CDC: Vaccination rates on the upswing

By Julian Pecquet - 09/01/11 12:13 PM ET

Young children are getting vaccinated at increasingly higher rates, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a new report.

The report found that immunization rates among 19-to-35-month-olds for most vaccine-preventable diseases are "increasing or being sustained at high levels," the CDC said.

The 2010 National Immunization Survey found that vaccine coverage increased over the previous year for measles, mumps and rubella, rotavirus, pneumococcal disease, hepatitis A and Haemophilus influenza type B (Hib); vaccination rates for other diseases, including poliovirus, varicella (chickenpox) and hepatitis B, remained stable at or above 90 percent.

"Today's report is reassuring because it means that most parents are protecting their young children from diseases that can cause widespread and sometimes severe harm," the director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Anne Schuchat, said in a statement. "We recommend vaccinations because they are one of the most effective, safest ways to keep children healthy."

The report comes as the Institute of Medicine last week rejected any link between vaccines and autism.