccination related details. The travellers who gave consent were eligible for the study. Data was expressed in terms of mean, median, standard deviation etc. Association between variables was tested by Chi square test.

Results: 32.7% of the travellers had inadequate gap between OPV & travel. Knowledge of gap between OPV and travel was perceived more from health centres and travel agencies than mass media. Inadequate gap was more among lower age group, males, those with information source as mass media, official purpose of visit, those with incorrect knowledge regarding the gap requirement and those who maintained at least four weeks gap between OPV and yellow fever vaccine.

Conclusions: Wrong information from the source is responsible for wrong knowledge among the travellers which leads to inadequate gap between OPV and travel. It is crucial to increase awareness among the vaccinators and international travellers in order to contribute towards global polio eradication. 

Author Biography

Manisha Sarkar, Department of Community Medicine, Raipur Institute of Medical Sciences, Raipur

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY MEDICINE

References

WHO South-East Asia Region certified polio free [Internet]. New Delhi: 2014 Mar 27 Available from: http://www.searo.who.int/mediacentre/ releases/2014/pr1569/en/. Accessed 16 Jan 2017.

Park K. Park’s textbook of preventive and social medicine. 23rd ed. Jabalpur: Banarsidas Bhanot publishers; chapter 5, Epidemiology of communicable disease. Poliomyelitis; 2015: 203.

Global Polio Eradication initiative. Where we work-endemic countries. Available from: http://polioeradication.org/where-we-work/polio-endemic-countries/. Accessed 16 Jan 2017.

International travel and health. World - Polio vaccination for travellers. 2014 Jun 12. Available from: http://www.who.int/ith/updates/20140612/en/. Accessed 16 Jan 2017.

Taneja DK. Eradication of poliomyelitis. In: Banerjee B, editor. Health policies and programmes in India, 13th edn. Delhi: Doctors publications; 2015: 185.

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. Requirements of polio vaccination for International travellers between India and polio infected countries. New Delhi: 2014. Available from: http://mohfw.nic.in/showfile.php?lid=2634. Accessed 16 Jan 2017.

Dasgupta U, Bhattacharya S, Sarkar M, Bhattacharya S K, Bhattacharyya K D. Appraisal of oral polio vaccination for international travellers in a designated centre of West Bengal. IOSR-JDMS. 2015;14(12 version 8):7-10.

WHO. Vaccines and vaccination against yellow fever. WHO Position paper-June 2013. Weekly Epidemiological Record (WER). 2013 Jul 5; 2013:283. Available from: http://www.who.int/ wer/2013/wer8827.pdf. Accessed 16 Jan 2017.

Downloads

Published

2017-03-28

How to Cite

Sarkar, M., Dasgupta, U., Bhattacharya, S., Bhattacharyya, K. D., & Bhattacharya, S. K. (2017). Status of oral polio vaccination program for international travellers and its determinants: an experience from a designated centre of West Bengal. International Journal Of Community Medicine And Public Health, 4(4), 1223–1229. https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20171353

Issue

Section

Original Research Articles