Immunization While Hospitalization; Can It Be Opportunity for Childhood Immunization?

MethodsThis descriptive, cross-sectional study included patients aged 0-18, who were consulted for vaccination at the well child clinic of University of Health Sciences Trkiye, ili Hamidiye Etfal Training and Research Hospital between 2015-2022, and vaccinated while hospitalized.Consultations requested for vaccination from the well child clinic were examined retrospectively: the hospital database was used to investigate the patients' diagnoses, reasons for vaccination, vaccines administered, ABSTRACTIntroduction: Vaccination is an important public health practice that protects individuals as well as the general population from infectious diseases.Publications have examined the effects of vaccination practices, on vaccination rates in children hospitalized for other reasons.The present study aimed to evaluate opportunistic vaccination rates in hospitalized children.Methods: In the present study, children who were consulted for vaccination at the well-child clinic during hospitalization between 2015-2022, were retrospectively evaluated.Patients who could not be vaccinated because they did not comply with pre-vaccine administration checklist were excluded from the study.Patients were examined in three groups: routine, delayed, and risk groups.Patients were evaluated according to demographic, clinical, and vaccine characteristics.Results: Of the 971 patients included in the study, 480 (49.4%) were female and the median age was 0 (range 0-18).Five hundred fiftyfour (57.1%) of the patients were premature infants who were referred from the neonatal intensive care unit.A total of 1792 doses of vaccine were administered to the patients included in the study (677 routine vaccinations, 735 delayed vaccinations, and 380 risk group vaccinations).The most frequently administered vaccine was hepatitis B vaccine, with 975 (54.4%) doses.It is observed that delayed vaccination, and risk group vaccinations increased proportionally in the following years (p<0.001). Conclusion:Hospitalizations can be seen as vaccination opportunities for children.Having units in hospitals that will administer vaccines to inpatients, will contribute to the vaccination rates in children.