Assessment of Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices of Measles Prevention among Mothers of Under Five Years children attending under 5 clinic in Bauchi Town

Measles (rubella) is among the leading causes of child morbidity and mortality worldwide, although, routine measles immunization coverage has increased from 29% in 1994 to 59.7% in 2009. This coverage is still relatively very low; due to this low coverage rate and prevailing poor living conditions, measles outbreaks frequently occur in different parts of Nigeria, more especially in Bauchi state. This study was conducted to review the knowledge, attitude, and practices of measles prevention among mothers of under Five Years children attending under 5’s clinic in Bauchi Town. A descriptive crosssectional study design was used to collect data via convenience sampling method. 60 mothers formed the sample size of the study. The reliability of the study instrument was obtained by means of cleaning the data, while the validity was established through Cronbach’s Alpha reliability test of 0.89 values and analyzed using tables, percentages and chi-square test. Majority of the respondents were in agreement with the statement that measles is among the most common cause of death in children, and also shows that, higher mortality among children infected with measles is couple with malnutrition. Several factors such as infectiousness, greater difficulties in vaccination, in carrying out surveillance, and in detecting infected individuals make measles hard to control talk less of eradicating it. To avoid this tragic effect of measles, Immunization as one of the most powerful and costeffective weapons of modern preventive medicine should be adopted as prevention and control means. Therefore, it is crucial to immunize children if they are found un-immunized after the age of 9 months.