Nevada health officials say immunization rates among children in Nevada are a mixed bag.
The good news is Nevada has improved to 39th in the nation for the percentage of children who receive vaccinations for tetanus, whooping cough and meningitis. That’s up from 49th just a decade ago. The state has also seen a jump in MMR vaccinations, which is the virus that causes measles.
However, Nevada is 49th for infant immunizations. Only 60 percent of children ages 19 months to three years have received all recommended vaccinations. The national average is about 70 percent.
Dr. John Packham is director of health policy at the University Of Nevada School Of Medicine. He says the preventative cost of vaccinating children is substantial.
“The CDC estimates that childhood immunizations save anywhere from 10 to 13 billion dollars a year in avoided, direct medical costs," Packham said.
Packham adds that childhood vaccinations along with adult immunizations have reduced vaccine preventable diseases by roughly 95 percent, many of which were major killers in the last century.
