DIFFERENCES IN THE QUALITY OF VACCINES STORED IN COOLER BOXES COMPARED TO HOUSEHOLD REFRIGERATORS

Background: The inappropriate temperature of vaccine storage may cause vaccine damage leading to degrading or even dispelling the vaccine’s quality. This research aims to reveal the difference of vaccine’s quality stored in the cooler box compared to the household refrigerator with vaccine only and the difference of vaccine’s quality stored in the cooler box compared to the household refrigerator with vaccine stored along with food and beverage Methods: The research design uses an experimental study with a post-test-only control group design. The research was conducted at two independent practice midwives in Antapani Sub-district and the Faculty of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Bandung Institute of Technology from November to December 2015. The research object used eight types of vaccine (Hepatitis B, BCG, DPT-HB-Hib, Polio, Measles, DT, Td, and TT) with 72 vaccine vials divided into 3 vaccine storage units. The data analysis uses the chi-square test. Results: The results of the research show that there are statistically significant differences between the vaccine’s quality stored using a cooler box compared to a household refrigerator with vaccine only and the vaccine’s quality stored using a cooler box compared to a household refrigerator with vaccine stored along with food and beverage with the value of p<0,05. Conclusion: It is concluded that there are differences of the vaccine’s quality stored using cooler box compared to a household refrigerator with vaccine only and also different vaccine’s quality stored using cooler box compared to a household refrigerator with vaccine stored along with food and beverage Keywords: Cooler box, household refrigerator, vaccine quality