Background. A birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine will prevent most perinatally acquired infections and offers early protection from horizontal transmission. This article assessed the prevalence of the hepatitis B birth dose and associated factors among children in the District 2 Hospital. Methods. A prospective cross-sectional study between June and December 2017 recruited parents/caregivers of children aged 12–59 months who were randomly selected at the vaccination department in the District 2 Hospital. The structured questionnaire applied was to collect the characteristics of participants and check the vaccination schedule. The birth dose was defined as the hepatitis B vaccine, which was given to children within 24 hours after birth. Additionally, a semistructured questionnaire was used for interviews and focus group discussions (FGDs) to assess the risk perceptions and barriers to vaccination. Results. A total of 292 parents/caregivers had a mean age of 32.7 ± 6.8 years; among them, 88.7% were females. Their children had a mean age of 30.3 ± 13.9 months and 71.6% of these children received the hepatitis B birth dose, which correlated with the age of gestation (). In-depth interviews and FGDs found that most participants did not know that hepatitis B could be transmitted through childbirth, and barriers that affected the birth dose vaccine included children being sick, premature infants, or reason relating to physicians. Conclusions. The rate of hepatitis B birth dose was low, which resulted from associated factors such as premature birth, likely to be linked with false contraindications and beliefs that, potentially, the 2013 incident is still fresh in people’s minds. Therefore, strategies to implement policies around the hepatitis B birth dose should be in line with current World Health Organization recommendations and strategies to modify current beliefs about vaccination.

中文翻译：

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越南胡志明市第 2 区医院儿童乙型肝炎出生剂量：流行率和相关因素。

背景。乙型肝炎疫苗的出生剂量将预防大多数围产期获得性感染，并提供早期保护免受横向传播。本文评估了第 2 区医院儿童中乙型肝炎出生剂量和相关因素的流行情况。方法. 2017 年 6 月至 2017 年 12 月期间的一项前瞻性横断面研究招募了在第 2 区医院疫苗接种部门随机选择的 12-59 个月儿童的父母/照顾者。所应用的结构化问卷旨在收集参与者的特征并检查疫苗接种计划。出生剂量定义为乙型肝炎疫苗，在出生后 24 小时内给予儿童。此外，半结构化问卷用于访谈和焦点小组讨论 (FGD)，以评估风险认知和接种疫苗的障碍。结果. 共有 292 名父母/看护人的平均年龄为 32.7 ± 6.8 岁；其中，88.7%为女性。他们的孩子平均年龄为 30.3 ± 13.9 个月，其中 71.6% 的孩子接受了乙肝出生剂量，这与孕龄相关（）。深入访谈和 FGD 发现，大多数参与者不知道乙型肝炎可以通过分娩传播，影响出生剂量疫苗的障碍包括儿童生病、早产儿或与医生有关的原因。结论。乙型肝炎的出生剂量率很低，这是由早产等相关因素造成的，这可能与错误的禁忌症和认为 2013 年的事件可能仍然在人们脑海中记忆犹新的信念有关。因此，围绕乙型肝炎出生剂量实施政策的策略应符合当前世界卫生组织的建议和策略，以改变当前对疫苗接种的看法。