U of L faculty help build statewise immunization registry
June 23rd, 2006
It may be summer, but parents with school-age children and even those with teenagers going off to college know that they need to have their child’s immunization records in hand before they sign up for classes.
In today’s mobile society, getting a duplicate copy of immunization records may not be as easy as finding the phone number for your child’s pediatrician. That’s why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a mandate that all states establish an immunization registry.
“An adequately vaccinated population is one of the keys to public health,” said Richard Clover, dean of the University of Louisville’s School of Public Health and Information Sciences (SPHIS).
“Without a robust system to track vaccinations, our communities can become susceptible to diseases that are completely preventable. In the event of an outbreak — such as the recent cases of mumps in the Midwest — the system helps ensure that at-risk populations are protected.”
Clover and colleague Paul McKinney recently received a letter of thanks from the state epidemiologist for their voluntary role in helping update the commonwealth’s immunization registry. Clover and McKinney helped update the rule set for an expert system that schedules recommended and required vaccinations for each patient and compares vaccines administered to recommended protocols.
The Web-based system, now being piloted in several communities, will eventually allow health care providers to access real-time information on each patient’s vaccination history.
“The system will help eliminate duplicate vaccinations, will make sure that the vaccines people receive — whether alone or in combination — are effective, will help parents and educators be certain that kids are protected and help public health professionals recognize potential vulnerabilities in the population before they become a problem,” said McKinney, who is a professor and associate dean at SPHIS.
“This is one of the key applications where information technology and public health come together,” he added.
Clover and McKinney, who both have served the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices as liaisons or members, helped with an early pilot of the registry in Jefferson County and developed the rules that the system will use to ensure that combinations of vaccines provide adequate protection.
