Keep the 18-Month Health Supervision Visit
1 Accident Prevention and Poison Control Program, NJ State Department of Health, Trenton, NJ 08625
To the Editor.
In the April 1987 issue of Pediatrics, two important editorials were published. One, by Landrigan and Graef1 was on pediatric lead poisoning. The other, by Haggerty,2 was related to retaining the 18-month health supervision visit despite a recent change in immunization policies. We wish to point out a connection between these two commentaries; the 18-month health supervision visit provides an ideal opportunity to screen children for lead toxicity and to educate parents about lead poisoning.
Blood lead levels previously thought to be safe have been found to be associated with irreversible neurologic damage.1




