A POPULATION-BASED SURVEY OF IMMUNIZATION COVERAGE IN 2-YEAR-OLD CHILDREN

A cross-sectional, population-based, cluster-sample survey of 187 chil dren was conducted in the Newcastle area to assess the proportion of t wo-year-old children who were fully immunised, to ascertain whether ad ministration of these vaccines was age-appropriate and to look for fac tors predicting incomplete immunisation. Parents or guardians were int erviewed at their homes and the immunisation status of the children wa s verified either by the parent-held record or by the immunisation-pro vider-held record. Levels of full immunisation were 77 per cent at the time of interview and 72 per cent at the second birthday if Haemophil us influenzae type b (Hib) vaccine was excluded. If it was included, t he full immunisation level was 51 per cent. Coverage was highest for o ral polio vaccine and lowest for Hib vaccine. Twenty-nine per cent of all immunisations were given early, 44 per cent were given on time and 20 per cent were given late. Doses of vaccines due at older ages were more likely to be given late or not at all. Factors predicting incomp lete immunisation were: the principal caregiver being aged under 25 ye ars, being born outside Australia, having post-secondary qualification s, being female and having more than one child in the household. Immun isation coverage levels were not high enough to protect against outbre aks of pertussis and measles and cases of Haemophilus influenzae type b. Immunisation providers should aim to increase coverage to protect t he population against all vaccine preventable diseases, and aiming at high-risk groups could more effectively do this.