Schools
Bad News If Your Kids Hate Needles
Children entering grades between seventh and 12th will have to show proof of a recent whooping cough vaccine booster.
Whether your children are scheduled for a doctor’s visit or not, if they’re entering any grade between seventh and 12th, they’re going to need to show they’ve had a recent booster of the whooping cough vaccine.
California has seen an increase in cases of the contagious respiratory disease, formally known as pertussis, in recent years, said Nicole Stanfield, a spokeswoman for the Orange County Health Care Agency.
The height of the whooping cough epidemic was in 2010, she said. So far, this year’s numbers are higher than those of the years leading up to 2010 but not as high as the peak.
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“For 2010, the total number of confirmed and probable cases [in Orange County] was 484. As of Feb. 5, in 2011 we have 23 cases,” Stanfield said.
In response to the epidemic, then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzeneggar signed Assembly Bill 354 into law in September.
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As part of the new law, all students in seventh grade and beyond will have to show proof of the booster before they can be registered for the 2011-12 school year. In subsequent years, only incoming seventh-graders will have to show proof of their booster.
Called Tdap in doctor-speak, the vaccine prevents tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis. school officials are e-mailing parents announcements, which indicate the shots are available from family physicians, at local pharmacies or through the Orange County Health Care Agency.
