CHICAGO (AP) — A new report says that if Illinois improved its childhood vaccination rate to the level of the best-performing state, then 28,000 more young children would be up-to-date on six recommended shots.
The Commonwealth Fund released a state-by-state scorecard on children's health Wednesday. The report compares state performance on 20 indicators of children's health.
Iowa had the best performance on childhood vaccinations, with 84 percent of Iowa children receiving all recommended doses of six key vaccines. In Illinois, 73.4 percent of children got those vaccines.
The Commonwealth Fund is a New York-based foundation supporting health policy research.
The Illinois Department of Public Health cautions that it's difficult to compare state vaccination rates that are based on representative samples. The department says it strongly promotes immunizations.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.
