Pattern of adverse events following immunization in nourished and malnourished infants in Kano, North-Western Nigeria

Background: Adverse events following immunization (AEFI) occur in both nourished and malnourished babies but are often mislabeled as manifestations or complications of background condition or disease especially among malnourished infants. Aim/Objective: To study the pattern of AEFIs in nourished and malnourished infants in Kano. Materials and Methods: Descriptive cross-sectional design was used to study 372 eligible infants aged 0–11 months old. All infants immunized in the first quarter of 2014 that had up to date immunization card qualified for the study. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 16.0. Results: The mean age of the infants was 3.5 ± 3.1 months, with male being 53.5%, and well nourished being 88.4%. Prevalence of AEFI was 33.1% (nourished), 48.8% (malnourished), and 34.9% overall. Fever occurred in 79.8% nourished and 95.2% malnourished infants. Localized pains and/or swelling occurred in 29.3% nourished and 47.6% malnourished, but abscess or ulceration around vaccination site occurred only in the nourished infants and was significantly associated with the 1 st immunization visit. Most AEFI were experienced around the 1 st three immunization visits. Majority of the AEFI, experienced, nourished (58.7%), and malnourished (52.4%), occurred within 1–11 h and was mild to moderate in severity in 99.1% and 100% of the respective groups. Conclusion and Recommendation: Focused research on vaccine formulation and safety, and recurrent training of immunization workers on vaccine administration, and early and prompt treatment of AEFI are paramount.