Immunization Levels Among Inner City Children Enrolled in Subsidized Childcare

Purpose. Measure immunization rates in subsidized child care and determine whether the population is representative of inner city preschool children. Methods. We identified 156 children, ages 0–60 months, in 14 inner-city child care centers enrolled in subsidized care and obtained demographic and immunization information. ZIP-code distribution of sample children was correlated with similarly aged children from the 2000 Census (family incomes 150% of poverty). Results. The overall subsidized child care population was geographically similar to all low-income children, ages 0–5, in Jacksonville (r0.94). Only 73.3% were up-to-date at 3 months and 44.2% at 12 months of age (3 DTaP, 2 HIB, 2 IPV, 3 Hep B). Discussion. Our findings support the contention that children in subsidized child care are geographically representative of low-income, inner city preschool children. This study suggests that children enrolled in subsidized child care are both potentially underserved and an accessible window into the inner-city preschool population.