Influence of sociodemographic factors in measles-rubella campaign compared with routine immunization at Mysore City

Abstract

Background: Vaccines are mostly delivered through routine immunization and catch-up campaigns. Measles-rubella (MR) campaign, one of the largest vaccination campaigns, was launched on February 8, 2017, in five states of India including Karnataka. Objectives: The objective of this study was to compare the association of various sociodemographic factors influencing routine immunization and MR campaign and to identify the reasons for nonvaccination. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was done after the end of MR campaign, by interviewing parents of 147 children aged 9 months to 5 years in urban areas of Mysore. Sociodemographic factors and measles vaccination status by routine immunization and MR campaign were studied. Results: The coverage of measles vaccination by routine immunization and the MR campaign was 93.9% (138/147) and 86.4% (127/147), respectively. While communication with field workers was significantly associated with both routine immunization and the MR campaign, religion and mother's educational status were associated with MR campaign (P lt; 0.05). The most common reason for not being vaccinated was lack of unawareness about the campaign and the location for vaccination which could have been curbed by health education. Conclusions: The study has shown that there are many factors which can be prevented by the health system that might help in improving immunization coverage.