Local Strategies to Promote Tdap for Adults

Background: In 2010, reports of community-wide outbreaks of pertussis, including infant deaths became more frequent across the United States. Washington State has reported 2 infant deaths as of November 2010. This prompted public health staff at the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department to develop a proactive project focused on preventing cases of pertussis among young infants by promoting Tdap immunization of their parents, household contacts and caregivers.

Setting: Pierce County is located in the South Puget Sound area of Washington State and has a population of approx. 810,000. A higher proportion of Pierce County residents (about 15%) are uninsured, compared with 10% in Washington State.

Population: The target population of our program is adults who have contact with young infants. This includes new parents,  household contacts and caregivers of infants, including child care facility staff.

Project Description: This project involved multiple methods to promote Tdap for adults, including

• Mailings and advisories to community medical providers updating pertussis surveillance and promoting Tdap
• Outreach to local hospitals to assess Tdap usage among staff and patients and to request standing orders to offer Tdap to parents during the post-partum hospital stay
• Development and distribution of brochures promoting Tdap vaccination for household contacts and caregivers of newborns
• Securing donated Tdap for low-income parents and other contacts of young infants
• Development and distribution of coupons to be exchanged for free Tdap immunization at mobile immunization sites in the community

Results/Lessons Learned: 

• Ongoing distribution of immunization promotion materials
• One local hospital now provides Tdap to new mothers in their post-partum unit
• 1,200 doses of donated Tdap received and distributed to community immunization providers
• Coupons for free Tdap immunization distributed to agencies who serve new parents such as WIC, visiting public health nurses, and hospitals