Time for back-to-school checkups

OLYMPIA—Washington’s youth will be back to school before we know it -- and that means parents have less than four weeks to schedule children for a checkup and vaccine update with their health care provider.

Now is the time to check with your health care provider to determine which immunizations are required for school attendance. Many health care providers use the CHILD Profile Immunization Registry to keep track of immunizations of children born in Washington.

Developed in 1993, CHILD Profile is a statewide health promotion and immunization registry system designed to help children get the preventive health care they need. Currently, the registry contains immunization records for more than 2.3 million Washington residents. CHILD Profile is actively recruiting more providers to use the registry. About a quarter of all children 19-35 months of age in Washington do not have the basic immunizations recommended by state and federal health authorities.

Many Washington parents are familiar with CHILD Profile because of the health information that is regularly mailed to them from their child's birth until his or her sixth birthday. Timely information about immunizations, growth and development, nutrition, safety, and well-child checkups help parents make good decisions about their child's health.

"Do you know where your child's immunization record is? Many of us misplace them and most schools want to see an updated record," said Sherry Riddick, CHILD Profile Immunization Registry Manager. "Participating health care providers can find the information for parents quickly and easily on their computers using CHILD Profile."

"With the recent pertussis outbreaks in our state, it is especially important that all children are up-to-date on their vaccines. We believe that 20-30 percent of children are unprotected from serious and preventable childhood illnesses. CHILD Profile's immunization registry is a valuable tool for doctors and nurses to keep track" Riddick said.

Lynn Albertson is a nurse practitioner at Woodinville Primary Care, 20 miles north of Seattle. Responding to parental requests for immunization records used to occupy hours of their nursing staff time each fall.

"Now with CHILD Profile, I can quickly and efficiently respond to requests -- that is a major benefit to both patients and our office," Albertson said. "This is especially helpful because parents often ask for this information at the last second. It has also helped us improve our immunization rates, and that's important to me."

CHILD Profile is working to recruit more providers to use the registry—the goal is to have 95 percent of providers in the state using the registry by 2006.

For more information about CHILD Profile, visit the program's Web site: www.childprofile.org. For more information about recommended immunization schedules, visit the Department of Health Immunization Program.

Washington State Department of Health release, July 28,/p>

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