Abstract

RAGLIONE, Dante et al. Evaluation of the cold chain for vaccine conservation in primary healthcare centers in the South and Midwest regions of São Paulo city, Brazil, in 2011-2012. Epidemiol. Serv. Saúde [online]. 2016, vol.25, n.1, pp.65-74. ISSN 1679-4974.

OBJECTIVE: to assess the cold chain capacity, health workers' immunobiological product conservation knowledge and practices in Primary Healthcare Centers (PHC) in São Paulo city, Brazil. METHODS: this descriptive study included24 randomly selected PHC in the South and Midwest regions of the city; between December 2011 and July 2012, we interviewed the health workers on their vaccine conservation knowledge/practice and observed the local infrastructure, using a form developed for this project; we assignedpoints to items of the form and classified each PHC as sufficient, regular or insufficient. RESULTS: most of the 24 PHC evaluated were administered by Social Organizations; all of them had vaccine storage chambers; 5 PHC reported using their maximum storage capacity; 9 PHC were classified as having sufficient knowledge/practice and 15 as having regular knowledge/practice. CONCLUSION: in these PHC, cold chain utilization was close to its maximum capacity; many health workers did not have basic knowledge about vaccine conservation.

Keywords : Refrigeration; Vaccines; Health Services Evaluation; Health Personnel; Epidemiology, Descriptive.

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