Análise da perda de vacinas por alteração de temperatura

Abstract

Immunobiological products must be kept under appropriate refrigeration in order to preserve their potency and effectiveness; failure to do so will result in financial and work-related losses, thus affecting the health service quality. Objective: To analyze the aspects associated to the loss of vaccines due to temperature changes on cooling system. Method: A retrospective cross-sectional study of 341 notifications of temperature changes in vaccines, from 67 cities attached to the Grupo de Vigilância Epidemiológica XXIX (Epidemiological Surveillance Group XXIX) between 2010 and 2017. Data have been collected from the Temperature Changes Notification Records of the cooling system from the attached cities, from the Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) and from the Health Information Portal provided by the Health Department. Data were added to Excel (2016) and attached to Software SPSS Statistics (version 23). It was used a descriptive and inferential statistical analysis with the multiple linear regression method, considering a standard deviation of 5%. Results: A total of 70.1% of the notifications took place due to structural reasons; 57.8% took place in process chillers; 91.2% in basic health care; 83.6% resulted in lost vaccines. From the total vaccine doses which underwent temperature changes, 41.4% were lost and 58.6% were administered to the population. The percentage of lost doses in relation to the administered ones was higher in smaller towns, even though there were fewer notifications in these places. Conclusion: Vaccine loss due to temperature changes was significant when compared to the number of doses that underwent changes and to the administered ones, which represents high operational and financial costs. Avoiding temperature changes in vaccines is, thus, highly desirable not only in order to reduce financial costs, but also to make sure it is potent and effective in preventing morbidity and mortality.