WASHINGTON — Getting your baby all of his or her shots can be a tall order.

And researchers say that only three out of four babies in the United States get the complete regime of recommended immunizations.

The problem, according to a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is that while many babies get their shots, many also are given at the wrong age or wrong times, or simply miss a shot.

The results were reported today by the CDC and Elizabeth Luman, Ph.D., of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.

The study appears in the June issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. The CDC analysis relies on vaccination reports from families who participated in the 2005 National Immunization Survey, which randomly surveyed households with children, then followed up with their vaccine providers, according to a story from Health Behavior News Service.

Missed doses account for two-thirds of vaccine lapses, according to the new estimate.

The study also revealed that some children get their shots too early, Health Behavior News Service reported.

For instance, about 3 percent of children had their last hepatitis B vaccines prior to age 6 months, the minimum recommended for that immunization. Other toddlers received their first measles vaccine while their mother’s antibodies still protected them, in effect wasting that dose.

Another lapse — getting serial doses too close together — affects 3 percent of children.

Denice Cora-Bramble, M.D., of the Children’s National Medical Center, in Washington, D.C., deals with these issues in her work every day, the news service reported.

“I respect the general findings, but then we have to walk over to the clinical setting,” she said in the report. “If a kid comes in seven days too early, but the physician thinks they won’t come back, do you send them home?” said Cora-Bramble, who was unaffiliated with the CDC research.

Luman said this is a dilemm.

“It’s most important that kids get all the doses they’re supposed to have,” she said. “Providers sometimes have to do a balancing act: avoiding missed opportunities versus giving valid vaccinations. But for the 8 percent of children who received an invalid dose, official guidelines call for those vaccinations to be repeated.”

Some of these children might need revaccination before they can start school, she said.

Cora-Bramble, who is executive director of the Goldberg Center for Community Pediatric Health, said the study is relevant to her organization, which is working to improve its immunization rates through mobile health vans and other outreach and follow-up efforts.

“Vaccine compliance is an important benchmark for pediatricians,” Cora-Bramble said. “These are some real issues that we struggle with as clinicians.”

“I have two kids, and from a parent’s point of view, it can be hard, logistically, to come in when scheduled,” Luman said. “But I know how important timely vaccination is for the health of my children and my community.”

There have been some outbreaks of communicable diseases recently. The problem was children who had received no vaccinations whatsoever, said Jane Seward, deputy director of the Division of Viral Diseases in the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.

“During recent measles outbreaks in San Diego, Arizona, and Wisconsin, all cases have occurred among individuals who had not received any measles vaccine,” Seward said in the Health News story.

For the complete story, go to http://www.newswise.com/p/articles/view/540020/