Vaccines are considered to be one of the greatest public health achievements of the 20th century and one of the most economical health interventions. Vaccines teach the immune system how to recognize and fight bacteria and viruses before an infection can happen.
Vaccines provide protection without a person getting sick and suffering complications of a disease. Some vaccines require only one dose, while others require several doses to provide complete protection. For every $1 spent on vaccines given routinely to children, the U.S. saves approximately $11 in medical costs by averting costs to treat diseases. A study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports vaccines administered to children and infants born between 1994 and 2023 will prevent 508 million illnesses, help avoid 1.1 million deaths and save nearly $2.7 trillion in total societal costs.
Achieving and maintaining high vaccination rates are two of the most important safeguards to prevent the spread of vaccine-preventable diseases. Many diseases are now rare due to the achievement of high immunization rates. However, the absence of these diseases no longer serves as a reminder of the severity and potential life-threatening complications of vaccine-preventable diseases.
Immunization rates in Iowa are consistent with or exceed national averages. While immunization rates remain high, pockets of populations not immunized leave people and their communities more susceptible to vaccine-preventable diseases. Viruses and bacteria causing vaccine-preventable diseases still exist and can be passed to people who are not protected by vaccines. Health care providers are essential stakeholders in achieving and maintaining high vaccination rates.
The county immunization report provides a snapshot of immunization data and allows users to filter data based on county and year of interest. Users also have the ability to download the report to PDF. Currently, childhood, adolescent, HPV, and adult immunization county reports are available for download.
To access and download a specific county report, select the following link and select the County and Year from the drop-down. Download the PDF using the button on the bottom right of the report.
The Iowa Immunization Program uses data from the Immunization Registry Information System (IRIS) to calculate county and state immunization rates for specific populations, including 2-year-old children and adolescents, and for specific vaccines, including HPV and influenza. The Program uses school and child care audit assessment data to ensure attendees receive the required immunizations.
Immunization and assessment data give Iowa health care providers and state and local partners valuable data to track progress toward goals, improve immunization practices, and guide strategies to improve immunization service delivery and policies.
Immunization data may identify pockets of need, unimmunized or under-immunized populations that present an increased disease risk.
Iowa’s Immunization Registry Information System (IRIS) is a confidential, computerized repository of individual immunization records from participating public and private health care providers. IRIS includes patient records from all ages and is used to keep patients on schedule for recommended immunizations by storing immunization records, validating immunization history, providing vaccine recommendations, producing patient reminder and recall notices.
School and child care audits: Annually, Local Public Health Agencies (LPHAs) assess immunization records of students enrolled in licensed child care centers and public, private and parochial students in kindergarten through 12th grade. Assessments are conducted to ensure attendees receive the required immunizations.
The vaccine coverage by antigen or series in Iowa residents.
If a measure is increasing or decreasing over time.
The quality of data in IRIS and the calculated coverage rates are dependent upon health care provider participation in the registry, management of records for individuals who have moved, died, or gone elsewhere, and collection of information on doses administered prior to the launch of IRIS in 2001.
IRIS does not routinely receive immunization data from other states and the Program does not maintain paper copies of immunization records. A resident can ask healthcare providers to have immunization information entered into IRIS. These limitations may affect the vaccine coverage in counties that border other states and among patients that received vaccines prior to 2001.
The data may include individuals that no longer reside in Iowa, but still have an active record in IRIS. These records may affect the overall immunization rate.
Influenza data is updated weekly and is based upon doses of vaccine reported to IRIS. The percent of population vaccinated includes the assumption of one dose of vaccine equates to one person vaccinated during the time period.
School and childcare audit data do not provide a full picture of all children’s immunization history. Vaccination and exemption status reflects the child's status at the time of assessment. Some children may be in the process of receiving required vaccines and final vaccination or exemption status may change after completion of the audit. In addition, some students with exemptions may have received some of the required vaccines.
The Iowa Public Health Tracking portal displays childhood and adolescent immunization data from 2011 through the most recent available data.
The influenza vaccine data is available from the 2016-17 flu season through the most recent available data. The influenza data will be updated weekly from August to May.
Rate of Immunization by IRIS population or Percent Immunized: Calculated by dividing the number of immunized individuals (numerator) by the population in the selected age group and/or geographic area in IRIS (denominator).
Rate of Immunization by Census Population: The Number of Immunized Patients divided by the population of the same-aged population and geographic area.
Census Population with IRIS Record: The percent of the Census population with patient record in IRIS, calculated as the number of patient records in IRIS divided by the county Census population. This measure demonstrates the completeness of IRIS data and representation of the county population in IRIS.
The Portal provides immunization rates based on different population denominators, the number of patient records in IRIS and census estimates.
IRIS - A benefit of using rates calculated with the number of patient records in IRIS is the numerator is contained in the denominator. This method provides a better understanding of the immunization rate for the active population. However, these rates may include individuals that have moved out of the county or state.
Census - A benefit of using rates calculated with Census estimates is the ability to understand the county immunization rate for all individuals regardless if there is a patient record in IRIS. This information allows a susceptible population to be determined. However, census data is an estimate and may not include a true representation of the population resulting either in an over or under estimation.
Immunization data for children and adolescents is different from data presented in school audits due to evaluating different vaccine series and at different ages. Immunization data for 2 year-old children evaluates if children received recommended vaccines on schedule by age 24 months. Immunization data for adolescents evaluates if children received recommended vaccines on schedule. School and child care audit data assesses compliance with Iowa Code, Chapter 139a.8(6) and Iowa Administrative Code, 641-7.7(139). Additionally, child care audits may include children as young as 4 months and older than 24 months, while children included in the 2-year-old data may not attend child care and would not be included in the audit.
