County Health Department Reviews Children’s Vaccinations

For Immediate Release: Thursday, January 27, 2011

Washington County's Department of Health and Human Services oversees the County's immunization program to protect school age children and youngsters in child care facilities. "Our job is to see that every child in public school, private school and a child care facility in Washington County is up to date with vaccinations," says Gregg Russell, the County's Immunization Coordinator. While it sounds simple enough, Russell is talking about 110,000 children in the county.

Health and Human Services promotes immunization against vaccine-preventable diseases like hepatitis, measles, polio, diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough. Because of the successes of vaccine campaigns and laws, most families have not had to experience the effects of vaccine-preventable diseases. State law mandates that all children in public and private schools and certified childcare facilities be vaccinated to protect them from potential disease outbreaks.

Russell's annual effort begins in April and May of each school year.He attends school parent meetings, "Kinder Roundups" and other events to educate the parents of the nearly 6,000 new school students about childhood diseases and why vaccination is so important.

Each fall, information packets are sent to the county's 435 schools and care facilities, to help them prepare to collect immunization records for their students. Russell is also available for consultation to school secretaries and child care workers.

Schools and childcare facilities compile immunization records and in mid-January of each year send Washington County the records of students who have not had all their vaccinations. "These students may not have had all their shots, or their immunization records may be missing. "Russell and his team sort through computer records and printed records and work with school staff to ensure that all the vaccine records are correct and up to date.

On February 2, Washington County will send out letters to parents of approximately 5,000 students to let them know that they need to have their children immunized or to bring their vaccine records up to date. The families will then have two weeks, until February 16, known as "Exclusion Day," to have their children vaccinated or update the records with the individual schools so that they may continue in school uninterrupted. Parents who miss that deadline will have their student excluded from school until the vaccines and records are up to date.

Parents can find information about immunization and school exclusions at the County Health and Human Services Immunization web page: http://www.co.washington.or.us/HHS/Immunizations/index.cfm. Parents may also contact the Immunization Office at 503-846-4955.

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