CHILD Profile helps prevent pertussis

Many parents don’t realize that vaccine-preventable diseases are still a threat to Washington’s children. You can protect your children from diseases that can cause serious harm and sometimes even death by keeping them up-to-date on their immunizations. Krista Armstrong of Buckley, Washington, discovered the impact disease can have when her son, Cole got pertussis (whooping cough) before he was old enough to be immunized. This is a reminder that by immunizing your children you are not only protecting them, but every child they come in contact with.

“My son got pertussis when he was only a month old. It was a very frightening experience—he coughed almost 24 hours a day, often turning purple,” said Krista. “He was infected before he was old enough to get the vaccine. People should be aware that this disease is out there, and how important it is that children are up-to-date on their immunizations to help protect children who are most vulnerable.”

Severe pertussis in infants can cause pneumonia, seizures, brain damage, or even death, and pertussis is the most commonly reported vaccine-preventable disease in our state. Washington has more pertussis than national averages: in 2004, there were 842 cases of pertussis, with 179 in children under the age of five, even though the vaccine is readily available for this age group.

Children need five doses of the DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus, acellular pertussis) vaccine at two, four, and six months; between 15 and 18 months; and a booster at four to six years, for the best protection. The fourth dose of the DTaP vaccine is the most frequently missed of the series and a child needs all five doses to ensure the best protection. Nearly 15 percent of Washington children ages 19 to 35 months do not receive their fourth DTaP dose on time, leaving them at risk for disease.

Washington State is working in a variety of ways to keep all children healthy and immunized. One of the important tools available for parents and health care providers across the state is CHILD Profile, the state’s health promotion and immunization registry system. Working with doctors and parents, CHILD Profile is made up of two components that work together to help ensure that Washington’s children receive the preventive health care and immunizations they need, including all five doses of DTaP vaccine.

CHILD Profile helps providers keep accurate track of a patient’s immunizations through a statewide immunization registry. The secure, web-based registry system allows health care providers to quickly look up a child’s records, ensuring that immunizations are current and that an accurate record is available in an emergency or when families move or change providers.

CHILD Profile also sends health promotion mailings to parents of all children from birth to age six who are born in Washington State, or whose health care provider is part of the CHILD Profile Immunization Registry. These materials give parents age-specific immunization and well-child checkup reminders as well as important nutrition, safety, growth, and development information.

Parents should check with their health care provider to make sure their children are up-to-date on their immunizations, including DTaP. Parents can also ask their providers if they are using the CHILD Profile Immunization Registry to track their child’s immunizations.

To sign up to receive the CHILD Profile mailings, parents can call Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies at 1-800-322-2588. For help locating an immunization provider, parents can call their local health department or Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies. Visit the CHILD Profile website for more information.