Online immunization records — safe from the storm.

A Hurricane Katrina Case Study

Soon after Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005, the Florida SHOTS™ immunization registry gained access to the Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama state registries. Florida SHOTS staff received and responded to hundreds of inquiries from health departments, private providers and schools, finding many immunization records for children displaced by the storm.

A Pediatrics article, "The Success of an Immunization Information System in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina,"* looked at the benefits of immunization information systems, or IIS, in the Houston, Texas, area following the hurricane.

According to the article’s abstract, "within days after Hurricane Katrina in September 2005, the Houston-Harris County Immunization Registry was connected to the Louisiana Immunization Network for Kids Statewide. This linkage provided immediate access to the immunization records of children who were forced to evacuate the New Orleans, Louisiana, area. One year later, 18,900 immunization records have been found, representing an estimated cost savings of more than $1.6 million for vaccines alone and $3.04 million for vaccine plus administration fees. This experience demonstrated the vital and previously unrecognized functionality of immunization information systems in a public health emergency."

The authors conclude: "When IISs are fully used in a public health emergency, they yield economic benefits and strengthen our ability to serve our patients when they are most vulnerable."

* Article by Julie A. Boom, M.D., Anna C. Dragsbaek, J.D., and Cynthia S. Nelson, M.P.H., published in Pediatrics, Volume 119, Number 6, June 2007

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New discoveries in immunization research allow us to protect our children from all akinds of damaging diseases. The vaccine schedule helps us best apply that knowledge."