Vaccination coverage for measles has remained unchanged betweenNational Family Health Survey(NFHS)-4 (2015-16) and NFHS-5 (2019-20) inKerala. While 89% children in the 12-23 months age group received the first dose of measles-containing vaccine (MCV) in both the survey periods, those who got the second dose (24-35 months) was 16%.
ThoughMalappuramdistrict is now getting all the attention due to the latest detection of cases there (140 measles cases till date), the fact is the no district in the state has achieved 100% vaccination.
Meanwhile, the rural-urban coverage gap in the state is not much. While in urban Kerala, 86% children got the first dose, in rural areas it is 90%. For second dose, the coverage is 17% in urban and 14% in rural areas.