TY - JOUR
T1 - Vaccines safety and maternal knowledge for enhanced maternal immunization acceptability in rural Uganda
T2 - A qualitative study approach
AU - Kajungu, Dan
AU - Muhoozi, Michael
AU - Stark, James
AU - Weibel, Daniel
AU - Sturkenboom, Miriam C J M
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the GCRF Networks in Vaccines Research and Development which was co-funded by the MRC and BBSRC. Grant Number: IMPRINT Network-ITCR079018. The funder provided support in the form of salaries for authors DK and MM but did not have any additional role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The specific roles of these authors are articulated in the ?author contributions? section. The authors would like to thank the Makerere University Centre for Health and Population Research (MUCHAP), the Iganga Mayuge Health and Demographic Surveillance Site (IMHDSS), for their partnership and collaboration for this work. This research would not have been possible without the support of Iganga District health office, local leaders, and community members that participated in the study.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Kajungu et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2020/12
Y1 - 2020/12
N2 - BACKGROUND: Maternal immunization is a successful and cost-effective public health strategy. It protects pregnant women and their infants from vaccine-preventable diseases. Uganda is exploring new vaccines for pregnant women like replacing Tetanus Toxoid (TT) with Tetanus-Diphtheria (Td). Research on knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and willingness among pregnant women is needed before the introduction of vaccines for pregnant women. This study was aimed at exploring maternal knowledge, attitudes, willingness, and beliefs towards maternal immunization among pregnant women in rural Uganda.METHODS: This was a qualitative descriptive study. Ten focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted at antenatal care (ANC) clinics and in a rural community of Uganda. Five key informant interviews (KIIs) were done with health workers, for triangulation. Considering context and research characteristics, data were collected and thematically analyzed.RESULTS: Women were familiar with the importance of maternal vaccines, had positive attitudes, and expressed willingness to take them. Acceptance of a new vaccine could be affected by worries of pregnant women and that of their partners, who influence health seeking decisions in a home concerning adverse events, following the maternal immunization (AEFI). There were misconceptions about introduction of vaccines such as the belief that vaccines treat malaria and general body weakness, and being used as guinea pigs to test for the vaccine before its introduction to the larger population.CONCLUSION: A range of diverse sentiments and beliefs may affect uptake and acceptability of vaccines that are introduced in communities. For instance, ignoring vaccine safety concerns may impede maternal immunization acceptability, because pregnant women and their husbands are concerned about AEFI. Moreover, husbands make all health-seeking decisions at home, and their opinion is key, when considering such interventions.
AB - BACKGROUND: Maternal immunization is a successful and cost-effective public health strategy. It protects pregnant women and their infants from vaccine-preventable diseases. Uganda is exploring new vaccines for pregnant women like replacing Tetanus Toxoid (TT) with Tetanus-Diphtheria (Td). Research on knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and willingness among pregnant women is needed before the introduction of vaccines for pregnant women. This study was aimed at exploring maternal knowledge, attitudes, willingness, and beliefs towards maternal immunization among pregnant women in rural Uganda.METHODS: This was a qualitative descriptive study. Ten focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted at antenatal care (ANC) clinics and in a rural community of Uganda. Five key informant interviews (KIIs) were done with health workers, for triangulation. Considering context and research characteristics, data were collected and thematically analyzed.RESULTS: Women were familiar with the importance of maternal vaccines, had positive attitudes, and expressed willingness to take them. Acceptance of a new vaccine could be affected by worries of pregnant women and that of their partners, who influence health seeking decisions in a home concerning adverse events, following the maternal immunization (AEFI). There were misconceptions about introduction of vaccines such as the belief that vaccines treat malaria and general body weakness, and being used as guinea pigs to test for the vaccine before its introduction to the larger population.CONCLUSION: A range of diverse sentiments and beliefs may affect uptake and acceptability of vaccines that are introduced in communities. For instance, ignoring vaccine safety concerns may impede maternal immunization acceptability, because pregnant women and their husbands are concerned about AEFI. Moreover, husbands make all health-seeking decisions at home, and their opinion is key, when considering such interventions.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85097810548&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0243834
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0243834
M3 - Article
C2 - 33301495
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 15
SP - 1
EP - 17
JO - PLoS ONE
JF - PLoS ONE
IS - 12 December
M1 - e0243834
ER -