Polio still a Threat in Pakistan: Possible role of stability of polio vaccine

Abstract

Objective: Vaccination is considered very important for proper health and development of child. It helps in keeping a child disease free. Although most of the developing countries are considered polio free, Pakistan is not one of them. The study is designed to evaluate whether storage conditions and stability effect polio vaccine leading to its inefficacy. Methodology: It is a cross sectional survey based study consisting of N=200 (both males and females) age group 20-55 years from medical field and polio workers. The study was conducted for 2 month. Data was collected from the participants by directly contacting with them and the answers were recorded as open ended. Results and discussion: From our study we came to know that 87% of population was aware about polio vaccine, 55% was aware that it is stored in cool place but 41% had no idea that at what temperature it is stored. 67% population thought its efficacy is maintained if kept in ice box for prolonged time. Conclusion: From our study we came to conclude that polio vaccine should be stored at standard temperature in refrigerators, not kept in ice boxes for prolonged time. Awareness should be created regarding this and it would be better option to dispense it from Community Pharmacy to avoid stability issues.