Missed opportunities for immunization during visits for curative care: practical reasons for their occurrence.

A study of missed opportunities for immunization was conducted in 11 health facilities in Khartoum. Mothers (236) who had brought their infant children to a facility for a reason other than immunizations were interviewed. Of these infants, 58% were missing at least 1 antigen and 29% had never been immunized. The obstacles to being vaccinated included the mothers not having brought their immunization cards, the mothers' fear of having their children immunized when ill, health care workers' ignorance of the recommended ages and dose intervals for vaccines, and the vaccination areas being too far away from and out of sight of patient waiting areas.