AUSTIN (AP) -- The vaccination rate among young Texas children fell 2.1 percent last year.

A newly released study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the change dropped Texas from 24th to 34th nationally.

The state's 2006 vaccination rate among children ages 19 to 35 months fell to 74.7 percent from 76.8 percent in 2005.

Corpus Christi pediatrician Jaime Fergie says in a statement released by the Texas Medical Association that low immunization rates mean Texas could see a comeback of once-rare diseases.

State Department of Health Services spokeswoman Emily Palmer says the state feels it's holding its own because the decrease was within the survey's margin of error.

The state is encouraging parents to register their children for IMM-Trac, an electronic database that allows medical providers to access a child's shot records.