CDC survey: Ohio second-from-bottom for childhood immunizations

A new CDC survey found that Ohio now ranks 49th nationally for childhood immunizations (Source: “Survey shows national immunization rates rising while Ohio's fall,” Youngstown Vindicator, Oct. 15, 2014).

The National Immunization Survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed immunization rates are rising nationally; while at the same time, Ohio’s rates are falling. The NIS showed that nationally 72.7 percent of children 19 to 35 months received all of their routine vaccinations in 2013, rising from 68.4 percent in 2012.

Conversely, the NIS survey indicated that 63.4 percent of Ohio’s children were properly immunized in 2013. That number fell from 66.8 percent in 2012 and 76.4 percent in 2011, putting Ohio 49th in the country for immunizations, ahead of only Arkansas.

The news comes as the Ohio Chapter of American Academy of Pediatrics has worked with legislators to draft House Bill 536, sponsored by state representatives Nickie Antonio, D-Lakewood, and Ryan Smith, R-Gallipolis. The bill would restore the immunization requirement for children entering into a state-regulated childcare facility. Ohio is the only state that does not have that requirement.