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Div. of Media Relations
1600 Clifton Road
MS D-14
Atlanta, GA 30333
(404) 639-3286
Fax (404) 639-7394 |
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Press Release
For Immediate Release
July 26, 2005 |
Contact: CDC Press Office
(404) 639-3286 |
Childhood Immunization Rates Surpass
Healthy People 2010 Goal
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced today that
the nation’s childhood immunization coverage rates continue at record high
levels, with about 81 percent of the nation’s 19-to-35-month-old children
receiving all the vaccinations in the recommended series. This is the first
time coverage for the base line series of vaccines (4:3:1:3:3 series) has
exceeded 80 percent which also represents the Healthy People 2010 goal.
Healthy People establishes goals to improve the nation’s health – increasing
immunization coverage is one of its goals.
In 2004, coverage for the 4:3:1:3:3 series, which includes four doses of
Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis (DTaP), three or more doses of polio
vaccine, one or more doses of measles-containing vaccine, three or more doses
of Hib vaccine which can prevent meningitis and pneumonia, and three doses of
hepatitis B vaccine, increased to 80.9 percent, compared to 79.4 percent in
2003, 74.8 percent in 2002, 73.7 percent in 2001 and 72.8 percent in 2000.
“These results are terrific news,” said Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of
the CDC. “They illustrate the tremendous progress we’ve made in preventing
what were once common childhood diseases. Most importantly, these results
show that parents have high levels of confidence in our vaccination
recommendations. It’s encouraging to see that parents recognize the
importance of protecting their children against diseases that while
relatively uncommon, can cause serious harm.”
The 2004 National Immunization Survey also found significant increases in
the percentage of young children receiving chickenpox and the childhood
pneumococcal vaccine, two relatively recent additions to the childhood
immunization schedule. The vaccines, because they were added in the past five
years, are not yet included in the overall series. National coverage with
chickenpox (varicella) vaccine increased to 87.5 percent in 2004 from 84.8
percent in 2003. Coverage for three or more doses of pneumococcal conjugate
vaccine (PCV7) increased to 73.2 percent in 2004 from 68.1 percent in 2003.
Coverage for doses of PCV7 increased to 43.4 percent compared with 35.8
percent in 2003, the first year coverage was measured for the fourth dose.
The overall results indicated that vaccination rates for the fourth dose
of DTaP vaccine, at 85.5 percent coverage, continued to lag behind other
vaccines in the 4:3:1:3:3 series. As a result, the coverage estimates for the
overall series is reduced.
The high immunization rates are also an indication that temporary
shortages of some of the routinely recommended childhood vaccines primarily
affected when, rather than whether, children were vaccinated. For example,
some of the older children included in the 2004 NIS survey would have been
eligible to receive DTaP during a March 2001-June 2002 shortage; however,
DTaP coverage remained comparable to 2003.
In 2004, as in previous years, there was substantial variation in coverage
levels among states and among cities. Estimated coverage with the 4:3:1:3:3
series ranged from 89.1% in Massachusetts to 68.4% in Nevada. The range in
coverage among the 28 urban areas was similar as among the states. Among the
28 urban areas, the highest estimated coverage for the 4:3:1:3:3 series was
89.7% for Davidson County, Tennessee, and the lowest was 64.8% in El Paso
County, Texas.
“We’re very pleased with the overall findings, but the survey also shows
there are places where we have work to do,” said Dr. Stephen L. Cochi, acting
Director of CDC’s National Immunization Program. “We want all children to be
well protected from vaccine preventable diseases. If we want to prevent the
return of diseases that are currently rare in the United States, we must
maintain our high immunization rates, and work to ensure those rates are high
in all states and communities.”
The National Immunization Survey findings were reported today by the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) at a news conference
sponsored by The National Partnership for Immunization (NPI) to kick off
August as National Immunization Awareness Month. NPI is a not for profit
organization dedicated to reducing vaccine preventable diseases among
infants, children, adolescents and adults.
In addition to national estimates, the National Immunization Survey (NIS)
provides vaccination coverage estimates among children 19 to 35 months of age
for each of the 50 states and 28 selected urban areas.
CDC uses a quarterly random-digit-dialing sample of telephone numbers for
each of the 78 survey areas to collect vaccination data for all age-eligible
children. During 2004, healthcare provider vaccination records were obtained
for 21,998 children. The overall response rate for eligible households was
67.4%.
The complete 2004 National Immunization Survey data will be released with
the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) on Thursday,
July28.
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