More American Children Being Vaccinated Each Year

Featured Article
Main Category: Immune System / Vaccines
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Article Date: 31 Aug 2007 - 10:00 PST

email to a friend   printer friendly   view / write opinions   rate article

According to new figures issued yesterday, 30th August, by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more American children are being vaccinated each year. The nation's immunization rates for childhood vaccinations are at or near record levels, said the CDC, reflecting a rising trend of more children being protected against vaccine-preventable diseases each year.

However, within the detail, the picture for adolescent vaccinations is not quite as rosy as it should be and the CDC suggests parents should take their pre-teenagers to the doctor for a checkup and make sure they are scheduled for their jabs.

The figures are in the National Immunization Survey (NIS) and can be seen in the NIS data tables in the Statistics and Surveillance section of the CDC website.

The NIS for 2006 shows that 77 per cent of American children aged between 19 and 35 months had received their recommended vaccinations. This figure is statistically close to the 76.1 per cent of 2005, a year earlier.

Deputy director of CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Dr Melinda Wharton welcomed the news:

"We are continuing to protect more young children and adolescents than ever before from vaccine-preventable diseases that can cause serious illness or death, and for which we often have no effective medical treatments," she said.

The recommended vaccinations (these start at birth and go on usually until the child is 2 years old) are for:

• Diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccine (4 doses),
• Polio (3 doses),
• Measles, mumps and rubella (1 or more doses),
• Haemophilus influenzae type b, (Hib, 3 doses),
• Hepatitis B (3 doses), and
• Varicella (chickenpox, 1 or more doses).

State by state the figures vary widely, as they have before. For example, the survey estimated that 83.6 per cent of children in Massachusetts had received all their vaccinations (the highest) whereas in Nevada this figure was only 59.5 per cent (the lowest).

The survey also showed small ethnic/racial discrepancies in the figures but suggested these are more likely to be due to socioeconomic status and household income than race. For example, significantly fewer children living below the poverty line received all their vaccinations compared to those at or above it. And because a large percentage of black children live below the poverty line, the rate of vaccination among this group was lower than for white children.

For the first time the NIS includes estimates of adolescent vaccinations. The survey shows the percentage of 13 to 17 year olds who have had their recommended vaccinations for hepatitis B, measles-mumps and rubella, varicella, tetanus-diphtheria or tetanus, reduced diphtheria and acellular pertussis and meningococcal conjugate vaccine.

The last 4, tetanus, reduced diphtheria and acellular pertussis and meningococcal conjugate vaccines were approved for use in the US in 2005.

The results show that the government targets set in the nation′s Healthy People 2010 goals for 13 to 15 year olds were not met for any of the vaccines.

In fact the proportion of adolescents who have had all their recommended vaccines varied widely, both in terms of their age and the type of vaccine.

The Healthy People 2010 goal for 13 to 15 year olds is that 90 per cent of this age group should have received: three doses of Hepatitis B vaccine, two doses of measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, one dose of either tetanus-diphtheria or tetanus, diphtheria and acellular pertussis vaccine, and one dose of varicella vaccine (only if they have not previously had chickenpox).

For the older vaccines, the estimates range from 84.3 per cent for hepatitis B to 88.6 per cent depending on the type of vaccine and the age.

For the more recently approved vaccines, the figures are around the 60 per cent mark for 13 to 15 year olds receiving a tetanus-diphtheria or tetanus, reduced diphtheria and acellular pertussis vaccination since th age 10, but a very low 11 or so per cent for the rest: tetanus, reduced diphtheria and acellular pertussis alone, or meningococcal conjugate vaccination.

Wharton said the survey showed:

"We have more work to do to protect older children from vaccine-preventable diseases."

"We need to continue to build awareness of these recommendations among parents and health care providers, and we need to continue our efforts to educate everyone about the health benefits of these vaccines."

She said parents of all 11 and 12 year old children should take them to their doctor for a routine check up. This way they will be more likely to have all their recommended vaccinations.

Click here for "2006 National Immunization Survey Data Released", including tables of the NIS results.

Written by: Catharine Paddock
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today