Idaho Gets A Pep Talk On Immunization Cdc Specialist Urges Improved Protection For Children; State Is Tied For Last In Nation

Idaho trails the nation in immunization rates, but local health care professionals are trying to change that.

Idaho’s rate for fully immunized children was 69 percent last year, according to a nationwide survey and federal statistics.

The only other state in the nation with rates that low is Utah - also with 69 percent.

Idaho’s low immunization rate is one reason public health experts give for the pertussis outbreak last year that made more than 150 people sick in North Idaho and killed an infant.

About 100 doctors, nurses and others interested in boosting immunization rates attended a lecture Tuesday by Dr. William Adkinson, an infectious disease specialist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Adkinson, who is touring the state this week, gave the health workers a pep talk and some updated information about vaccines.

“The problem is not with the vaccine. The problem is with the coverage,” Adkinson said. When the nation had a measles outbreak in 1989 and 1990, 55,000 people became ill and 136 people died.

The national immunization rate for measles at the time was 60 percent.

“Almost half of children two years of age weren’t vaccinated,” he said. Since then, the federal government has kicked its vaccination efforts into high gear.

Now, national immunization rates for the various vaccines run between 80 and 90 percent. Nationwide and in Idaho, the goal is to have 90 percent of children fully immunized by age two.

“Idaho started low, but there’s been improvement,” Adkinson said.

The first step in improving immunization rates is to recognize you have a problem, he said. Then there are a number of ways to attack the issue.

One is to take advantage of missed opportunities. CDC studies show that it takes an average of 18.5 doctor visits before most kids are fully vaccinated. Children with fewer visits are less likely to get immunized, although health practitioners could take advantage of visits unrelated to immunizations to make sure children are up to date on their shots.

But some doctors can’t take advantage of every opportunity because they lack the child’s immunization records.

That’s why the local Immunization Task Force and Idaho’s Immunize by Two Coalition want a centralized registry for immunization records.

Because the state lacks legislation for a statewide records repository, the local task force is working on creating one for North Idaho. That way the Panhandle Health District, North Idaho Immediate Care Centers and individual doctors can have immediate access to a child’s immunization records, whether a parent has them in hand or not.

North Idaho does have a voluntary system in place now for reminding parents when their child’s shots are due. Called Baby Track, hospital volunteers keep track of each baby and call parents to remind them when the next vaccination is due.

Keeping kids up to date on their shots requires that kind of program, Adkinson said: “This kind of automatic recall system is what will move us into the 21st century.”

In the next century, Idaho health officials hope that Idaho won’t rank last anymore in immunization rates. At a statewide meeting last week, public health workers discussed challenging Utah to a contest to see who can boost their immunization rates the most by the 2002 Winter Olympics.

“Being last is a crisis,” said Jeanne Bock, Panhandle Health District’s director of family and community health. “We’re trying to find a way to challenge them to bring us both up. The furthest out of the cellar will somehow be recognized.”

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