ANALYSIS OF THE KNOWLEDGE LEVEL OF HEALTHCARE WORKERS ABOUT ADVERSE EVENTS AFTER IMMUNIZATION

Abstract

Introduction. Vaccination has always been accompanied by public concern about vaccine safety. In order to monitor possible side effects of vaccines, as well as health disorders that may be related not only to the vaccine as a drug, but also to errors in the vaccination technique, the term “adverse event following immunization” (AEFI) is used in the world.

The aim of the study – to study the level of knowledge of nurses and doctors related to vaccination, regarding adverse events after immunization and to improve the quality of organization and vaccination of children by increasing the level of knowledge of healthcare providers.

The main part. The vaccine adverse event reporting system and the monitoring of adverse events after immunization are intended to increase public confidence in immunization programs. Every healthcare worker involved in vaccination should be able to explain to patients about possible adverse events after immunization and ways to solve them. In Ukraine, 92.5 % of medical workers work with vaccines provided at state expense, and 7.5 % – with vaccines purchased at parents’ own expense. They note that 95.1 % of parents do not want to vaccinate their children with all the recommended vaccines. 24.4 % of medical professionals do not recommend the same vaccination schedule for all children, because each child needs an individual approach. 68.3 % of the interviewed workers recommend their patients to be vaccinated with additional vaccines. It should be noted that 65.9 % help parents make a decision about their child’s vaccination. 100 % of respondents cooperate with doctors to provide information to parents about the importance of vaccination for health and prevention of infectious diseases. The answer of 11.4 % of respondents that the vaccination site cannot be wetted for 3 days indicates the insufficient level of knowledge of medical workers related to vaccination, about adverse events after immunization.

Conclusions. The knowledge and practice of surveyed healthcare professionals regarding AEFIs surveillance is generally encouraging. Appropriate regional programs and trainings, including advanced training in monitoring of AEFIs, are needed to further improve the monitoring of AEFIs. This will ensure that all healthcare workers have sufficient knowledge and skills to recognize, report and investigate AEFIs in a timely manner, which in turn is important for increasing public confidence in immunization programs.