Inner city children immunization rates lag behind national average

Immunization rates among children living in the inner city and enrolled in subsidized health care are just over half of national averages, a recent study has found.

The investigators examined data from subsidized day care records and found 156 children, between birth and age 60 months, in 14 inner-city child care centers enrolled in subsidized day care. Only 44.2% of the children in the study were up-to-date with immunization at 12 months.

By comparison, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that 82% of 2-year-old children are up-to-date with immunization nationally, while 92% of children ages 19 to 35 months who live below the federal poverty level are up-to-date.

The findings were published in the May Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Undeserved.