Status of oral polio vaccination program for international travellers and its determinants: an experience from a designated centre of West Bengal

Background: In order to maintain the polio free status of India, it is vital to monitor the ongoing oral polio vaccination for international travellers. The aim of the study was to determine the status of oral polio vaccination program for international travellers from India to polio infected countries and to find out the determinants of deviation from proposed guidelines. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 101 International travellers from November 2014 to April 2015 at a designated Polio vaccination centre for international travellers in Kolkata. A pre-designed pre-tested schedule was used to collect oral polio vaccination related details. The travellers who gave consent were eligible for the study. Data was expressed in terms of mean, median, standard deviation etc. Association between variables was tested by Chi square test. Results: 32.7% of the travellers had inadequate gap between OPV & travel. Knowledge of gap between OPV and travel was perceived more from health centres and travel agencies than mass media. Inadequate gap was more among lower age group, males, those with information source as mass media, official purpose of visit, those with incorrect knowledge regarding the gap requirement and those who maintained at least four weeks gap between OPV and yellow fever vaccine. Conclusions: Wrong information from the source is responsible for wrong knowledge among the travellers which leads to inadequate gap between OPV and travel. It is crucial to increase awareness among the vaccinators and international travellers in order to contribute towards global polio eradication.