CDC: Childhood immunization rates remain high

LOS ANGELES - U.S. immunization rates for the most common childhood vaccines continue to remain near or above the target level of 90 percent coverage, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said yesterday.

Rates for the newest vaccines, including hepatitis A, hepatitis B and rotavirus, also continue to grow, the agency reported in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Less than 1 percent of children had not received any vaccines.

"Today's report is generally very reassuring, despite reports we have seen" about parents being reluctant to immunize children because of fears of a link between vaccines and autism. ". . . A number of studies have been done and that question has been resolved. There is no link," said Dr. Anne Schuchat, director for the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.

The two major exceptions to the trend of increases involve the measles vaccine and that for Haemophilus influenzae b (Hib), which causes meningitis. The latter problem was caused by a vaccine shortage during 2008 and 2009 that led the CDC to recommend a fourth (booster) dose of the vaccine to children until the supply problem was resolved. That shortage has been eliminated and vaccination rates are returning to normal, Schuchat said. - Los Angeles Times