News: Effingham County Health Department Initiates Reminder Calls for Past-Due Childhood Immunizations
February 16, 2010 - The Effingham County Health Department will soon implement an automated phone system that will alert parents when immunizations for children from birth to age three are overdue. The system is in place and parents should begin receiving calls on Monday, February 22.
"Vaccines are so important when it comes to protecting our children from potentially dangerous diseases," said Marianne Pappas, Immunization Coordinator for the Coastal Health District which includes the Effingham County Health Department. "This system will automatically make phone calls to households where there is a child age three or younger who is past due for immunizations."
Immunizations help protect children from 15 diseases including measles, whooping cough, chicken pox, and polio.
"Our children are our most important resource and we need to protect them anyway we can. That includes getting them vaccinated," said Effingham County Health Department Nurse Manager, Cindy Grovenstein. "We hope that when parents receive a phone call reminding them that their child needs to be immunized that they will make it a top priority. We also encourage all parents to keep a record of their children's immunizations so they will know when the next immunization is due."
The Effingham County Health Department offers all childhood vaccines. For more information on current vaccination recommendations, please call the Health Department at 754-6484 or click here.
WWW Address: http://www.gachd.org/news/effingham_county_health_depart.php