[Determinants of vaccine acceptance in Makokou, Gabon].

CONCLUSION

de nombreuses connaissances erronées dans les communautés de Makoukou nécessitent d'être corrigées par le PEV, afin d'intégrer une culture de vaccination.

INTRODUCTION

the root causes of vaccine hesitancy in communities must be determined in order to address them. Analyzing the knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of parents could help explain the poor performance of the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI).

METHODS

a household survey was conducted in the city of Makokou in October 2021. The questionnaire covered five areas of vaccination: access, accessibility, information, acceptance and activation. A descriptive analysis followed by logistic regression was performed to measure the effect of vaccine acceptance.

RESULTS

a total of 486 people, from urban (66%) and rural (34%) areas, were surveyed. Participants ranged in age from 18 to 86 years old, with an average age of 28.5±11.3 years, and a sex ratio of 0.69. The number of dependent children ranged from 0 to 21, with an average of 1.3 children. The majority of respondents (61.9%) were unaware of the EPI; the most recognized disease was tetanus (37%) and the main source of information was family discussion (40.5%). The main issues at vaccination centers were waiting times (51.9%), lack of information (26.7%) and poor reception (20.2%). Nearly half (48%) did not trust government vaccines. Male gender, rural living environment, difficulty in accessing the centers, and lack of information were the main factors associated with vaccine acceptance in Ogooué-Ivindo.

CONCLUSION

numerous misconceptions in the communities of Makokou need to be corrected by the EPI to foster a culture of vaccination.