Abstract
OBJECTIVE:
to assess the cold chain capacity, health workers' immunobiological product conservation knowledge and practices in Primary Healthcare Centers (PHC) in São Paulo city, Brazil.
METHODS:
this descriptive study included 24 randomly selected PHC in the South and Midwest regions of the city; between December 2011 and July 2012, we interviewed the health workers on their vaccine conservation knowledge/practice and observed the local infrastructure, using a form developed for this project; we assigned points to items of the form and classified each PHC as sufficient, regular or insufficient.
RESULTS:
most of the 24 PHC evaluated were administered by Social Organizations; all of them had vaccine storage chambers; 5 PHC reported using their maximum storage capacity; 9 PHC were classified as having sufficient knowledge/practice and 15 as having regular knowledge/practice.
CONCLUSION:
in these PHC, cold chain utilization was close to its maximum capacity; many health workers did not have basic knowledge about vaccine conservation.
Key words:
Refrigeration; Vaccines; Health Services Evaluation; Health Personnel; Epidemiology, Descriptive
