CDC: 90% of U.S. toddlers getting their recommended vaccinations

From 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.

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.

Earlier this week, Pediatrics published the most recent evidence that there is no link between thimerosol, a preservative once used in childhood vaccinations, and autistic spectrum disorders .