Immunization Status of Children with Chronic Neurological Disorders in Enugu, Nigeria

Abstract

Children with chronic neurological disorders face several issues in common reflecting the chronic nature of the illness, which may put these children at risk of under immunization.  To assess the immunization coverage rates of children with CND seen at University Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH) Enugu. Only 168 children aged 6months-5years who met the selection criteria and attending the Pediatrics Neurology Clinic (subjects) and 171control that matched for age, sex and socioeconomic status attending the General outpatient clinic were examined. Questionnaires were administered to the mothers. Yates chi-squared and fisher’s exact tests were applied at p< 0.05, in this study. Immunized children with CND were 68.5%, while that of the controls were found to be 85.4% at (P=0.001). The antigens coverage was significantly better in the controls than the subjects except for BCG and OPV₁ given at birth. The Immunization coverage of children with CNDs is significantly lower than normal children in Enugu, Nigeria.

Keywords: Immunization, Chronic neurological disorders(CND),Paediatric neurology clinic(PNC),Children out patient(CHOP).