Conservação de vacinas na Atenção Primária à Saúde: realidade em capital do nordeste brasileiro

The preservation of vaccines in Primary Health Care units in Sao Luis, a capital city in northeastern Brazil, is evaluated. Current descriptive, evaluative, cross-sectional quantitative approach was applied to a section of PAISSV 2.0 of the National Immunization Program with nursing professionals, between August 2016 and January 2017. Descriptive statistical analysis was employed. Forty-eight (92.3%) vaccine rooms were assessed. The complete absence of refrigerated chambers and the lack of monitoring and control instruments for temperature may be highlighted. In the case of the conservation process, not a single vaccine room distributed vaccines on shelves as recommended. Further, 43 vaccine rooms (89.6%) were classified as unsuitable and all were inappropriate. The vaccine conservation practice is still incipient, with inadequate structure and working process. These flaws may compromise the eradication and control of immunopreventive diseases.