According to the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, US residents who were initially foreign-born exhibit the lowest rates vaccination up on reaching adulthood. The study shows that 13% of the American adult population is made up of people who were previously of a different nationality. This figure has risen quite significantly from the 5% that it was in 1970.
Based on this statistic, researchers have reason to believe that these foreign-born residents, as well as their families who are residing in the United States, are more prone to contracting diseases that are preventable by vaccination including hepatitis, pneumococcal diseases, tetanus, influence, diphtheria and pertussis, shingles, and HPV.
Researchers found that person's nationality at birth seems to play a relevant role in later adult life about whether or not they receive the necessary routine vaccinations that are needed to keep preventable diseases at bay. This information is considered vital in light of the statistical fact that there is one in a group of ten people across the country that fall under this precarious medical lapse. What the data showed was that US residents who are foreign-born are more likely to disregard vaccinations, which can prove to be dangerous to a person's heath given that certain groups of people are more vulnerable to a variation of serious, perhaps even life-threatening, conditions that can be prevented by the vaccines that they fail to receive.
Lead author, Dr. Peng-Jun Lu from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said is that this study also noted the rising number of foreign-born US residents. According to him, "As their numbers continue to rise, it will become increasingly important to consider this group in our efforts to increase vaccination and eliminate coverage disparities. The prevalence of most vaccine-preventable diseases in the US is at or near record lows, although many of these diseases remain endemic in other countries."