About 28 percent of infants and toddlers in Oklahoma continue to be at risk for vaccine-preventable diseases. Almost one million children in this country live without the benefit of being fully immunized, which increases the danger of serious illness and even death for those children. Seventy percent of children's vaccinations are needed in their first two years of life to protect them from diseases, disabilities, and death. Too many Oklahoma children are not fully protected against diseases that are easily prevented, said Don Blose, director of Immunization Services, Oklahoma State Department of Health, Disease and Prevention Services. Blose added, Young children, especially, need these shots because their immune systems are not fully developed.
Immunizations give their immune systems the needed boost.
Nearly 70 percent of childhood immunizations are due by age 2 years. A major cause of the measles epidemic was the failure to vaccinate children on time at 12 to 15 months of age. Oklahoma had 284 measles cases between 1989 and 1991, with one death. In 1996, Oklahoma was ranked number one in the country for cases of hepatitis A, another vaccine-preventable disease. The number of cases has continually declined since then, from 2,586 cases in 1996 to 273 cases in 2000.