Connecticut preschoolers have been immunized for measles, mumps and rubella at a rate just above the national average, according to an analysis by Trust for America’s Health.
The state’s 91.4 percent vaccination rate for children aged 19 months to 35 months ties it for 24th with Arizona, Illinois and North Dakota. New Hampshire topped the list at 96.3 percent.
The lowest rates were in Colorado, Ohio and West Virginia, at 86 percent.
A total of 17 states had vaccination rates under 90 percent, which the trust said makes them vulnerable to measles outbreaks.
The Centers for Disease Control issued an advisory last month about a multi-state measles outbreak that it has linked to more than 102 cases in 14 states. Most individuals who get the measles are not vaccinated, according to CDC.
The outbreak comes 15 years after health officials declared measles as virtually eradicated in the United States.
Some health officials have blamed an anti-vaccine movement — driven by people who believe vaccinations cause autism — for the resurgence.
A British doctor who published a study in 1998 linking vaccines with autism was stripped of his medical license, and the Lancet retracted the paper.
