Cargando…

Awareness of the Malaria Vaccine in India

Background: Malaria remains a serious public health problem in India. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as per the 2021 report, India accounts for 83% of malaria cases in Southeast Asia. Various interventions have been implemented to control malaria's burden in India. In October...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Singhal, Chinar, Aremu, Taiwo O, Garg, Pranjal, Shah, Kunal, Okoro, Olihe N
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Cureus 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9574518/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36262953
http://dx.doi.org/10.7759/cureus.29210
_version_ 1784811121001103360
author Singhal, Chinar
Aremu, Taiwo O
Garg, Pranjal
Shah, Kunal
Okoro, Olihe N
author_facet Singhal, Chinar
Aremu, Taiwo O
Garg, Pranjal
Shah, Kunal
Okoro, Olihe N
author_sort Singhal, Chinar
collection PubMed
description Background: Malaria remains a serious public health problem in India. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as per the 2021 report, India accounts for 83% of malaria cases in Southeast Asia. Various interventions have been implemented to control malaria's burden in India. In October 2021, the WHO approved the RTS,S/AS01 (RTS,S) malaria vaccine for administration in four scheduled doses in children five months of age to reduce the burden and severity of malaria. The objectives of this study were to assess public awareness about the vaccine among residents of India and determine any associations with demographic characteristics. Methods: The study was a web-based, cross-sectional survey. The survey questionnaire was sent out electronically using Qualtrics® (Provo, UT) and remained active for 12 weeks (December 2021 to March 2022). The questionnaire was self-administered anonymously, using a link that was shared with people across India through social media platforms. A total of 2,371 respondents above 18 years of age and current residents of India participated in the study. The chi-square test was used to examine the association between awareness about the vaccine and demographic characteristics. A p-value of <0.05 was used to describe a statistically significant association. Results: Most participants (71.95%) had heard about the malaria vaccine, and 68.75% favored making it a required childhood vaccine. Similarly, 67.27% indicated that they would encourage caregivers to get their children/wards vaccinated. Age, gender, educational status, residence, and caregiver status were associated with the awareness regarding the malaria vaccine (p < 0.05). Males, participants between 18 and 24 years old, and caregivers of children aged five years or less were more likely to be aware of the vaccine. Participants with higher education and residing in urban localities had more awareness of the vaccine. Conclusion: The malaria vaccine has the potential to eradicate malaria in India, especially if included in the immunization schedule for children. However, it is critical that health policymakers target populations that are less aware of information on any intended rollout of the malaria vaccine to ensure rapid uptake toward the goal of eliminating malaria from India.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-9574518
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2022
publisher Cureus
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-95745182022-10-18 Awareness of the Malaria Vaccine in India Singhal, Chinar Aremu, Taiwo O Garg, Pranjal Shah, Kunal Okoro, Olihe N Cureus Infectious Disease Background: Malaria remains a serious public health problem in India. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as per the 2021 report, India accounts for 83% of malaria cases in Southeast Asia. Various interventions have been implemented to control malaria's burden in India. In October 2021, the WHO approved the RTS,S/AS01 (RTS,S) malaria vaccine for administration in four scheduled doses in children five months of age to reduce the burden and severity of malaria. The objectives of this study were to assess public awareness about the vaccine among residents of India and determine any associations with demographic characteristics. Methods: The study was a web-based, cross-sectional survey. The survey questionnaire was sent out electronically using Qualtrics® (Provo, UT) and remained active for 12 weeks (December 2021 to March 2022). The questionnaire was self-administered anonymously, using a link that was shared with people across India through social media platforms. A total of 2,371 respondents above 18 years of age and current residents of India participated in the study. The chi-square test was used to examine the association between awareness about the vaccine and demographic characteristics. A p-value of <0.05 was used to describe a statistically significant association. Results: Most participants (71.95%) had heard about the malaria vaccine, and 68.75% favored making it a required childhood vaccine. Similarly, 67.27% indicated that they would encourage caregivers to get their children/wards vaccinated. Age, gender, educational status, residence, and caregiver status were associated with the awareness regarding the malaria vaccine (p < 0.05). Males, participants between 18 and 24 years old, and caregivers of children aged five years or less were more likely to be aware of the vaccine. Participants with higher education and residing in urban localities had more awareness of the vaccine. Conclusion: The malaria vaccine has the potential to eradicate malaria in India, especially if included in the immunization schedule for children. However, it is critical that health policymakers target populations that are less aware of information on any intended rollout of the malaria vaccine to ensure rapid uptake toward the goal of eliminating malaria from India. Cureus 2022-09-15 /pmc/articles/PMC9574518/ /pubmed/36262953 http://dx.doi.org/10.7759/cureus.29210 Text en Copyright © 2022, Singhal et al. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Infectious Disease
Singhal, Chinar
Aremu, Taiwo O
Garg, Pranjal
Shah, Kunal
Okoro, Olihe N
Awareness of the Malaria Vaccine in India
title Awareness of the Malaria Vaccine in India
title_full Awareness of the Malaria Vaccine in India
title_fullStr Awareness of the Malaria Vaccine in India
title_full_unstemmed Awareness of the Malaria Vaccine in India
title_short Awareness of the Malaria Vaccine in India
title_sort awareness of the malaria vaccine in india
topic Infectious Disease
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9574518/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36262953
http://dx.doi.org/10.7759/cureus.29210
work_keys_str_mv AT singhalchinar awarenessofthemalariavaccineinindia
AT aremutaiwoo awarenessofthemalariavaccineinindia
AT gargpranjal awarenessofthemalariavaccineinindia
AT shahkunal awarenessofthemalariavaccineinindia
AT okoroolihen awarenessofthemalariavaccineinindia