Immunizations, especially among children, have made a great impact, said Atkinson, who spoke with the Deseret Morning News before addressing a group of health-care providers at Gardner Village in West Jordan last week. In the past five to 10 years, long-noted racial and ethnic disparities in immunization rates have "for all practical purposes gone away," he said.

Efforts are being made, as well, to develop more combination vaccines to reduce the number of shots children must get. Soon, he said, it's likely a combination vaccine that addresses Hib (for meningitis), DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis) and polio will be licensed.

Atkinson's program investigates reports of harm, but discounts claims that vaccines are responsible for autism, he said. "The science just doesn't take us there." He cited many ongoing efforts to determine the cause of autism, but said rates should be going down if it were a substance formerly used in vaccines, thimerosol, as many claim, since it's no longer used in vaccines. Autism incidence hasn't decreased in countries that stopped using it decades ago. He said large studies in multiple countries have failed to link vaccines and autism.

"We hear about the negative effects of vaccines, but it's hard to find any good evidence they're out there. It doesn't stop us from listening, and when allegations are made, we have an obligation to be responsive. We have people who work full time on vaccine safety."

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E-mail: lois@desnews.com