xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"> “Childhood Vaccination Providers in the United States”

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March 1, 2002

 

“Childhood Vaccination Providers in the United States” American Journal of Public Health (www.ajph.org) (02/02) Vol. 92, No. 2, P. 266; LeBaron, Charles W.

A report in the February edition of American Journal of Public Health discusses U.S. childhood vaccination providers.  Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Immunization Program examined 1997 data on childhood vaccination providers contained in natality records, state immunization reports, the Vaccines for Children program, and the National Immunization Survey.  The researchers found that overall, 18 percent of children were vaccinated in the public sector, 57 percent of children were vaccinated in the private sector, and 25 percent of all children were vaccinated by a mixture of providers.  There were 50,883 facilities in the United States where children could be immunized, of which 19 percent were in the public sector and 81 percent were in the private sector.  The average patient load was 77 per medical facility, although public-sector loads tended to be larger than in the private sector.  The researchers concluded that there were sufficient vaccination providers in the United States to meet demand.  They suggested that attempts to raise vaccination levels in the United States should concentrate primarily on improving the vaccination performance of providers, ensuring continuity of care, and increasing preventive care use among children.

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