Background: Immunization against childhood diseases is one of the most important ways
of preventing childhood morbidity and mortality. Aims: The objective of this study is to
review the dropout rates of immunization of children in a health center using a single dose of
diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus (DPT1) and three doses of diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus (DPT3)
vaccine. Subjects and Methods: This is a cross sectional study where immunization
dropout rate of children less than 1 year in a health center was ascertained. Data was
analyzed by Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 17 (Chicago, IL, USA). Data
presentation was in the form of tables and charts. The P values and confidence intervals
were calculated using Chi-square. The mean and ranges of all the variables were calculated.
The level of significance was set at P ? 0.05. Results: Out of 972 children who are within
1 year, 63% (613/972) were immunized for DPT3 while 63.7% (619/972) were immunized
for DPT1 with an overall dropout rates and percentage of 6 and 1% (6/613) respectively.
Immunization coverage for 2012 was also stratified into intervals of 4 months: From January
to April 2012, 168 children received DPT1 while 166 received DPT3. Between May and
August 2012, 222 children received DPT1 while 226 received DPT3. The last 3rd of the year
showed that 223 children received DPT1 while 227 received DPT3. Conclusions: Though
the total immunization coverage for DPT in this rural health center is poor, they have a
very low dropout rate.