Vermont

The State of Vermont received $300,000 through cooperative agreement EH21-2102 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in FY 2022. The funds address childhood lead poisoning prevention and surveillance programmatic activities being conducted from September 30, 2022 to September 29, 2023.

The strategies focus on

  • Ensuring blood lead testing and reporting
  • Enhancing blood lead surveillance
  • Improving linkages to recommended services

To learn more about these efforts in Vermont, contact the program below.

Vermont Department of Health
Environmental Health Division
280 State Dr. Waterbury, VT 05671
Phone: 802-863-7220

Success Story 2023

Updating Vermont’s Pediatric Blood Lead Testing and Case Management Guidance

Challenge

Lead is not naturally occurring in the body, and no safe blood lead level (BLL) has been identified. Even low levels can impair development. In 2020, Vermont lowered its action level from 5 μg/dL to any detected level. The numeric detection level varies across labs. Although the state’s definition officially changed, their testing and case management guidance did not.

Intervention

The Vermont Healthy Homes and Lead Poisoning Prevention Program worked with statewide partners to update Vermont’s pediatric blood lead testing guidelines to be consistent with the state’s definition of a BLL that requires follow-up actions. As of July 2022, Vermont’s Pediatric Blood Lead Testing Guidelines require any detected and reported level of lead to be monitored.

Impact

Data on the number of additional children who have been tested because of the new guidelines are not available yet. Monitoring all detected and reported BLLs will ensure that Vermont children who have been exposed to lead will be identified earlier. This allows parents, doctors, public health officials, and communities to act earlier to reduce the child’s future exposure to lead and connect them to needed services.

Funding for this work was made possible in part by NUE2EH001426 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The views expressed in this material do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the Department of Health and Human Services; nor does mention of trade names, commercial practices, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

Success Story 2021

Vermont Develops Provider Reports on Blood Lead Level Data to Increase Testing Rates

Challenge

Blood lead testing rates for 1-year-olds and 2-year-olds have steadily decreased from 2014 to 2017 (82% vs. 77% and 72% to 68%, respectively).

Intervention

To increase blood lead testing rates, the Vermont Healthy Homes and Lead Poisoning Prevention Program (VHHLPPP) used CDC funds to give health care providers timely data when a child’s lead test result was > 5 ug/dL, as well as supported providers in medical case management. Additionally, VHHLPPP also offered testing for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) clients at the local district health offices when providers failed to test. In 2017, after much discussion about giving providers more timely data, VHHLPPP developed web-based reports for all providers who report childhood blood lead level (BLL) data at the patient level. The reports included:

  • Individual Blood Lead Results Report – which includes all lead screening results recorded within the Shared Public Health Information eXchange (SPHINX) system for the child in a printable format.
  • Practice Level Reports – users with appropriate permissions associated with a primary care practice can produce reports for their practice.
  • Screening Tests Needed Report – highlights children who are due or past due for age-required screenings at ages 1 and 2.
  • The Venous Follow-up Tests Needed Report – highlights children in targeted age range (under 6) and any children <18 years of age who have lead results over a specific threshold as requiring follow-up.
Impact

After developing these very basic patient-level reports, VHHLPPP decided to create more visually appealing reports that aggregate provider-level data and compare provider testing rates with the state’s overall and regional testing rates in FY2019. The VHHLPPP found that providers are not regularly using web-based reports. When VHHLPPP mailed out the provider report cards, they found that providers were more receptive to the information.

Funding for this work was made possible in part by EH14-1408 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The views expressed in this material do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the Department of Health and Human Services; nor does mention of trade names, commercial practices, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.