Guest post by Mary Ann Martin
As National Cancer Prevention Month draws to a close, Mary Ann Martin shares the story of her husband’s battle with HPV-associated anal cancer and explains why she advocates for the vaccine that can prevent the cancer that took her husband’s life.
While Colorado consistently appears in national news as one of the nation’s top health performers in a variety of measures, childhood immunization rates across the state tell a different story.
Colorado native Tracy Jimenez was diagnosed with cervical cancer just four days after her 46th birthday on October 26, 2016. A single mother of three, grandmother to five, and surrogate mother to a 24-year-old nephew with cerebral palsy, Tracy had her hands more than full. Her busy life and endless responsibilities made her life-altering cancer diagnosis even more terrifying. In an interview with the Colorado Children’s Immunization Coalition, Tracy explains how cervical cancer caused by a human papillomavirus (HPV) infection impacted her life, and how it’s driven her to speak up for the vaccine that has the power to prevent cervical and other kinds of cancer: the HPV vaccine.
“I miss her. I wish she were here.”
On December 1, 2003, Vira Cover experienced what no parent should have to: the death of a child.
Just a week earlier, on Thanksgiving Day, Vira’s 23-month-old daughter, Elizabeth Terese Cover, caught the H1N1 strain of influenza and developed bilateral pneumonia. During the 2003-2004 flu season, 152 children in the U.S. died from flu. Elizabeth was one of them.
Vira shared her and Elizabeth’s story in an interview with the Colorado Children’s Immunization Coalition.
Vaccines aren’t just for children; adults also need certain vaccines to help protect them from preventable disease over the lifespan. During the adult immunization week of National Immunization Awareness Month (NIAM), Rosemary Spence, RN, MA, shares insight into how providers can ensure their adult patients are adequately immunized.
Content adapted from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
As parents, we want to do what is best for our kids. We want to keep our little ones safe and healthy so that they can grow, learn, and be kids. We know about the importance of car seats, baby gates, and other ways to keep babies and young children safe. But did you know that one of the best ways to protect your children is to make sure they receive all of their vaccinations? During National Immunization Awareness Month, we share a few reasons why vaccination is one of the best and most important things you can do to protect your child.
Guest post by Tri-County Health Department
When you think of back-to-school season, you might think about new books, backpacks and binders, but you may not think of vaccines! Colorado law requires students at licensed child care centers and schools to be vaccinated against certain diseases. Many people know that vaccines are recommended for babies, but additional doses are required for kindergarten and sixth grade entry to keep kids healthy and protected from preventable illness throughout the school year. Many colleges also require certain vaccines after age sixteen. More information on which vaccines are required in Colorado can be found here.
New parenthood is incredibly exciting, scary, wonderful, and challenging—all at once! With so much information and so many opinions from different sources, it’s hard to know just how to best keep a new baby safe. From car seat installation to finding a pediatrician to safe sleep, having evidence-based expert information is key. And parents shouldn’t have to navigate their parenthood journey alone. Enter: The Annual Community Baby Fair, hosted by the Colorado Children’s Immunization Coalition (CCIC)!
[Read more…]Guest post by Janine Young, MD, FAAP
Associate Professor of Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine
Medical Director, Denver Health Refugee Clinic
Globally, we are witnessing the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II; there are over 65 million displaced people and, of these, less than one percent are referred by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for permanent resettlement to other countries. The maximum number of U.S. refugee arrival numbers is decided by an annual Presidential determination. In federal fiscal year 2016, the U.S. resettled 85,000 refugees; however, for this fiscal year, 2018, the arrival number was lowered to 45,000. In fiscal year 2017, the US resettled 51,392 refugees. This compares to Germany’s initiative in 2015 to resettle over 900,000 refugees, over half from Syria.
After a refugee is referred to the U.S. resettlement program from UNCHR, refugee applications are vetted by numerous federal agencies and include multiple background checks and finger-printing. The average length of time for an application to be approved for resettlement to the U.S. is 18-24 months but can vary by an applicant’s country of origin. Refugee status is a legal one, allowing for permanent resettlement to the U.S. Defined by international convention, refugees are individuals who, owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, or membership of a particular social group or political opinion, are outside their country of nationality and are unable or unwilling to return to their home country.
Once refugees have been approved for resettlement to the U.S., they begin multiple medical evaluations. The medical evaluations are conducted by panel physicians appointed by the U.S. consulate or embassy or, in the case of large refugee movements, by the International Organization for Migration (IOM). These evaluations (which are performed in accordance with technical requirements and instructions from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division of Global Migration and Quarantine) include initiation of immunizations. In most cases, first doses are given 3-6 months prior to departure, with the goal of providing at least 2 doses of each vaccine, depending on availability and logistics at each overseas refugee screening site (see table below). Live viral vaccines (e.g. MMR, varicella, rotavirus) are routinely not given less than 4 weeks prior to travel (except in certain outbreak settings) given the potential impact of live viral vaccines on other immunization initiation and testing interpretation upon arrival to the U.S.
At U.S. arrival, refugees are linked to a Domestic Medical Examination (screening) to test for clinical conditions that may be suggestive of underlying disorders. In Colorado, there are four sites that perform screening—Denver Health and Hospitals/Lowry, Metro Community Provider Network/Elmira, Sunrise Community Health/Montford, and Peak Vista Community Health Centers/Myron Stratton—all Federally Qualified Health Centers. Screening occurs within 90 days of arrival to the U.S., although the goal is to perform them within 30 days. At screening, administration of additional vaccines and/or testing for immunity occur.
Refugees are given standard information about the need to complete vaccination series during screening visits; however, completion of vaccination series often occurs in concert with efforts by Local Public Health Departments, School-Based Health Centers, school nurses and other primary care clinics.
There is much coordination that occurs at screening sites for new refugee arrivals. This involves efforts to assure that proof of historical vaccination is uploaded and that proof of immunity to vaccine preventable diseases is manually entered into the state database, Colorado Immunization Information System (CIIS). This ensures that refugees’ immunization history is easily accessible and reliable. Other efforts include assuring that catch-up vaccinations are administered at appropriate intervals, which is currently not calculated correctly for catch-up doses of IPV, Td and Tdap in many electronic medical record systems.
To learn more about refugee immunizations in Colorado, please visit the Colorado Refugee Immunization Provider Resource Hub. This website was developed by the members of the Colorado Refugee Immunization Taskforce as a centralized compilation of refugee immunization-related information, resources and guidelines to benefit providers who administer immunizations to refugees within the Colorado community.
For more information about catch-up vaccine schedules and correct intervals, please consult:
CDC Adult Immunization Schedule
CDC Child and Adolescent Schedule
CDC Immunization Phone App
Vaccination Program for U.S.-Bound Refugees, CDC
Guidelines for the U.S. Domestic Medical Examination for Newly Arriving Refugees, CDC
Guest post by Allyson Rosenblum
In honor of National Cancer Prevention Month, Allyson Rosenblum shares how she’s rallying teens across the U.S. to prevent cancers caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV). [Read more…]