|
Immunizations and Infectious Disease Screening for Internationally
Adopted Children and their Families
Download the Saint Barnabas Medical Center Pediatric
Specialty Center Adoption Medicine Services Flyer 
Pediatric Infectious Disease Specialist
Internationally adopted children are at increased
risk of lacking some routine childhood immunizations and
having certain infectious diseases compared with American born
children.
- US immigration law requires that internationally adopted
children begin immunizations within 30 days of arrival in the
US.
- The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends
a comprehensive health assessment within the first 2 weeks of
arrival.
Families are highly motivated to begin this process but also anxious
about exposing their new child to this
stressful and potentially painful process so soon after arrival.
Families may have heard conflicting information
about the status of immunizations in their child’s birth
country and may have concerns about adverse events
after immunization.
We regard immunizations as a high priority for all
children, especially immigrant and internationally adopted
children, who may be lacking vaccines given routinely in the US.
Not only are these children at risk of
contracting vaccine preventable disease, the family members of
internationally adopted children are at risk
as well of contracting the disease from these children. Some of
the infections that these children may carry
and thus transmit are Tuberculosis, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Pertussis,
Measles, Syphilis, HIV and intestinal
parasitic diseases.
Adoptee families need counseling before and after
travel overseas to prevent these infections.
Some of the non-infectious illnesses that may be carried are anemia,
rickets, hypothryroidism, iodine
deficiency and alcohol related birth defects.
Before the acceptance of the adoption:
1. Assessment of lab work and immunization records of the “to
be
adopted” child brought in by parents before the acceptance
of the
adoption.
a. Medical abstract studied and evaluated. Medical
abstract
which may include medical diagnoses is explained in layman
terms.
b. Growth parameters are placed on a growth curve
to assess
height, weight, head circumference as compared to a general
population of children of the same age.
c. Developmental milestones
are discussed so parents can
understand the expectations for their particular child.
Parents can then more comfortably make decisions regarding
their prospective adoption.
d. Photographs are examined for abnormal
physical
characteristics.
e. Videos when available are viewed and studied
for abnormal
physical characteristics and developmental/ behavioral level.
2. After pre-reviewing available medical records, growth data,
and
photos/videos a phone discussion that takes you in detail through
the
available information and your concerns or a face to face meeting
can
be arranged. Our consultation will focus on notable growth trends,
explanations of foreign medical diagnoses with opinions on which
are
more or less worrisome, and assessment of developmental progress.
3. We will then send you a "wish list" of follow-up questions
that you can forward to your agency and/or bring with you when you travel.
We are happy to review any follow-up information.
Before travel by the adoptee family
to international destination for bringing the child:
1. Pre-travel counseling and
prophylactic immunizations to family members for prevention of
infectious health problems tailored to their destination of travel.
After the arrival of the child to
the US:
1. Review of all health documents brought
in with the child from the
country of origin, and initial health assessment of the adopted
child
within 2 weeks of arrival into the US.
2. A systematic approach to screening of infectious
diseases combined
with assessment of signs and symptoms that could be related to
diseases prevalent in the child’s country of origin support’s
children’s
long-term health and that of their new families.
3. Recommendations regarding necessary laboratory work and
immunizations and treatment of infectious diseases in the adopted
child.
Pediatric Infectious Disease Specialist
fshah@barnabashealth.org
Dr. Shah is a board-certified physician in Pediatrics and Pediatric
Infectious Diseases. She received her medical degree from BJ Medical
College in India and thereafter, completed her residency in Pediatrics
and a fellowship in Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the Children’s
Hospital of Montefiore, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, N.Y.
She is a member of the Pediatric Infectious Disease Society of
America.
[top] [ back
to Pediatric Specialty Center] |
