HHS HealthBeat (September 30, 2008)

Big shots

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

In getting their kids vaccinated, American parents are big shots. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says we’ve reached 90 percent of kids getting their chicken pox vaccinations, which is a record.

Overall, vaccination rates for children under 3 years continue at a record high of 77 percent. And this includes big increases in American Indians and Alaska Natives.

Those good numbers from the National Immunization Survey still leave some room for improvement, though. The CDC’s Dr. Anne Schuchat notes that coverage isn’t even – some states lead and others lag.

And babies are always being born, so there’ll always be new infants to immunize.

``It takes their parents, their providers, and their public health programs, all working together, to ensure that they’re vaccinated and protected against these serious infectious diseases.’’ (10 seconds)

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: September, 30 2008