Health officials taking vaccines to the streets

Friday, July 13, 2001 | 11:13 a.m.

Sandy Hammond of Las Vegas suffered right along with her son three years ago when the 4-year-old came down with chickenpox.

In addition to the usual itching and scratching, Tayler ran a high fever for days. His face was badly scarred by the lesions, which can leave divot-like indentations.

"I wish he could have had the shot back then," Hammond said Thursday, as she waited with her 2-year-old daughter for an appointment at the Clark County Health District's immunization clinic on Shadow Lane. "At least Ashlyn won't have to go through what her brother went through."

The state Board of Health voted last month to add the chickenpox vaccine to the list of required immunizations for students attending public schools. The chickenpox vaccine will be required as of July 2003. Also added were the hepatitis A and B vaccines, which will be required by July 2002.

The new requirements presented some logistical challenges for the health district.

Unlike most of the other doses, which can be taken out in the field to malls, schools and community fairs, the chickenpox vaccines must stay frozen.

Suzann Chesebrough, nurse supervisor of the health district's immunization program, said several companies manufacture vaccine coolers, which are widely used by the military. Chesebrough said she first saw one about a year ago at a trade show. The health district plans to buy one cooler for $186 and try it out, she said. If it works well, more will be purchased.

Health district workers last year immunized 12,731 children against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis, immunizations which are already required by the state. There were 13,907 children immunized against chickenpox last year by the Clark County Health District.

It's impossible to guess how many more doses health district clinics will administer once the new regulations go into effect, because many of the children will have chickenpox before they are required to be immunized, Chesebrough said.

The health district offers free and low-cost immunizations for children ages 18 and younger, spokeswoman Jennifer Sizemore said. Hammond said she was taking advantage of the free clinic because her health insurance plan doesn't cover immunizations.

Many health plans won't cover immunizations because they are considered preventive, rather than treatment for an injury or illness, according to the state Department of Business and Industry's Division of Insurance. Some Health Management Organizations will cover the shots as long as they are done by one of their approved health care providers.

Chickenpox can be more than just a childhood annoyance -- there are between 5,000 and 9,000 people hospitalized with the virus each year and about 100 deaths. Adults who contract the virus are more likely to have serious complications. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta estimates that 95 percent of Americans get chickenpox by adulthood.

The vaccine has been available since 1995 and the CDC has been recommending childhood immunization against chickenpox since 1998.

The CDC has been urging hepatitis vaccinations since the early 1990s. Hepatitis is a viral infection that attacks the liver. Hepatitis A is the most common form of the disease and it can be transmitted through contact with infected food or feces. The infectious period usually lasts two to four weeks, after which a person is no longer a carrier.

Hepatitis B is a more serious strain of the disease and is usually passed through sexual contact or sharing needles.

Hepatitis C, which can also be transmitted through sharing needles or sexual contact, becomes chronic in more than half of the cases. There is no immunization against hepatitis C. People can be carriers of the hepatitis B and C strains without showing symptoms themselves. Many people do not even know they have hepatitis C until they are hospitalized with related ailments, according to the CDC.