Mothers’ Knowledge and Attitudes Towards Child Immunization in Georgia

Background: Vaccination is the administration of a vaccine to help the immune system develop protection from a disease. It is the most cost-effective mechanism for disease prevention that allows people to have better protection from specific bacteria and viruses. Objective: The goal of the research is to determine mothers’ knowledge, attitudes and practices towards child immunization. Methods: In the framework of a cross-sectional study, 188 mothers with children from three to five years of age, were surveyed in 7 kindergartens of Tbilisi (capital city of Georgia). The semi-structured questionnaire was administered in a face-to-face manner. Results: The majority of interviewed mothers (97%) showed a positive attitude towards immunization and believe that vaccination plays an important role in disease prevention. 32% do not have sufficient information about the routine vaccination schedule and subsequently, 36% of children have incomplete vaccination. The reasons for incomplete vaccination are: a lack of knowledge about a routine vaccination schedule (25.5%), limited information about the necessity of the second or the third dose of vaccination (18.6%), fear of post-vaccination side effects (16%) and fear of a child illness (9.6%). A significant association was found between mothers’ education, practice and attitude regarding immunization. Health institutions (49.5%) and internet sources (21.3%) were the most popular sources of information about immunization. Conclusion: Incomplete immunization is related to mother’s lack of information about the immunization schedules, limited awareness about the second and the third dose of vaccination, and it is also related to fear of child getting sick after the vaccination. Some respondents believe that vaccination is not safe and can cause serious side effects. But the majority of mothers have a positive attitude towards child immunization, but their levels of awareness are very low and they do not have comprehensive information about a routine vaccination schedule. It is necessary to raise public awareness of the importance of immunization by implementing educational programs and by traditional and social media.