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SBOH Rules
Healthy Behaviors (Formerly Children's Health &
Well-Being)
Ensuring Treatment of Newborns for Sexually Transmitted
Disease
WAC 246-100-202 lists duties of health care
providers related to sexually transmitted diseases. WAC
246-100-202(1)(e) requires the health care provider: When
attending or assisting in the birth of any infant or
caring for an infant after birth, ensure instillation of
a department-approved prophylactic ophthalmic agent into
the conjunctival sacs of the infant within the time
frame established by the department in policy statement
of ophthalmia agents approved for the prevention of
ophthalmia neonatorum in the newborn, issued June 19,
1981.
At that time, the department was the Department of
Social and Health Services. The policy is due for an
update to reflect current science and practice.
Statutory Authority:
RCW 70.24.130 and
RCW 70.24.380
SBOH Contact:
Tara Wolff, 360-236-4101
DOH Contact:
Bat-Sheva Stein, 360-236-3582
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Immunizations
WAC 246-100-166
governs the immunization of children in school and child
care against certain vaccine-preventable diseases. The
Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice, The
American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Academy
of Family Medicine recommend routine vaccination of
children against various diseases. The Board has nine
criteria for assessing whether to require specific
vaccines as a condition of school entry.
../Goals/HealthyBehaviors/Immunizations/index.htm
Generally, the Board waits for two
years after the Department of Health has made a vaccine
available to providers in Washington State. (Under the
current system of universal purchasing, this would mean
that the state has purchased and distributed the vaccine
for two years.) As more vaccines meet this condition,
the board may elect to convene a Technical Advisory
Group to apply the nine criteria to them and make
recommendations to the Board.
The Board convened a Technical Advisory
Group (TAG) on July 25, 2007 to apply its criteria to
vaccine preventable pneumococcal diseases and to make
recommendations to the Board. The recommendations of the
TAG were accepted by the Board on October 10, 2007.
More information available.
The Board filed a CR-101 in March 2008
to consider a few revisions to its rule. These include:
updating the reference to the Advisory Committee on
Immunization Practices (ACIP) Recommended Childhood and
Adolescent Immunization Schedule from the 2007 version
to the 2008 version; adding pneumococcal to the list of
vaccine-preventable diseases required to be vaccinated
against in order to attend child care and preschool; and
re-codifying WAC section
246-100-166 into multiple sections within a new
chapter under WAC title 246. The Board expects to hold a
public hearing in October of 2008. For additional
information on this rule revision, please go to the DOH
Web page at
http://www.doh.wa.gov/Rules/PreProposals.htm.
Statutory Authority:
RCW 28A.210.140
SBOH Contact:
Tara Wolff, 360-236-4101
DOH Contact: Jeff
Wise, 360 236 3483
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Newborn
Screening
The
Board adopted changes to
Chapter 246-650 WAC
at a public hearing on May 14, 2008. The Board approved
the addition of 15 disorders to the list of conditions
for which all newborns must be tested bringing the
total number of disorders to 25. The 15 disorders were
reviewed and recommended for screening by the Newborn
Screening Advisory Committee. (For more details on the
15 new conditions and the review process, please visit
http://www.sboh.wa.gov/Goals/HealthyBehaviors/NewbornScreening.)
All of the 15 new disorders are metabolic. The
Department of Health will begin screening infants for 14
of the new disorders in July 2008. Testing for
tyrosinemia type 1 is a little more complex so it will
take a few more weeks before it can be implemented.
Statutory Authority:
RCW 43.20.050 and Chapter
70.83 RCW
SBOH Contact:
Tara Wolff, 360-236-4101
DOH Contact: Mike
Glass, 206-418-5470
More information about
this rule revision available.
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Vision Screening
Chapter 246-760 WAC requires school districts to
screen the auditory and visual acuity of children
attending schools to determine if any children have
defects sufficient to retard them in their studies. In
2005, the legislature passed SHB 1951 directing DOH to
convene a workgroup to look at issues about current
vision screening practices in Washington State. The
report makes recommendations to the SBOH and the
legislature. In January of 2007, the Board accepted the
final workgroup report. There were some recommendations
in the report that the Board could elect to address in
the next two years.
Statutory Authority:
RCW 28A.210.020
SBOH Contact:
Tara Wolff, 360-236-4101
DOH Contact:
Teresa Cooper,
360-236-3530
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