Paediatrician Margie Danchin from the University of Melbourne said to prevent measles spreading the community needed a “herd immunity” of 95 per cent.

Dr Danchin, also a researcher at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, said the viral infection could spread rapidly in a community where only around 70 per cent of babies and toddlers were immunised.

“If a return traveller comes back from Bali with measles and goes into that community that can set off an epidemic like wildfire,” she said

“Measles is the most highly-contagious vaccine-preventable disease or virus that we have.”

Poorer vaccination rates in some areas are often blamed on “anti-vaxxer” parents who believe an inoculation poses more of a threat to their child than the disease it protects against.

However, Dr Danchin said there was also another significant factor: many parents, whether they be single mothers busy looking after many children or wealthy parents who both work full-time, often struggle to get to a vaccination clinic or GP.

Children in Australia are eligible for 16 free rounds of shots from birth to four years old, including a hepatitis B injection after they are born, and a combined injection with diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough and polio at two months.

Six-week old Luka Stahli Quinn was receiving his two-month injections at Footscray Town Hall on Wednesday, with mother Simone and father Mark.

Mrs Stahli Quinn, a university administrator, said she was conscious about getting the correct vaccinations after her daughter, three-year-old Frankie, was born premature.

She said she had friends who were anti-vaccine, and had sometimes avoided them a result.

“I just find that we have completely different views and there is no middle ground,” Mrs Stahli Quinn said.

“I also strongly believe in science and research, and I think there are good indications that vaccinations protect us.”

There have been a number of recent outbreaks of measles, with infected people flying to Melbourne Airport from Asia.

This week the Victorian Department of Health issued an alert after a man become unwell after a March 10 flight from Denpasar, Bali, and was later confirmed to have measles.

Despite some poor-performing pockets, acting Health Minister Martin Foley said the state overall had recently reached the 95 per cent target for childhood immunisation required for "herd immunity".

"This record is proof that parents don’t buy into lies of irresponsible rogues putting out myths about immunisation,"Mr Foley said.

The state government's initiatives targeting communities with lower immunisation rates include working with the Dandenong council to target new arrivals and refugees.