Ansah Nana Akosua, Weibel Daniel, Chatio Samuel Tamti, Oladokun Samuel Tomilola, Duah Enyonam, Ansah Patrick, Oduro Abraham, Sturkenboom Miriam
Navrongo Health Research Centre, Navrongo, Ghana.
UMC, Utrecht, Netherlands.
BMJ Public Health. 2025 Aug 10;3(2):e001761. doi: 10.1136/bmjph-2024-001761. eCollection 2025.
Immunisation is an essential and cost-effective way of preventing infectious diseases. The emergence of new diseases, including COVID-19, along with advancements in malaria vaccines, has potentially led to an increase in vaccinations, particularly among children under 5 years old in Africa. However, concerns about vaccine safety have led to a decline in trust and greater vaccine hesitancy, as evidenced by the low uptake of newly introduced vaccines like the pneumococcal vaccine-13 in Ghana.Adverse events following immunisation (AEFIs) may range from mild to severe and are of concern because vaccines are generally given to healthy people. To monitor vaccine safety, it is important that those who experience adverse events report to the nearest health facility, but compliance is low in Ghana. This study explored the knowledge and experiences of mothers in northern Ghana regarding vaccine safety and adverse event reporting procedures.
This cross-sectional exploratory study used a qualitative research design that involved 10 focus group discussions (FGDs) with mothers from 5 administrative regions in resource-limited Northern Ghana. Participants for the FGDs were selected through a purposive sampling method at childhood vaccination clinics. All the interviews were recorded, transcribed and coded into themes using QSR NVivo V.12 software to aid thematic content analysis.
The results revealed that mothers understood the need for vaccinations, although some were unaware of the diseases that the vaccines protect against. Even though most mothers knew about the benefits of vaccinations, many expressed concerns about the pain and discomfort their children experienced during the process. Furthermore, they noted that the absence of responses from health workers following the reporting of AEFIs, the belief that adverse events are commonplace, and previous vaccination experiences all influenced AEFI reporting. The fear of serious adverse events such as paralysis, coupled with insufficient explanation of the benefits, may dissuade parents from allowing their children to receive vaccinations. The findings also revealed that mothers were not adequately informed about vaccines and the need for them to report adverse events.
Many individuals regard vaccines as an essential public health intervention for preventing diseases and their related complications. Public health agencies and healthcare providers ought to address concerns about vaccine adverse events by providing thorough education for mothers about vaccines and AEFI reporting.
免疫接种是预防传染病的一种必要且具有成本效益的方式。包括新冠病毒病在内的新疾病的出现，以及疟疾疫苗的进展，可能导致疫苗接种量增加，尤其是在非洲5岁以下儿童中。然而，对疫苗安全性的担忧导致信任度下降和疫苗犹豫现象加剧，如加纳对新引入的13价肺炎球菌疫苗的低接种率就证明了这一点。免疫接种后不良事件（AEFI）的严重程度可能各不相同，从轻微到严重，令人担忧的是疫苗通常接种给健康人群。为监测疫苗安全性，经历不良事件的人向最近的医疗机构报告非常重要，但在加纳，报告率很低。本研究探讨了加纳北部母亲们关于疫苗安全性和不良事件报告程序的知识与经历。
这项横断面探索性研究采用定性研究设计，在资源有限的加纳北部5个行政区与母亲们进行了10次焦点小组讨论（FGD）。FGD的参与者通过在儿童疫苗接种诊所采用目的抽样法选取。所有访谈都进行了录音、转录，并使用QSR NVivo V.12软件编码成主题，以辅助主题内容分析。
结果显示，母亲们理解接种疫苗的必要性，尽管有些人不知道疫苗预防的疾病。尽管大多数母亲知道接种疫苗的好处，但许多人对孩子在接种过程中经历的疼痛和不适表示担忧。此外，她们指出，报告AEFI后卫生工作者没有回应、认为不良事件很常见以及以往的接种经历都影响了AEFI报告。对诸如瘫痪等严重不良事件的恐惧，再加上对疫苗益处的解释不足，可能会劝阻父母让孩子接种疫苗。研究结果还显示，母亲们没有得到关于疫苗以及她们报告不良事件必要性的充分信息。
许多人认为疫苗是预防疾病及其相关并发症的一项重要公共卫生干预措施。公共卫生机构和医疗服务提供者应通过为母亲们提供关于疫苗和AEFI报告的全面教育来解决对疫苗不良事件的担忧。
