Vaccinations

Despite possible problems with whooping cough (see earlier post), the overall vaccination picture is largely unchanged. Katherine Hobson reports for the Wall Street Journal:

For the most part, toddlers are getting their recommended vaccinations, the CDC reported today.

A survey finds that for most routine vaccines — those against polio, measles/mumps/rubella, hepatitis B and chicken pox — coverage rates are close to or above the public health goal of 90% among children aged 19-35 months. And fewer than 1% of kids in that age group have received no vaccines at all.

(Here’s the vaccination schedule for kids up to age 6.)

As is customary, coverage rates for more recently recommended vaccines are lower. Coverage for the hepatitis B birth dose rose to 61% from 55% in the previous survey of kids in this age range, while coverage of the hepatitis A vaccine rose to 47% from 40% and coverage for the vaccine protecting against the pneumococcus bacterium held steady at 80%. Coverage for the rotavirus vaccine was 44%.

Data-lovers should dive directly into the CDC’s report; it has coverage rates broken out by state, racial or ethnic group and poverty status.