Vaccination rates for pandemic influenza among pregnant women: An early observation from Chennai, South India.

CONTEXT

World Health organization considers pregnancy as an important risk factor for severe illness due to pandemic influenza and recommends better vaccination coverage for them.

AIMS

This study was initiated to observe the vaccination rates among pregnant women in Chennai during 2 months following the availability of influenza vaccine in the region.

SETTINGS AND DESIGN

An urban community-based setting. Questionnaire-based observational study design.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Pregnant women residing in Chennai selected by simple random sampling formed the study population. The study was conducted from 15(th) to 30(th) November 2010. Each pregnant woman was interviewed using a uniform questionnaire.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED

Characteristics between vaccinated and unvaccinated participants were compared using the Chi-square test or the Fisher exact test for categorical variables and Student's t-test or Mann-Whitney U test for continuous variables.

RESULTS

140 pregnant women were interviewed during the study period. The mean age of study participants was 25 years (range 21-35 years). 55% were less than 26 years of age and 65% were home makers. 32% had no basic school education. Of the 29 women with co-morbidities, 15 had gestational diabetes, 13 hypertension, 7 pre-eclampsia, and 7 had bronchial asthma. Fifty-eight had anemia diagnosed earlier or during current pregnancy. 32 (22.8%) were given advice to get vaccinated for pandemic influenza of which 18 (12.8%) received the vaccine.

CONCLUSIONS

Observations on vaccination rates for pandemic influenza among pregnant women in Chennai, 2 months after the initiation of vaccination program is not encouraging.