Study: R.I. has fifth-highest measles vaccination rate in U.S.

PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island tied for fifth place with New Jersey for having 95.6 percent of children ages 19- to 35-months-old having received the recommended vaccination against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR).
The state analysis was recently released by the nonprofit Trust for America’s Health.
New Hampshire had the highest MMR vaccination rate for preschoolers at 96.3 percent, and Colorado, Ohio and West Virginia had the lowest at 86 percent.
The study also found that fewer than 90 percent of children in that age group have received the recommended vaccination against measles, mumps and rubella in 17 states. Data was based on the latest completed National Immunization Survey from 2013.
No state in the Northeast was below 90 percent, while eight states in the South, five in the West and four in the Midwest had rates below 90 percent. Nationally, 91.1 percent of preschoolers are vaccinated.
“Sadly, there is a persistent preschooler vaccination gap in the United States. We’re seeing now how leaving children unnecessarily vulnerable to threats like the measles can have a tragic result,” Jeffrey Levi, executive director of TFAH, said in a statement.
“It is so important that communities maintain high levels of MMR vaccination – because measles is so infectious – and especially when outbreaks are occurring around them,” Litjen Tan, chief strategy officer of the Immunization Action Coalition, said in a statement. “To have pockets where community immunity is below 90 percent is worrisome, as they will be the ones most vulnerable to a case of measles exploding into an outbreak.”
Last month, the Centers for Disease Control issued a health advisory about an ongoing multistate measles outbreak, which has been linked to more than 102 cases in 14 states so far.
In 2000, measles was declared virtually eliminated in the United States, when cases dropped to about 60, and measles rates remained below 100 from 2002 to 2007, with many of those cases linked to overseas travel.
Then last year, there was a surge in measles, with at least 23 outbreaks and more than 600 cases, the organization said.
Measles is a highly contagious, viral illness that can lead to health complications, including pneumonia, encephalitis and eventually death.
After New Hampshire, the rest of the top 10 states for immunization rates are Washington, D.C. (96.2%); North Carolina (96.0%); Massachusetts (95.8%); New Jersey (95.6%) and Rhode Island (95.6%), New York (95.5%), Maryland (95.3%), Mississippi (95.2%), Delaware (94.8%) and Iowa (94.5 percent).
The rest of the list can be found HERE.

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