IMMUNIZATIONS

     The health and safety of you and your family is of vital importance to us at Ptarmigan Pediatrics. To that end, we are dedicated to reducing the spread of vaccine-preventable diseases by encouraging proper immunizations. If you have questions or concerns about vaccines for your child, we'll be happy to answer them. If you want to see what some of these vaccine-preventable diseases can do to non-vaccinated children, visit the Immunization Action Coalition and read their illustrated reports. See the links section below for more information.

     The importance of vaccinations cannot be understated. The ongoing effort to maintain high vaccination rates within our population provides a very real protection of our children against some pretty nasty diseases. Take measles encephalitis, for instance. Prior to the 1950s when a vaccine became readily available, approximately 450 kids died each year in the US from this disease, with another 4000 becoming ill, sometimes with permanent medical consequences. The CDC notes that during the first half of 2008, measles was AGAIN on the upswing in the United States. Fully 91% of the confirmed cases were in unvaccinated children; 85% of those could have been, which would certainly have stopped the spread of the disease. Many of those were home-schooled children in situations where school-entry vaccines were not required.[citation]  Remember that some people cannot receive vaccinations because of weakened immune systems or other medical reasons, so their protection against disease lies in the fact that the rest of us are vaccinated.

"VACCINES FOR CHILDREN"

     The Alaska Division of Public Health in conjunction with the federal Centers for Disease Control administer the "Vaccines for Children" program which provides free vaccines to doctors for use on patients that meet specific criteria. We are required to verify eligibility for these state-provided vaccines at each visit. If your child is an American Indian or Alaska Native, please be sure you notify our office when they come in for their immunizations. The other determining factors involve your insurance, so we will be able to address those directly. Don't worry, we still have our own "private stash" of available vaccines to give your child if they do not qualify for ones we receive from the state.

IMMUNIZATION RECORDS

      Like many other states in the Lower 48, the State of Alaska is implementing a centralized vaccine registry, dubbed VACTRAK in this state, which will house immunization records from every child within the state. This secure, electronic database will allow health-care providers to verify receipt or need of vaccinations promptly and will improve quality of care and clinic efficiency when it is fully operational.

      This registry is being used by Ptarmigan Pediatrics in a limited capacity at present and we are working toward more universal access. VACTRAK will likely become an integral part of your child's vaccination care wherever you go within the state in the near future. However, until VACTRAK is fully operational in every clinic and hospital in the state, we require that you bring a copy of your child's immunization records with you for your first immunization visit to our clinic, as well as any time vaccines have been obtained elsewhere since that first visit. Your child's school or previous doctor can provide you copies of those records if you can't find yours.

SCHOOL IMMUNIZATIONS

      Ptarmigan Pediatrics has all the vaccines your child needs to attend public or private school in Alaska. State law requires students in grades K-12 receive the following vaccines: diptheria, tetnus, pertussis, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, heptatitus A & B, and varicella (chickenpox) for students grades K-6. Children under the age of five also need to be vaccinated against Haemophilus influenza type b (Hib). [citation]

IMMUNIZATION SCHEDULE

     Regular immunizations are directly responsible for healthy children and a healthy society, yet there is a wide range of recommended ages for immunizations in the federal and state medical communities. Ptarmigan Pediatrics has put together an immunization schedule that effectively balances the number of "pokes" at one time with the accepted medical guidelines for optimum disease protection. 

     If your child is behind on immunizations for whatever reason, our nursing staff will be happy to develop a personalized schedule to get them back on track.

     If this is your first visit to our clinic, please bring your immunization records with you. We cannot administer vaccines without them. If you don't have your own copy of those records, you may request that your previous doctor send them to us by filling out the Patient Information Release Form. For school aged children, your school nurse can often provide you a copy as well.

IMMUNIZATION INFORMATION PACKETS for common or required immunizations

Vaccine Immunization Statements (VIS) are available at our clinic and are given out with each vaccine your child receives.  If you'd like to read up on any particular vaccine, access all the most recent VIS sheets here.