Vaccination coverage among children entering school--United States, 2003-04 school year.
One of the national health objectives for 2010 is to sustain > or =95% vaccination coverage among children in kindergarten through first grade (objective 14-23). To determine the percentage of vaccination coverage among children entering kindergarten, data on vaccination coverage were analyzed from reports submitted to the National Immunization Program by states, the District of Columbia (DC), and eight current or former U.S. territories for the 2003-04 school year. This report summarizes the results of that analysis, which determined that coverage for all vaccines except hepatitis B (HepB) and varicella was reported at >90% in 45 areas. However, the vaccines required in each reporting area and the methods for surveying kindergarten-aged children vary substantially; in seven states, <20% of eligible children were surveyed. The wide variations in survey populations underscore the need for CDC to continue working with immunization programs in states, DC, and current or former territories to improve survey methods and automate reporting of data.
D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D012574:Schools; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014611:Vaccination / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*