الفهرس 
Contents
PHC system in EgyptOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
 |  | from | 236 |  |  |
| | | from | 236 | | |
Abstract
One of the preventive services provided in PHC facilities is immunization of children . EPI is the program that was launched by the WHO in 1974 aiming to make vaccines available to all children throughout the world . Vaccines are considered one of the greatest achievements of public health . They stimulate protective immune responses against acute and chronic infectious diseases in addition to some infectious diseases that result in cancer . Vaccines help in health promotion , have a rapid impact on communities and save lives as well as costs . The goal of vaccination is to provide direct protection through induction of protective immunity against diseases in addition to limiting disease spread to susceptible individuals through herd immunity . There are four different types of vaccines classified according to the antigen used in their preparation . And it is to be noted that the formulation of vaccines affects the way in which they are stored and used . Vaccine administration should follow principles of vaccine scheduling , infection control , proper preparation for administration , proper routes of administration and methods for alleviating discomfort and pain associated with vaccination . And it is the duty of the staff administering vaccines to detect cases with contraindications or precautions to the vaccine before administration of each dose . The results obtained were as follow : 57.6% of physicians in the studied facilities had good overall knowledge concerning EPI and that nurses in the studied facilities showed a better level of knowledge . Changes in age , highest educational level , work experience and training had a statistically significant effect on the level of knowledge of physicians . Age of nurses was the only socio-demographic or work profile that affected their level of knowledge as well as their performance during immunization sessions significantly . All items of management of immunization sessions were fully met in all the studied facilities . The overall performance of nurses was good in 55.2% of cases . The missing items were confined to hand-washing either before starting the session or for each child , the appropriate position of the child being attained during vaccine administration and health education of the mother using the appropriate health messages as well as informing her about adverse events and date of next vaccination . The study also revealed that no statistically significant association exists between the overall knowledge of nurses concerning EPI and their overall performance during immunization sessions . This study revealed that health offices showed a statistically significant lower level of performance of nurses during immunization sessions . In conclusion , the knowledge concerning EPI among PHC workers in Dakahlia governorate is good and the overall performance of nurses during immunization sessions is mostly in compliance with recommendations . However , there are significant gaps in knowledge and non-compliance in some practices . The training received by most of them , especially physicians , is apparently not adequate .