Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, July 22, 1994 TAG: 9407220145
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By LAURA WILLIAMSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Not to mention colorful face painting, a visit from Barney and free admission to the Mill Mountain Zoo.
Roanoke Valley health officials are hoping it will be enough to take the sting out of the immunization needle Saturday for hundreds of area children. They'll be holding a clinic outside the zoo from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in an effort to increase awareness of the need for protecting kids from childhood diseases.
By law, children must be immunized for measles, mumps, rubella, whooping cough, polio and other diseases before they enter school. The Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta recommends parents take their children for shots by age 2.
Many children don't get their immunizations, however - even though the Health Department provides free clinics on a regular basis. So, a coalition of local health experts is throwing in the zoo goodies - along with free transportation to and from Mill Mountain - as an incentive.
"We want people to think about their children, what they've had and what they haven't had," said Anne Hoge, site coordinator for the Community-Based Health Care Project Coalition.
Hoge was hired through a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to help put together a coalition of nurses, consumers, businesses, public service organizations and health care providers in the Roanoke area. The coalition is one of 10 created in Florida, Wisconsin and Virginia.
Immunizing Roanoke Valley children is the first of many projects the coalition will take on, Hoge said. She hopes the coalition will provide a neutral structure through which Roanoke's three hospitals and other health care providers can cooperate to solve local health problems.
One of the first projects will be a tracking system for immunizations, said Evon Glasgow, a nurse manager for the Roanoke Health Department. She wants to help Roanoke reach a national goal of immunizing 90 percent of all children under the age of 2 by 1996.
The problem is, no one knows how many children are getting their shots now, she said.
Based on physicians' records, estimates run as low as 40 percent and as high as 90 percent, Glasgow said.
She said the area has not had a problem with childhood diseases. Children who don't get their shots are vulnerable, however, if they become exposed to sick children from other areas.
Some childhood diseases - such as measles - can be fatal, she said.
The zoo clinic - expected to cost about $1,800 - is being underwritten by the Salem Rotary Club and Junior League and Berglund Chevrolet/Farrell Ford.
\ Shot clinic information
WHAT: Childhood Immunization Clinic.
WHERE: Mill Mountain Zoo.
WHEN: Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (Rain date July 30.)
TRANSPORTATION: Buses will leave from the Roanoke Civic Center, Fallon Park and the Parks and Recreation office on Reserve Avenue Southwest.
BRING: Records of any shots the child has received.
DETAILS: Children of all ages and income levels are eligible for free shots. Children and immediate family members will gain free admission to the zoo. Free teddy bears will be given to the first 100 children immunized.
Immunizations will be given for measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio, childhood flu and hepatitis B.
For more information, call 857-6020.
by CNB