Are Georgia families vaccinating their kids? Emory expands tracker

The fall season is around the corner, and with it come seasonal allergies, colds that spread through classrooms and some more worrisome infections that pick up as the temperatures go down.

From whooping cough to chicken pox toinfluenza, vaccines have been around for decades to try and stop the spread and decrease the number of severe infections. But in recent years, the number of children who are getting vaccinated has also decreased.

Now, researchers from the Emory University Center for Infectious Disease Modeling and Analytics and Training Hub have expanded their data on vaccination rates in states across the country to see where children are most protected — and where they aren't.

Here's what to know about the tracking website.

What vaccines are tracked by VaxImpactMap?

VaxImpactMap,

developed at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University in Atlanta, tracks vaccination rates for six infectious diseases: rotavirus, pertussis, pneumococcal disease, viracella, Hib and RSV.

They may be more commonly known as a stomach flus, whooping cough, pneumonias and sinus infections, chicken pox, and other severe infections.

Data on vaccination rates are reported by state, and researchers use this data to see what the long-term impacts are to children's health, as well as other factors like healthcare costs, if vaccination rates continue to decline.

For example, the vaccination rate for rotavirus in Georgia is 77.6%, meaning about three-fourths of children from the 2022 birth cohort are completely vaccinated by the age of eight months, according to guidance from health officials. That vaccination rate has increased by 3.4% since 2019.

However, the vaccination tracker says that over the next five years if there is a 10% decline in vaccine coverage in children under the age of four there could be:

• An additional 2,500 rotavirus cases per 100,000 children in the state each year
• An additional 35.6 hospitalizations per 100,000 children in the state each year
• An additional $3.7 million spent per 100,000 children in the state each year

What is vaccine coverage in Georgia?

Here's how the vaccination rates for these six illnesses compares to the national rates, according to the tracker:

1. Rotavirus — Georgia 77.6%, national 73.8%, vaccination rate increasing
2. Pneumococcal — Georgia 88.2%, national 82.9%, vaccination rate increasing
3. Pertussis — Georgia 89.1%, national 92%, vaccination rate decreasing
4. Varicella — Georgia 89.1%, national 92.2%, vaccination rate decreasing
5. Hib — Georgia 92%, national 92%, vaccination rate increasing
6. RSV — vaccine too new for dataset, approved in 2023

What vaccines are required for K-12 education in Georgia?

While vaccines are recommended by health officials for all children, some are required for children that will be attending public schools from kindergarten through 12th grade.

These vaccines are required in Georgia:

1. DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis)
2. Hepatitis A
3. Hepatitis B
4. MenACWY (meningococcal bacteria)
5. MMR (measles, mumps and rubella)
6. Polio
7. Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis, variation of DTaP)
8. Varicella

The two vaccines not currently required in Georgia are the COVID-19 vaccine and the HPV vaccine.

Irene Wright is the Atlanta Connect reporter with USA Today’s Deep South Connect team. Find her on X @IreneEWright or email her at [e-mail].

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Are Georgia families vaccinating their kids? Emory expands tracker