Análise da cobertura vacinal nos primeiros dois anos em crianças do município de Lagarto/SE

Abstract

The National Immunization Program (PNI) represented a major advance in Brazilian public health, as it was a pioneer in establishing the systematization of the Vaccination Calendar, and is therefore responsible for reducing mortality and is one of the largest public vaccination programs in the world. In Brazil, Primary Care, through Basic Health Units, is responsible for guaranteeing this right in all municipalities. Therefore, compliance with the vaccination schedule recommended by the Ministry of Health should be a goal for families and health teams. However, data reveal that the reality is at odds with what is officially proposed. Thus, this study analyzed the vaccination coverage of the basic schedule for the first two years of life in children in the unicipality of Lagarto/SE based on the National Vaccination Calendar in effect in 2024. The results indicated delays among children in the evaluated age group, with 37% of them having some vaccination delay. The vaccine with the highest absolute number of children who were behind schedule was the COVID-19 vaccine at 6 months (31), followed by the Yellow Fever vaccine (11) and the vaccines at 12 (10) and 15 months (5), respectively. Boys, despite being the majority within the group of children with delayed vaccinations (48.21%), presented a longer average delay in vaccination days (155.2) when compared to girls (82.86). The place of residence, with 62.3% in urban areas and 37.7% in rural areas, was not statistically relevant in this study, nor was the degree of kinship of the accompanying adult. Furthermore, the relationship between children's age and vaccination delay showed a statistically significant correlation, with older children having a greater tendency for delays, and the 12- and 15-month vaccines showing low coverage percentages (77.7% and 78.57%, respectively). Despite the small sample size of this study, the municipal level data for the city of Lagarto did not deviate from the proposed results, as important vaccines showed lower-than-expected percentages, such as the Hepatitis B vaccine for children under 1 year old (64.52%), Yellow Fever (56.66%), and COVID (0.44%). Among all the justifications cited for the delays, "fear of the vaccine" (24.13%) and "being sick with a fever" (20.68%) stood out. These findings corroborate the importance of actively seeking out children in the vaccination age range and the need to encourage compliance with the recommended Vaccination Schedule.