Cross-sectional Survey on Parental Perception and Attitude on Measles Vaccine: Low Hospital Measles Case Presentation in Rural Area in Enugu, Nigeria

Introduction: The incidence of measles has spiked in recent times despite the efforts to its eradication using a highly effective measles vaccine. Vaccine coverage and underreporting of cases are the major challenges to this effort. Aim: This study was designed to assess the parental knowledge of measles, attitude to measles vaccine and practice of case notification in a rural area in Enugu Nigeria. Materials and Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out during a house to house campaign on measles in Ogwuagor (a rural area in Enugu, with frequent cases of measles like symptoms) between June to November 2019. A pre-tested self/interviewer’s administered questionnaire was used to assess the knowledge of measles while Parental Attitude on Childhood Vaccine (PACV) questions were adopted and used to assess the attitude of parents to the measles vaccine. The participants were parents of at least one child of above 12 months of age. The findings and scores were analysed using IBM SPSS Statistic software for windows (SPSS statistical software V.21 (IBM Corp. 2019). The age of the respondents was grouped, and the simple mean obtained. The associations of variables; number of children, level of education and last antenatal care with respect to knowledge and attitude were analysed using Chi-square and p