A Multicentre Study of Awareness and Practice of Vaccination Against Infectious Diseases Among Haemo-Dialysis Subjects in Nigeria.

Background: Numerous studies indicate that immunization against vaccine-preventable infectious diseases lowers mortality among Chronic Kidney Disease/dialysis patients and improve their quality of life. However, their knowledge and practice of this appears to be poor in Nigeria and parts of Africa.

Objectives: We set out to determine subjects' awareness of vaccination against preventable infectious diseases and its impact on their participation in vaccination programs.

Methods: A prospective, cross-sectional study. Data was collated using questionnaires, laboratory results and dialysis entries and analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics19.

Results: One hundred and twenty-four participants (mean age, 48.26±14.45 years) undergoing maintenance haemodialysis were studied. Sixty-two subjects (50.4%), 15.3% and 16.9% had heard of Hepatitis B Virus, S. pneumoniae and H. influenza virus respectively. Thirty-four (54.6%) of the participants first heard of these infections from sources other than healthcare personnel. Of the three common infections, study participants only received formal counselling on Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) infection. Majority had never heard of S. pneumoniae or H. influenzae. Seven (5.7%) had completed their HBV immunisation schedule only. Better educated participants were more aware of necessary vaccination against Hepatitis B Virus (p=0.000) S. pneumoniae (p=0.005) and H. influenza virus (p = 0.003). A significantly higher proportion of participants who received health-personnel driven formal education commenced vaccination against Hepatitis B virus (p=0.000).

Conclusion: Awareness and practice of vaccination against infectious diseases by haemodialysis patients was found to be poor. Defective system and practice of information dissemination by healthcare workers was remarkably contributory.