Teen Vaccination Rates Continue to Climb, Though Raising Awareness Remains Key

In 2009, the nation experienced double-digit increases in the percentage of U.S. teenagers who had received at least one dose of two of the three vaccines routinely recommended for adolescents, according to the results of a survey released Aug. 20 in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. "There's been steady incremental uptake in vaccination rates among teens," said Doug Campos-Outcalt, M.D., M.P.A., the AAFP's liaison to the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. "It would be nice to be doing better than we are, but it is improving."