THURSDAY, Sept. 12 (HealthDay News) -- Most children in the United States are being immunized against vaccine-preventable diseases at the nationally accepted target rate, but coverage lags in some states and in children whose family incomes fall at or below the federal poverty level, according to a report published in the Sept. 13 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Carla L. Black, Ph.D., of the CDC in Atlanta, and colleagues analyzed the National Immunization Survey data to estimate national, state, and local vaccination coverage for children born between 2009 and 2011, and determine how coverage measured up against Healthy People 2020 goals.
The researchers found that, in 2012, childhood vaccination levels for the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine; hepatitis B vaccine; poliovirus vaccine; and varicella vaccine remained at or near the Healthy People 2020 goal of 90 percent. Coverage did vary by state, however, and while racial disparity was rare, coverage tended to be lower among poorer populations.
"Sustaining current coverage levels and increasing coverage for those vaccines below national target levels is needed to maintain the low levels of vaccine-preventable diseases and prevent a resurgence of these diseases in the United States," the authors write.
Full Text
