Verifying influenza and pneumococcal immunization status of children in 2009-2010 from primary care practice records and from the North Carolina Immunization Registry.

BACKGROUND: The North Carolina Immunization Registry (NCIR) has been available since 2004. We sought to measure its utilization among practices that provide primary care for children who are enrolled in a prospective influenza surveillance study. METHODS: This study included children aged 0.5-17 years who presented with fever or acute respiratory symptoms to an emergency department or inpatient setting in Winston-Salem- North Carolina- from September 1- 2009- through May 19- 2010. Study team members verified influenza and pneumococcal immunization status by requesting records from each child's primary care practice and by independently reviewing the NCIR. We assessed agreement of nonregistry immunization medical records with NCIR data using the kappa statistic. RESULTS: Fifty-six practices confirmed the immunization status of 292 study-enrolled children. For most children (238/292- 82%)- practices verified the child's immunizations by providing a copy of the NCIR record. For 54 children whose practices verified their immunizations by providing practice records alone- agreement with the NCIR by the kappa statistic was 0.6-0.7 for seasonal and monovalent H1N1 influenza vaccines and 0.8-0.9 for pneumococcal conjugate and polysaccharide vaccines. A total of 221 (98%) of 226 enrolled children younger than 6 years of age had 2 or more immunizations documented in the NCIR. LIMITATIONS: NCIR usage may vary in other regions of North Carolina. CONCLUSION: More than 95% of children younger than 6 years of age had 2 or more immunizations documented in the NCIR/ thus- the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2010 goal for immunization information systems was met in this population. We found substantial agreement between practice records and the NCIR for influenza and pneumococcal immunizations in children.