Coverage survey of typhoid conjugate vaccine among children aged 6 months to 15 years in an urban slum settlement of Lyari Town Karachi, Pakistan

by Rabab Batool, Sonia Qureshi, Zoya Haq, Mohammad Tahir Yousafzai, Rehana A. Salam, Rafey Ali, Tahira Sadaf, Miqdad Ali, Farah Naz Qamar

To estimate the coverage rate of typhoid conjugate vaccine (TCV) among children aged 6 months to 15 years in Lyari Town Karachi, Pakistan.

A cross-sectional survey was conducted to estimate the vaccine coverage of Typbar TCV in Lyari Town Karachi utilizing the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended rapid vaccine coverage assessment technique (30 clusters × 7 households). Sampling was powered at town level and multistage cluster sampling was used. Four union councils were randomly selected from a total of 11 and the survey was conducted in those union councils. After consent was obtained, parents of age-eligible children living in the selected union councils were invited to participate in the survey and information was collected on Typbar TCV vaccination status of children aged 6 months to 15 years.

Overall, 2325 children were included in the survey. The mean age of the participants was 7.60 ± 3.84 years. The ratio of males to females was equal in the survey sample; 1163 (50.02%) were male. In the total target population, 82% children were found to be vaccinated; however, the vaccination status could be verified for 80%. The vaccine coverage of TCV was comparable among the four union councils and the overall coverage of TCV vaccine in Lyari Town was found to be 80%. The coverage was significantly lower in younger children, 5% and 17% among children aged 6 months to < 2 years and 2 years to < 5 years respectively and 78% among children aged 5 years to 15 years.

The overall immunization coverage rate with TCV was found to be satisfactory. Immunization coverage was comparable among both sexes and the selected union councils but it was relatively low among children in younger age groups.