The Prevalence of immunization and the factors associated with low immunization prevalence in an urban community in the Western Cape

Abstract

In 2013/2014 the fully immunized child immunization prevalence in South Africa was 80% is below the national target of 90%. A review of Western Cape Government (WCG): Health immunization data indicated that 87.7% of children received their vaccines consistently up to the age of 14 weeks but this figure dropped to 86% when children are reported as fully immunized is recorded at the 9 months immunization visit. In the 2014/15 financial year the immunization prevalence in the Tygerberg sub-district was 78% at 9 months and 71.9% at 18 months and this low immunization prevalence could lead to an outbreak of childhood communicable diseases such as measles and diphtheria. Limited information is known about the accuracy of the immunization prevalence data or the influence of caregivers' knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and practices and health service factors on immunization in this community.