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Study: Iowa topped nation in vaccination rate growth in past decade

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While more than half of U.S. states’ vaccination rates have fallen over the past decade, Iowa’s vaccination rate has risen by 8.5 percentage points, tying with South Carolina for the highest growth rate in the country, according to a new study from Health Testing Centers, a Florida-based direct-to-consumer lab. The study examined data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, analyzing vaccination rates among kindergartners and teenagers. The decline in vaccination rates was the most severe in Georgia — down 6.4% since 2009 due to the spread of anti-vaccine misinformation on social media. Overall U.S. vaccination rates fall below the CDC’s target rates, including rates for the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) and polio vaccines. Iowa, despite the overall uptick, still has the 15th-lowest MMR vaccination rate (93%), and the 13th-lowest polio vaccination rate, both of which fall below target rates set by the CDC to prevent outbreaks. Iowa experienced a measles outbreak earlier this year.