Mothers' perception of incidence of measles in a Nigerian Rural community

Abstract

Background: In Nigeria today measles is the greatest NPI target disease with the greatest impact on child health and ranks as one of the leading causes of childhood morbidity and mortality. Mothers have been known to make most decisions on home treatment of their children. This paper contributes to the knowledge on the perception of the incidence of measles among mothers in a Nigerian rural community Materials and Methods: A community based descriptive survey involving 400 women was conducted with questionnaire administered to the women aged 15-49 years in households. Households were selected by simple random sampling from a frame of Primary Health Care house numbering system. Results: More of the children suffered from measles before than after the launching of the National Programme on Immunization. In 1996 as perceived by the mothers. Conclusions: A reduction in the incidence in the incidence of measles after NPI launch as perceived by the mothers is highly commendable. However efforts need to be sustained to ensure a steady decline in measles incidence

Keywords

• mothers; perception; incidence; measles