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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A federal survey shows that Utah is next-to-last in the nation in the percentage of children up to age 2 who receive recommended immunizations on time. Only Nevada ranked lower.
Utah health officials say it means the state faces a greater risk of preventable diseases, such as whooping cough and chickenpox. This winter in Utah, cases of whooping cough, or pertussis, are already well above the national average.
The rankings were published in the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Immunizations Survey. In response, the Utah Health Department health department has begun a campaign to raise awareness of childhood vaccines.
As soon as a baby is born, it is recommended that a child get the first of a series of hepatitis B shots. By the time the infant is 3 months old, he should have had another hepatitis B shot and one for diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis; one for Haemophilus influenzae Type B; and one for polio.
With additional vaccines for flu, measles, mumps, rubella -- children face a host of shots from birth through the teenage years that, health officials said, can be hard to track.
Many factors stand in the way of children getting vaccines, said Audrey Stevenson, Salt Lake Valley Health Department family health services director
One factor among Utah's large families is the influence birth order plays: A family's first and second children are frequently vaccinated on schedule, but for those born third and later, "increased chaos in a family's life" could mean immunizations fall behind, Stevenson said.
One tool Utah parents have that isn't as widely used as officials would like is the Utah Statewide Immunization Information System. The online database tracks children's vaccinations without charge. It allows parents and health care providers to know what immunizations have been done and which are still needed.
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On the Web: Information on immunizations, including links to federally recommended vaccination schedules, is available at www.slvhealth.org.
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Information from: Deseret Morning News, http://www.deseretnews.com
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
