1.1 Introduction
Immunization, also called vaccination or inoculation is a method of stimulating resistance in the human body to specific diseases using microorganisms-bacteria or viruses that have been modified or killed. These treated microorganisms do not cause the disease, but rather trigger the body's immune system to build a defense mechanism that continuously guards against the disease (Blackman, 2009). Immunization plays a significant role in the lives of children, by providing strong immune system, and also, fighting against the preventable diseases such as polio, chicken pox, Pneumococcal, rotavirus, HIB, Tetanus and measles. Immunization protects us from many harmful diseases that can have very serious complications or even cause death. More than 30 million children are unimmunized because of some of the following reasons; unavailability of vaccines, poor health services, misinformation about when and why to bring their children for immunization etc.
As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.
1.2 Background of Study
In the ancient past, health was regarded as a condition of the body that enables one to cope with his/her environment and drive reasonable satisfaction from ones daily activities, physically, emotionally, mental and social, etc. but the (WHO) says, Health is the state of physical, mental and social well-begin and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity which means that one may be physically fit without disease or infirmity but is socially and emotional unhealthy.
Since the beginning of time, human beings have been concerned about health and disease. Health is valued and cherished by everyone necessary for survival and continued existence of humans and other things. Good health is a necessary condition for happiness, growth, personal development and social advancement, without good health one look sad and unhappy even with all the good things and pleasure of life.
Immunization has dramatically reduced the incidence of a number of deadly diseases. For example, a worldwide vaccination program resulted in the global eradication of smallpox in 1980, and in most developed countries immunization has essentially eliminated diphtheria, poliomyelitis, and neonatal tetanus. The number of cases of Haemophilus influenzae type b meningitis in the United States has dropped 95 percent among infants and children since 1988, when the vaccine for that disease was first introduced. In the United States, more than 90 percent of children receive all the recommended vaccinations by their second birthday. About 85 percent of Canadian children are immunized by age two.
The fundamental determinants of health are our genetic inheritance or biological make up, nutrition, social and physical environment, personal lifestyle and utilization of health care services. Since health is our most precious belonging and a blessing that money cannot buy: Llewellyn – Jones, D. (1980) a nutritional guide for life, New York. Therefore any deviation in health from the physical, mental, social status is a disease.
Disease is regarded as an abnormal condition, disturbance, malfunctioning, any pathologic condition of the body and mind and is manifested in the form of functional or organic disorder, mental ailment, injection or degenerative impairment of the body. The threat and challenge of disease have been of concern to human beings throughout history. Immunization is one effective way of combating diseases in the body.
1.3 Statement of Problem
Investigation revealed that immunization management has been faced with several problems; there is no effective way of capturing and recording immunization information. The manual process is time consuming also. This makes the presentation of reports to be very difficult. Much paper work is utilized and this makes it even more tedious to gather and assess immunization records. It is in view of these challenges that this study is carried out.
It is also very difficult to do periodic reports on immunization using the manual system; this is because the booklets are kept by the parents and not the teaching hospital. This project therefore, addresses the shortcomings of the manual system. It intends to develop a computerized system that maintains the immunization records, thereby making data collection and reporting to be undertaken easily.
1.4 Aim and Objectives of the Study
The aim of the study is to design and implement a Computerized Immunization Documentation and Alerting System. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows to develop an application software that will:
- Provide a workable immunization exercise management system,
- Identify the characteristics of diseases suitable for control by vaccine and immunization,
- Examine the Medical Management of immunization Reactions in Children and Teens,
- Enhance periodic report generation on immunization in Essien Udim Local Government Area.
1.5 Significance of Study
Generally, significance of computer cannot be over emphasized. A lot of questions pert, aiming to computation of result has been answered by the working principle of the research. Nurses in the research will help the nurses in proper management of data and information speed, accuracy and reduction of stack of files is feasible in addition to these reference making it very feasible based on captions headings and arrangement. It is not time consuming and too expensive.
This study will be of immense benefit to other researchers who intend to know more on this study and can also be used by non-researchers to build more on their research work. This study contributes to knowledge and could serve as a guide for other study.
1.6 Scope of Study
The study focuses on the design and implementation of a Computerized Immunization Documentation and Alerting System. The study was limited to Essien Udim Local Government Area and the result was limited to extend the responses and co-operation of the numbers of the statistic office.
1.7 Limitations of the Study
During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:
- Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
- Establishment Policies: Establishment policies posed a serious limitation as most staffs are not ready to release information needed for this project work. There were lots of information needed from the staffs of this institution to enhance the study which took them time to release or they did not release at all for security purposes, hence the scope was reduced.
- Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
- Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
- Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet).
1.8 Definition of Terms
Immunization: Is a process of administering special medicine in to a person's body. It is meant to make the person's body resistance to disease stronger so that he or she will not become sick or die from the disease.
Vaccinator: It’s a person who vaccinates the children
Management: The act of handling or controlling something successfully
Disease control: Disease control is defined as a reduction of disease incidence, prevalence, morbidity, or mortality to a locally acceptable level achieved through deliberate efforts. Ongoing disease surveillance and program intervention efforts are usually required to document and maintain that level of control.
