Black-white gap disappears for childhood shots

ATLANTA — For the first time in at least a decade, the vaccination rate for black children in the United States has caught up to that of youngsters in other racial groups, the government reported Thursday.

"This is an important milestone. It shows you that racial and ethnic differences can be eliminated" in health care, said Dr. Walter Orenstein, an Emory University vaccination expert.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that a survey found no statistically significant difference in 2005 among blacks, whites, Asians and Hispanics in vaccination rates for children ages 19 months to 35 months.

In each racial group, about 76 percent to 79 percent of children received the entire recommended series of shots against whooping cough, diphtheria, tetanus, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, chickenpox, hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenza type B.

Blacks have lagged behind whites by as many as 10 percentage points in the past decade, said Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.

In decades past, when fewer immunizations were recommended by the government, vaccination rates for different racial groups at times were roughly equal, Schuchat said.

But disparities became clear during measles outbreaks in the late 1980s and early '90s. New public health efforts to close the gap were started, including the creation of the government's Vaccines for Children program in 1994, which pays for immunizations for the poor.

The overall numbers in the new report indicate public health officials still have work to do, said Dr. Neal Halsey, director of John Hopkins University's Institute for Vaccine Safety.

"Seventy-six percent is good, but it's not great. We still have a quarter of the children in this country not getting all the recommended vaccines in a timely manner," Halsey said.

Researchers found wide geographic variations. Massachusetts had the highest vaccination rate, about 91 percent. Vermont had the lowest, 63 percent.

In Washington state, 66 percent of children ages 19-35 months have a complete vaccination series.

But racial gaps, which have been narrowing significantly in the past five or six years, seem to have closed, at least for now.

Racial gaps persist for some vaccines, according to the report. Chickenpox vaccination rates were higher for black and Hispanic children than for white youngsters. But four-dose coverages of whooping cough, tetanus and diphtheria and pneumococcal conjugate vaccines were lower for blacks and Hispanics than for whites.

But there was additional good news: Overall vaccinations with pneumococcal conjugate vaccine have risen substantially since it was introduced in 2000, despite shortages. The percentage of children receiving three shots of the vaccine rose to 83 percent in 2005, up from 41 percent in 2002. The percentage receiving the full recommended four doses was up to 54 percent, from 36 percent in 2003.