Abstract

MELO, Giselle Karine Muniz de; OLIVEIRA, Janice Vasconcelos  and  ANDRADE, Maria Sandra. Aspects Related to Vaccines Conservation at Primary Care Health Units in the City of Recife, State of Pernambuco, Brazil. Epidemiol. Serv. Saúde [online]. 2010, vol.19, n.1, pp.26-33. ISSN 1679-4974.  http://dx.doi.org/10.5123/S1679-49742010000100004.

That is a descriptive study, performed in 39 primary care health units, aiming to describe the knowledge and procedures of the vaccinators related to vaccines conservation at primary care health units in Recife, capital city of Pernambuco. Data show that 41% of vaccinators do not check the appropriate temperature (2-8^oC) of ice packs in the cold box; 61.5% do not monitor the cold box temperature after preparation; 38.5% do not change the ice packs in the beginning of the afternoon shift. Moreover, 46.1% of the refrigerators have inadequate gasket and that there were no outdoor cable thermometers to monitor the cold box. These factors may contribute to the exposure of immunobiological drugs to temperature flow and consequently to the inactivation of immunogenic components. Priority is recommended for the acquisition of storage equipment for vaccines conservation, and for monitoring, through supervision, the vaccinators activities. Those results point to the importance of capacity building based on the local situation, and alert that the succession of small failures can hamper the credibility that vaccination has been acquiring in the late decades.

Keywords : vaccines; immunization programs; cold chain; health centers.

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