Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFI) Reporting in A Rural District in Ghana

Background: Even though vaccines used in routine childhood immunization programmes are safe, adverse events following immunization (AEFI) may occur. These events must be recognized for prompt and effective response. This can contribute to success of the immunization programme and sustain interest of the public in vaccination.Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study comprising primary and secondary data collection methods were used for the study at Jaman North District in Ghana. The secondary data was extracted from immunization reports using a Microsoft excel spread sheet. The primary data was obtained from respondents using structured interview questionnaire. Simple random sampling was used to select caregivers and health workers were purposively selected. The data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) windows (version 21.0).Results: A total of 140 mothers or caregivers and 47 health workers were studied, with mean age of 27.8 years in each group. The rates of AEFI ranged from 0.02% for pneumococcal vaccine to 0.14% for pentavalent vaccine. In all, 63.8% of the health workers could not define AEFI, and 91.5% of the health workers do not use anaphylactic pack at immunization sessions. Majority (95.7%) of the participants agreed that poor AEFIs monitoring can lead to reduction in immunization coverage. AEFI training for health workers had a strong association (p<0.001) on their ability to identify AEFIs. The study indicated that mothers or caregivers were knowledgeable in many of the indicators of AEFI. In all, 93.7% of mothers or caregivers indicated that attitude of health workers was very good.Conclusion: The study revealed low (<1%) AEFI reporting rate by mothers or caregivers. Only 36.2% health workers had knowledge with respect to definition of AFEI. The study indicated that more than a third of mothers (36%) were of the view that reporting of AEFIscan lead to personal consequences. Increased national efforts at surveillance for AEFI is imperative.