Oregon Public Broadcasting

Oregonians are doing a good job of vaccinating their children and themselves, according to a report released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Recent outbreaks of childhood diseases -- like those that caused the death of nine infants in California from whooping cough this year -- prompted the CDC to look into immunization rates.

17,000 people were contacted nationwide for the survey and about 90 percent said they had received traditional vaccines -- like measles, mumps and rubella.

The rates for vaccines like Hepatitis A, which have only been around for about 5 years, were lower -- at 50 percent. 

CDC pediatrician, Lance Rodewald, says Oregon did well.

Lance Rodewald: "The Oregon program is an excellent immunization program and your coverage rates are just about even with the rest of the country."

For very new vaccines, like one for rotavirus, immunization rates in Oregon were low -- at about 30 percent. But Rodewald says it takes time for new vaccines to be accepted.

He says very few people, about one percent of the population, choose to completely forego immunizations.