Measles is a highly contagious virus that can affect the entire population if an effective immunisation programme is not in place. This study was aimed at determining the measles immunisation coverage and the dropout rate among children aged between 6 months and 14 years and at assessing factors associated with caregivers’ knowledge and perception of, and attitude towards the measles immunisation programme. Between 14 May 2018 and 31 July 2018, a descriptive, cross-sectional study design was conducted using simple random sampling to sample 381 caregivers of children at nine public health facilities at Tshwane Sub-district 2, Hammanskraal town. Data were collected by means of a structured questionnaire and observational checklist, and analysed using IBM SPSS version 23.0. Overall, the measles immunization coverage was 95.8% (365/381) and the MCV1-MCV2 dropout rate was 4.1%. The association between educational level and employment status (correlation coefficient=0.157**, p=0.0002), measles knowledge (correlation coefficient=-0.244**, p=0.000), immunization importance (correlation coefficient=-0.194**, p=0.000) and measles vaccine schedule (correlation coefficient=-0.138**, p=0.007) were found to be significant at p<0.05. The findings in this study revealed that caregivers’ positive attitude towards, and knowledge of measles immunisation programme resulted in high measles immunisation coverage and low dropout rate. It is recommended that continuous positive immunisation education about the benefits and importance be emphasized in order to increase immunisation uptake. / Health Studies / M. P. H.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Vaccinations are an important step in preventing childhood illnesses and disease outbreaks in the community. Complete immunizations before school assure eligibility for enrollment and protect children against severe illness. The fact that foreign-born children of Latino immigrants face health disparities in receiving vaccinations is well documented. However, there is little information in the literature about the actual experience of immigrants facing the complexities of the health system, and through their eyes, which factors ultimately affect vaccination rates of immigrant Latino children. The purpose of this study is to give voice to Latino immigrant families who have recently immigrated to the United States, in terms of the issues they encountered when engaging the health care system for vaccinations.