The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has announced new data that show that Philadelphia is protecting its residents from dangerous diseases with immunization rates that are among the highest in the country.
High immunization rates prevent disease outbreaks – and Philadelphia’s immunization rates are frequently higher than nationwide rates, meeting national goals and protecting our population from preventable diseases.
The data, from the 2017 National Immunization Survey for Teens (NIS-Teen), covers adolescents age 13 to 17. The survey is done every year by the CDC, and it provides up-to-date estimates of vaccination for children and allows us to track rates of vaccinations over time.
Philadelphia’s adolescent immunization rates for several key vaccines have been steadily rising. The data for 2017 show upticks over the rates from 2016 – indicating rising immunization rates.
In Philadelphia, adolescents age 13 to 17 have high immunization rates for several key vaccines: Tdap, MenACWY, and Varicella. For these, Philadelphia’s rates are higher than nationwide averages – and exceed goals set by Healthy People 2020, a federal initiative to set long-term health goals for the whole country.
The HPV vaccine can prevent some forms of cancer. However, our city doesn’t have high enough rates of HPV vaccination to meet the Healthy People goal. Every year, HPV causes over 30,000 new cases of cancer. With the vaccine, parents and health care providers have the opportunity to protect children from this, so it’s important to continue increasing vaccination rates of this relatively new vaccine.