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IMAGE: Rajesh Balkrishnan, PhD, of the University of Virginia School of Medicine, and his colleagues warn that failure to complete the course of common childhood vaccinations leaves children at risk. "These...
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Credit: Dan Addison | UVA Communications
More than a quarter of American infants in 2018 had not received common childhood vaccines that protect them from illnesses such as polio, tetanus, measles, mumps and chicken pox, new research from the University of Virginia School of Medicine reveals.
Only 72.8% of infants aged 19-35 months had received the full series of the seven recommended vaccines, falling far short of the federal government's goal of 90%. Those less likely to complete the vaccine series include African-American infants, infants born to mothers with less than a high-school education and infants in families with incomes below the federal poverty line.