Awareness and acceptability of rotavirus vaccine among mothers of under-five children attending children outpatient clinic of Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital

Abstract

Background: Diarrhoea diseases remain a major contributor to infant and under-five morbidity and mortality, particularly in developing countries. Administration of the rotavirus vaccine is one of the effective measures to prevent acute and severe forms of diarrhoea in children. Rotavirus  vaccine is yet to be fully incorporated into the National Programme on the Immunization schedule. This study assessed the awareness and   willingness of mothers to the uptake of rotavirus vaccine for their under-five children at Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH), Ado-Ekiti.
Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted among 301 mothers of under-five children attending the Children Outpatient Clinic of EKSUTH. An interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data. Data analysis was performed with SPSS version 23.
Results: Forty–two (14%) of the mothers had heard of rotavirus vaccine. Most mothers, 277(92%), will allow their wards to take the rotavirus vaccine. Two hundred and eighty mothers (93%) will advocate for the incorporation of rotavirus vaccine into the National Programme on Immunization Schedule. Eighty-five (28.2%) of the respondents, however, had one concern or the other about rotavirus vaccine.
Conclusion: There is a low level of awareness and knowledge about rotavirus vaccines among mothers of under-five children in Ekiti State, Nigeria. Despite this, the willingness to uptake the vaccine was high among respondents. Our findings suggest the need to fully incorporate rotavirus vaccine into the national programme on immunization to make it widely available to mothers and caregivers of under-five children

Keyword: Awareness, Acceptability, Rotavirus vaccine, Under-five children