Study: half of U.S. babies, kids vaccinated late

Denver, CO, United States (4E) – Nearly half of infants and young children in the U.S. are vaccinated late, according to a study of the Kaiser Permanente Institute for Health Research.

The 2004-2008 study covering more than 320,000 children up to age 2 in seven states showed a steady increase in the percentage of families delaying or refusing federally-recommended schedules for vaccination, said the study publicized on Monday.

The study showed 48.7 percent of children under 24 months were under-vaccinated by at least one day between 2004 and 2008, the Denver Post reported citing the study. The numbers grew from 41.8 percent in 2004 to 54.4 percent in 2008.

There was a significant delay in pneumococcal vaccination in 2007 and the percentage of parents who cause the undervaccination was 13 percent, the study showed.

The delay was attributed to lack of time for vaccination appointment and sickness of the child on the date of vaccination, said Kaiser Institute scientist Jason Glanz.

Glanz warned that if the number of vaccination delay or refusal increases, there will be outbreaks. Previous Kaiser studies showed that children who refused whooping cough vaccination are 23 times likely to catch the illness than those who were immunized.

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