| Local parents may have an opportunity to help public health officials understand how well local children are protected against vaccine-preventable diseases. The Grays Harbor County Public Health and Social Services Department will be attempting to contact the parents of 375 children born between April 1, 2006 and August 31, 2007 to talk to them about issues related to childhood immunization. In addition to an estimate of local infant immunization rates, Public Health hopes to learn more about why children may not be immunized. Participants for the survey are chosen at random. The information supplied by parents is considered private and will be protected. A final report will detail the findings and recommendations for actions that Public Health and local health care providers can take to improve local vaccination rates.
Routine childhood vaccinations protect children against 14 diseases such as measles, pertussis (whooping cough), meningitis, and mumps. Diseases like these, which used to be common, are now rare because of childhood vaccination. For more information about the survey, contact Brianne Probasco at (360) 532-8631 ext. 480. Additional information about childhood vaccinations is available at http://www.doh.wa.gov/ or www.cdc.gov/vaccines.
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