Immunizations

Indicator Definition
Children (ages 19–35 months) that have received the recommended vaccination series 4:3:1:3:3 which includes four or more doses of diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis; three or more doses of poliovirus vaccine; one or more doses of any measles containing vaccine; three or more doses of Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) vaccine; and three or more doses of hepatitis B vaccine.

Young children receiving all recommended vaccinations in Colorado5

Indicator Significance
Immunizations are considered to be one of the greatest and most cost-effective achievements of biomedical science and public health. At the outset of the Twentieth Century there were over a million cases annually of diseases such as smallpox, diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough) and measles in the United States Thanks to advances in childhood immunization there are fewer than 10,000 cases of these diseases today in a much larger population. Parental beliefs and customs, and fears about the safety of vaccines impede full immunization. Other barriers include the costs of the growing number of vaccinations recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.^1,2

Colorado Specifics
Colorado faced a shortage of the pertussis vaccine in 2002, resulting in a rank at the bottom for vaccination coverage of Colorado’s 19- to 35-month-olds. Since then, it has experienced a marked improvement, reaching 83.4 percent in 2005. The most recent data show Colorado dropping slightly to 79.2 percent of infants receiving the full series of recommended vaccinations. Colorado’s rank has also slipped from 16^th among the states in 2005 to 36^th in2006-2007. Clearly Colorado needs to recommit to recent efforts to increase its rate of immunizations if it is to reach the Healthy People 2010 target of 90 percent within the next two years.

Promising Initiatives
In Colorado
The Colorado Children’s Immunization Coalition (CCIC) has achieved significant successes since it was established in 1991 through funding from The Colorado Trust. Among them: Administering a seven-year, $3 million immunization improvement project that reached 10 counties and 75 clinics. CCIC worked with other organizations to expand the state childhood immunization registry, and lobbied state officials to get the first-ever allocation of state funding—$250,000 in 2005 and $368,000 in 2006—to expand the Colorado Immunization Information System.³

Elsewhere
Seniors for Childhood Immunization (SCI), developed at the Institute of Research and Education on Aging, University of North Texas, uses trained older adult volunteers to educate new mothers on the importance of vaccinations. Since older adults have seen or even experienced the effects of diseases such as polio that are now all but eradicated in the United States, they can be an important, often untapped, resource to advocate for community-wide immunization programs. The SCI model has been adopted by other states, and in 2006 more than 600 families were reached through the program’s efforts.⁴ 

Young children receiving all recommended vaccinations⁶

Text

1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Ten Great Public Health Achievements—United States, 1900-1999”; May 2, 2001.
   
   Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Achievements in Public Health, 1900 – 1999 Impact of Vaccines Universally Recommended for Children—United States, 1990 – 1998.” MMWR Weekly; April 2, 1999.
   
   
2. Kimmel SR, et al. “Breaking the Barriers to Childhood Immunization,” American Family Physician; April 1996.
   
3. Colorado Children’s Immunization Coalition.
   
4. Seniors/Volunteers for Childhood Immunizations.
   

Charts

5. Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Immunization Survey, 2002 – 2006.
   
6. Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Immunization Survey, 2006 - 2007.