NIS — National Immunization Survey¶

The nis module downloads and analyzes NIS (National Immunization Survey) microdata from CDC FTP. Two surveys are available: NIS-Child (19–35 months) and NIS-Teen (13–17 years).

No API key required, but downloads are ~50–200 MB per year.

Surveys¶

Survey	Ages	Key vaccines	Years
`child`	19–35 months	MMR, DTaP, Hib, PCV, polio, varicella, HepB, HepA, rotavirus	2011–present
`teen`	13–17 years	HPV, Tdap, meningococcal, COVID-19	2011–present

Commands¶

`list` — available years¶

uv run python -m nis list child
uv run python -m nis list teen

`rates` — state-level UTD vaccination rates¶

# State-level MMR/DTaP/etc. coverage for 2022 (child survey)
uv run python -m nis rates child 2022 -f table

# Teen HPV coverage by state, 2023
uv run python -m nis rates teen 2023 -f table

# Single state
uv run python -m nis rates child 2022 --state California -f table
uv run python -m nis rates child 2022 --state CA -f table   # USPS code
uv run python -m nis rates child 2022 --state 06 -f table   # FIPS

# Specific vaccine columns only
uv run python -m nis rates child 2022 --vaccines P_UTDMMX P_UTDVAC -f table

`national` — national-level UTD rates¶

# National childhood vaccination coverage, 2022
uv run python -m nis national child 2022 -f table

# Teen national rates, 2023
uv run python -m nis national teen 2023 -f table

# Specific vaccines
uv run python -m nis national child 2022 --vaccines P_UTDMMX P_UTDVAC P_UTDPOL -f table

`stream` — raw respondent microdata¶

For custom analysis, stream the individual-level records:

# All respondents, child survey 2022
uv run python -m nis stream child 2022 -f csv > nis-child-2022-raw.csv

# Filter to California only
uv run python -m nis stream child 2022 --state CA -f csv

# Limit columns
uv run python -m nis stream teen 2023 --vaccines P_UTDHPV INCQ298A STATENAM -f csv

# First 100 records for inspection
uv run python -m nis stream child 2022 --limit 100 -f table

Python SDK¶

from nis.sdk import get_state_rates, get_national_rates, stream_records

# State-level UTD coverage, child 2022
states = get_state_rates(survey="child", year=2022)
# [{"state": "California", "P_UTDMMX": 0.912, "P_UTDVAC": 0.883, ...}, ...]

# National rates
national = get_national_rates(survey="child", year=2022)

# Raw microdata
for record in stream_records(survey="child", year=2022, state="CA"):
    mmr_utd = record.get("P_UTDMMX")
    # P_UTDMMX: 1 = UTD (up-to-date), 2 = not UTD

Key vaccine column names¶

Child survey (P_UTD*)¶

Column	Vaccine
`P_UTDMMX`	MMR (measles, mumps, rubella)
`P_UTDDTP`	DTaP (≥4 doses)
`P_UTDHIB`	Hib (H. influenzae type b)
`P_UTDPCV`	PCV13 pneumococcal
`P_UTDPOL`	Poliovirus (≥3 doses)
`P_UTDVAC`	Varicella
`P_UTDHEP`	HepB (≥3 doses)
`P_UTDHEPA`	HepA (≥2 doses)
`P_UTDROTA`	Rotavirus
`P_UTDCOMB7`	Combined 7-vaccine series

Teen survey (P_UTD*)¶

Column	Vaccine
`P_UTDHPV`	HPV (≥1 dose female initiators)
`P_UTDTDAP`	Tdap
`P_UTDMCV4`	MCV4 meningococcal (≥1 dose)
`P_UTDMCV4S`	MCV4 (≥2 doses, booster)

Multi-year trend analysis¶

from nis.sdk import get_national_rates
import csv

years = list(range(2011, 2024))
all_rows = []

for year in years:
    try:
        row = get_national_rates(survey="child", year=year)
        row["year"] = year
        all_rows.append(row)
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"  {year}: {e}")

# Write to CSV for trend analysis
with open("mmr-national-trend-2011-2023.csv", "w", newline="") as f:
    writer = csv.DictWriter(f, fieldnames=all_rows[0].keys())
    writer.writeheader()
    writer.writerows(all_rows)

Download cache

NIS files are large (50–200 MB). The module caches downloads locally. The first call per year triggers a download; subsequent calls use the cached file.

Combining NIS with CDC Open Data¶

The cdc_open module includes several vaccination coverage datasets that complement NIS microdata:

# NIS-Flu coverage (flu vaccine, all ages 6+ months)
uv run python -m cdc_open query flu_vaccine_coverage -f table

# BRFSS vaccination coverage (adults)
uv run python -m cdc_open query brfss_vaccination -f table

Use NIS for childhood/teen UTD rates with full microdata access; use CDC Open Data for flu/COVID/adult vaccines.