evidence: By — Jamie Leventhal Jamie Leventhal Leave a comment 0comments Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/a-quiet-rise-in-unvaccinated-children-could-put-the-u-s-at-risk-of-outbreaks Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter A quiet rise in unvaccinated children could put the U.S. at risk of outbreaks Health Updated on Oct 12, 2018 10:39 AM EDT — Published on Oct 11, 2018 3:09 PM EDT Vaccine exemption rates among infants and school-aged children have been quietly rising, creating volatile pockets of unimmunized individuals, new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows. For the third consecutive school year, unvaccinated communities have seen small but notable growth, according to the CDC’s latest National Immunization Survey. One school in Oregon has toddler vaccination rates lower than those in Venezuela. Only half of the preschoolers in the state received their MMR vaccines, compared to 57 percent of Venezuelan toddlers. Overall, the CDC reported child vaccination rates have been steadily increasing since 2001. The agency’s survey encompasses millions of children across 49 states* and the District of Columbia by pulling data from health care providers and schools. Their findings show that vaccine coverage remains high for 19- to 35-month-olds and kindergarteners.