Risk Factors for Incomplete Immunization in Children with HIV Infection

Sangeeta Das Bhattacharya, Subhasish Bhattacharyya, Devlina Chatterjee, Swapan Kumar Niyogi, Nageshwar Chauhan, A. Sudar

OBJECTIVE: To document the immunization rates, factors associated with incomplete immunization, and missed opportunities for immunizations in children affected by HIV presenting for routine outpatient follow-up. METHODS: A cross-sectional study of immunization status of children affected by HIV presenting for routine outpatient care was conducted. RESULTS: Two hundred and six HIV affected children were enrolled. The median age of children in this cohort was 6 y. One hundred ninety seven of 206 children were HIV infected, nine were HIV exposed, but indeterminate. Fifty (25 %) children had incomplete immunizations per the Universal Immunization Program (UIP) of India. Hundred percent of children had received OPV. Ninety three percent of children got their UIP vaccines from a government clinic. Children with incomplete immunization were older, median age of 8 compared to 5 (p = 0.003). Each year of maternal education increased the odds of having a child with complete UIP immunizations by 1.18 (p = 0.008)-children of mothers with 6 y of education compared to those with no education were seven times more likely to have complete UIP vaccine status. The average number of visits to the clinic by an individual child in a year was 4. This represents 200 missed opportunities for immunizations. CONCLUSIONS: HIV infected children are at risk for incomplete immunization coverage though they regularly access medical care. Including routine immunizations, particularly catch-up immunizations in programs for HIV infected children maybe an effective way of protecting these children from vaccine preventable disease.