THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, August 31, 1996 TAG: 9608310369
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B01 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DEBRA GORDON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 96 lines
It's all in the technique, says Vernae Taylor, and she's got the technique down.
``You've got to relax the child, distract him,'' explains the nurse at Young Park Elementary School in Norfolk. Then you slip the needle in and out so fast he barely has time to flinch.
One more child protected against disease.
Vaccines are the passport children need to enter kindergarten or transfer into a new school. No up-to-date shot records, no admission on Tuesday.
So doctors' offices and clinics were hustling this week to get students physically ready to return to school.
At the Virginia Beach health department, nurses nearly ran out of the polio vaccine Thursday, said nurse manager Angela Savage. The state pharmacist couldn't ship her any more in time for Tuesday's expected rush - he'd run out of dry ice because of the high demand for vaccines. The vaccines are shipped in dry ice to keep them from spoiling.
So Savage sent someone to Richmond Friday to pick up the drugs.
At Portsmouth Naval Hospital, the last ``school physical Friday'' was well under way by 9:30 a.m. Parents and their restless children lined the halls, sat on the floor or played outside the clinic doors as they waited to see one of the more than 15 pediatricians on duty.
The hospital has held these clinics every Friday morning since June, said Lt. Cmdr. Irene McKiel, providing physicals to more than 1,200 children this summer.
Friday was the last clinic before school starts and there was a sense of panic in the air.
Julie Brooks of Norfolk had brought her four boys - ages 1 to 7 - even though only 5-year-old James needed a physical.
Why'd she wait until the last minute?
``I didn't,'' she said, juggling her 1-year-old on her lap as she sat cross-legged on the floor in the hall. ``I called three months ago to get this appointment. There's just too many families.''
Children and their parents moved through the clinic with assembly-line efficiency. Vital signs, height, weight, vision screening, a visit with the speech pathologist and an exam by the doctor, plus shots - ``two, two-and-a-half hours max,'' McKeil said.
``Then they're all out of here.''
The back-to-school physical is important for more than just registration purposes, McKeil said. Sometimes, serious problems turn up, like the tumors found in two children last year.
The vaccines protect against potentially fatal diseases like rubella, whooping cough, and diphtheria.
Usually, the biggest problem is keeping children from pitching a fit when they see the needle.
That's where technique comes in, says Taylor, the school nurse. She gets the child talking about himself or his family.
``Before they even know it, bing! It's done,'' she said.
Taylor works at one of nine Norfolk elementary schools where free immunizations are available on a walk-in basis to any Norfolk resident - regardless of age, home address or insurance. The in-school clinics began a year ago as part of the CINCH project, the Consortium for the Immunization of Norfolk's Children.
Making immunizations available in neighborhood schools addresses several barriers, such as transportation, scheduling and cost, that the consortium identified as reasons for Norfolk's dismal immunization rate three years ago. Then, it was 48 percent, compared with the state's 58 percent and the country's 70 percent rates.
In the past three years, the state's immunization rate has climbed to 62 percent.
In October, Norfolk officials will have updated statistics on the city's immunization rate.
Taylor and other immunization officials say they've seen more children this year whose shots are up to date. Some get immunized when their mothers pick up food vouchers at the health department - another CINCH initiative.
The switch of Medicaid recipients to HMOs has also helped, she said, because children now have a personal doctor.
Frances D. Butterfoss, the coalition's former director , said she's optimistic that parents are becoming more vigilant about getting their children vaccinated.
Butterfoss is also an assistant professor at the Center for Pediatric Research, which directs the CINCH program.
``The trend nationwide is that parents are more aware,'' she said. ``I'm hoping some of the message we've been trying so hard to get out here has actually gotten out.'' MEMO: Health departments in all Hampton Roads cities offer free
immunizations. For more information about immunization in the region,
call 668-7500. ILLUSTRATION: MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN
The Virginian-Pilot
Color
Megan Richardson, 9, grimaces as nurse Kathy Starks immunizes her
during a physical at Portsmouth Naval Hospital.
KEYWORDS: IMMUNIZATION by CNB