U.S. kid vaccine rate at least 90 percent

ATLANTA, Sept. 1 (UPI) -- Vaccine rates for U.S. children 19-35 months, for most vaccine-preventable diseases, are at 90 percent or above, federal health officials say.

The 2010 National Immunization Survey, a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, compared vaccination rates of 17,000 households of children born from January 2007 to July 2009.

Compared with the previous year, immunization increased for many vaccine-preventable diseases, including measles, mumps and rubella; rotavirus; pneumococcal disease; hepatitis A and Haemophilus influenza type B (Hib).

Results from the survey indicated vaccination coverage rates against poliovirus, varicella (chickenpox) and the full series of hepatitis B remained stable at 90 percent or above.

"Today's report is reassuring because it means that most parents are protecting their young children from diseases that can cause widespread and sometimes severe harm," Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, says in a statement. "We recommend vaccinations because they are one of the most effective, safest ways to keep children healthy. As recent outbreaks of measles and whooping cough have shown, vaccine-preventable diseases are still around us, and it is important that health care providers, community groups and state programs support parents in assuring that children are protected from vaccine-preventable diseases."

The national survey found less than 1 percent of U.S. toddlers received no vaccines at all.