In a report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researchers say that more than a quarter of American children are not meeting the U.S. government’s recommendations for childhood vaccinations.
Looking at children between 18 months and their 3rd birthday, the CDC researchers found that 28 percent did not meet vaccination recommendations. The results were based on a 2005 government survey involving 17,563 U.S. children in that age group.
Two thirds of those children had missed doses, with the rest getting them at the wrong age or too soon after a previous dose to be considered completely effective.
Even with the missed or late doses, the United States has one of the best childhood vaccination records in the world, with fewer than 1 percent of parents not having their children vaccinated at all said Elizabeth Luman of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.
“For the vast majority of parents, they’re bringing their children to get vaccinated. The schedule is very complex and it requires a lot of visits to vaccination providers at specific times. And for parents who are busy, that can be really logistically difficult,” Luman said in a telephone interview.
*Note: Rotavirus is optional*
