Toddler vaccination rate at record high

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported today that the rate of toddlers receiving full vaccination was at a record high in 2007 (Source: “Vaccinations of Toddlers Set a Record,” Reuters/New York Times, Sept. 5, 2008).

The report found that 77.4 percent of children ages 1½ to 3 had received the full recommended series of shots and 90 percent received all but one. The results are reassurance to public health officials who had previously voiced concern that some parents are forgoing vaccinations for their children out of fear of a link between vaccines and autism.

Interestingly, the CDC study came out the same day that a new study by Columbia University and CDC researchers found no link between the measles, mumps and rubella  vaccine and autism (Source: “Study: No link between measles vaccine and autism,” Associated Press/ Cincinnati Enquirer, Sept. 3, 2008).