CDC: Not enough kids are getting vaccinations

WASHINGTON — Mary-Clayton Enderlein worried when a baby brought to her son's play date had a distinctive cough — a high-pitched "whoop" while gasping for air. It might indeed be whooping cough, the baby's mother agreed, explaining that the family didn't believe in vaccines.

A week later, a now-coughing Enderlein gave birth to her second son — and the newborn promptly sickened, too. Colin spent 10 days in intensive care in a Seattle hospital, turning blue as 50 coughs in a row would rack his body. It took months for Enderlein, Colin and the playmate who infected them to recover.

About 75 percent of the nation's toddlers are vaccinated on time, protecting them from contracting — and spreading — nine diseases.

But coverage varies widely among states and major cities, with pockets of the country where far too few youngsters are up-to-date on their shots, federal health officials warned yesterday.

As Enderlein's scare shows, getting shots late or not at all endangers not only the unvaccinated child: He or she in turn can spread disease to people with weakened immune systems such as elderly grandparents, friends with cancer, pregnant neighbors or younger children.

Colorado last year had the most immunization laggards, with only 62.7 percent of toddlers getting all their shots, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said.

Washington state (69.2 percent) also was in the bottom 10, along with Arizona, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.

Massachusetts was doing the best job, immunizing 86 percent of toddlers on time. The five other New England states as well as North Carolina, Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin and South Dakota also immunize more than 80 percent of toddlers on time.

There was even more variation when the CDC checked records of some large cities. In Newark, N.J., for example, only 57.5 percent of toddlers had up-to-date shots.

The government's goal by 2010 is that 80 percent of all toddlers receive on-time vaccinations against diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, meningitis-causing Haemophilus influenza or Hib, hepatitis B, polio, measles, mumps and rubella.

Toddlers also are supposed to receive shots against chickenpox and the pneumococcal vaccine that protects against certain types of meningitis and ear infections.

It's not clear why some states have a harder time vaccinating, said CDC immunization chief Dr. Walter Orenstein. He noted that simply remembering to keep up with the roughly 20 doses required by age 2 is hard for parents and doctors alike.

"If we let down our guard ... vaccine-preventable diseases will return," Orenstein warned.