Mothers’ Knowledge about Managing Post-Vaccination Adverse Effects in Children under Two Years of Age

Abstract

Introduction: Adverse events attributable to vaccination and immunization processes are undesirable effects that appear after application of a vaccine that generates fear and mistrust in mothers, as they feel unable to identify and handle them appropriately.

Objective: To determine the knowledge that mothers of children under two years of age have about the recognition and care of postvaccination adverse effects.

Methods: Cross-sectional descriptive study carried out with a convenience sample of 50 mothers who attended Nuevo Israel Health Center in Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas Province, Ecuador. The study variables were type of postvaccination events, knowledge about their management, and source of information about care for each type of event. Absolute and relative frequencies were determined according to the variables age and level of education, expressed through contingency tables.

Results: Fever was identified as the most common adverse event and administration of paracetamol was identified as a way for its management. Regardless the age and level of education, the identification and knowledge about the care of postvaccination reactions were adequate. The information handled comes mostly from the nursing staff, a source accounting for 94.6%.

Conclusions: Mothers know postvaccination effects and manage them appropriately in a context in which the nursing staff is in charge of transmitting good practices in their role as educator.