MODESTO BEE
ORIGINAL ARTICLE

By KEN CARLSON
BEE STAFF WRITER

Last Updated: November 22, 2005, 05:13:40 AM PST

The Regional Immunization Data Exchange has spawned few headlines and is not expected to generate much discussion from Stanislaus County supervisors today.

But the database slowly has become a useful tool for health care providers and schools in the Northern San Joaquin Valley and foothills. And it has been a big help for parents who have lost their children's immunization records.

Shari Lowe, chairwoman of nurses for Modesto City Schools, figures the online registry is tapped daily by at least one of the district's 35 schools. The same kind of system in Louisiana enabled families who lost their vaccination records in the recent hurricanes to temporarily put their children in California schools.

Parents have to show proof of immunizations whether they are enrolling a child in preschool or kindergarten or transferring an older child from one district to another.

Read more >>