Cdc Doctor To Visit Idaho March 3

A leading epidemiologist from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is coming to Idaho to help health districts and private doctors solve the state’s low immunization rate.

Dr. William Atkinson of the CDC’s National Immunization Program will meet with local health care providers March 3 at Kootenai Medical Center during his nine-day tour of the state’s health districts.

Immunization coordinator Phyllis Albee of the Panhandle Health District said Atkinson will encourage private physicians to perform clinical assessments to determine how many of their child patients are immunized.

“The idea is to have the individual providers do assessments within their clinics to see how they are doing with immunizing children before they turn 2 years old,” she said.

Idaho currently ranks second to last in the country for toddler immunization, according to CDC surveys. Only 68 percent of Idaho’s 2-year-olds are current with diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccinations.

During last year’s pertussis epidemic in northern Idaho, when more than 200 people fell ill with the respiratory disease, Idaho was listed last in the CDC’s immunization survey.

Atkinson will address the correlation between Idaho’s high incidence of whooping cough and its low immunization rate. , DataTimes