Study: High Concentration Of Unvaccinated Children In Sacramento Area

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A new study by Kaiser Permanente has revealed a high concentration of unvaccinated children in Northern California.

Three of the Top 5 clusters of unvaccinated children are in the Sacramento area, including one in northeastern Sacramento County, a small spot just south of Sacramento and one in Roseville.

Michelle Pagaduan is often busy packing grocery bags and her two children into the family minivan. She heard about the study, and says she's not surprised, but she doesn't agree.

"That's their choice if that's what they want to do," she said, adding that her own children are vaccinated.

The pocket of hot spots dot from the foothills to the valley flow. The report says the rates of unvaccinated children range as high as more than 13 percent in some areas south of Sacramento.

The survey included only members of Kaiser Permanente in Northern California.

Pediatrician Dr. Daniel McCrimons is a Sacramento pediatrician treating kids for more than three decades now, and he's troubled by the study.

"When you see the effects in a given community of not having the availability and having to deal with these epidemics, I mean it really is a major struggle," he said.

Pagaduan is concerned that uninformed choices by other parents could jeopardize her children's health in the near future.

"I don't understand why some parents are so anti vaccination," she said.

The Centers For Disease Control and Prevention says while vaccination rates remain high, some preventable diseases like measles have made comebacks in recent years.