Whooping cough booster to be required for middle, high school students

Next fall, 7th- through 12th grade students in California will be required to receive a whooping cough booster shot before starting school under a state law, health officials said Tuesday. 

Before Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed Assembly Bill 354 last week, California had been one of only 11 states that did not require middle school students to receive a booster shot against whooping cough, or pertussis. The legislation had been stalled for several years amid concerns that California would have to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for vaccinations for children on Medi-Cal, the government insurance program for the poor. 

But unimmunized teens have been a factor in the spread of disease, which has infected more than 4,400 people in California so far this year, the highest number of cases reported in the state since 1955. Studies show that undiagnosed family members are most likely to infect infants with whooping cough. Most vulnerable to whooping cough are infants too young to be immunized; nine babies, all less than three months old, have died so far this year in California.

Just 43.7% of California adolescents had the vaccine for whooping cough, known as Tdap, in 2008, according to the CDC. That rate exceeded the national average of 40.8%, but was lower than some states that require the shot for their middle school students. 

Booster shots are important for adolescents and adults because immunity to the bacterial disease can begin to fade as early as five years after receiving an inoculation. Dr. Helene Calvet, the Long Beach health officer, urged parents to take action to get their teenagers Tdap booster shots if they haven’t already done so.

“There is a statewide epidemic, and it's starting to affect our students,” Calvet said in a statement. 

According to the California Department of Public Health, all students entering 7th through the 12th grades will have to show proof of a Tdap booster shot before starting school in the fall of 2011. They should receive the Tdap shot on or after the 10th birthday, and is required for both public and private schools. 

For the 2012 school year, only 7th graders will have to show proof of a Tdap booster shot before the fall semester. Students who are allergic to the vaccine or whose parents express a philosophical objection to inoculations can seek an exemption from the vaccine requirement. 

Learn more about the state’s announcement of new whooping cough requirements: Early alert to healthcare providers 

AB 354 was written by Assemblymen Juan Arambula (unaffiliated-Fresno) and Nathan Fletcher (R-San Diego).

-- Rong-Gong Lin II

Comments

[oldusedcop]

Have you no copy editors? This piece is loaded with unattributed statements and conclusions that suggest the "information" was merely copied from a news release generated by a state PR hack.

[Megan Garvey/Los Angeles Times]

What exactly do you feel is unattributed? The facts about the number of people who have been sickened or died? That unimmunized teens have contributed to the spread, which we wrote about extensively in a story linked to above? That is has been the highest number of cases reported since 1955? That California was one of only a few states that did not already have the requirement?

Ron Lin has been covering whooping cough for months and always does a thorough job reporting and researching his articles, as he did in his case. His item includes four sources, links to three previous Los Angeles Times articles, the state law and the state alert to healthcare providers.

If readers want to learn more about The Times coverage of the whooping cough epidemic visit: http://articles.latimes.com/keyword/whooping-cough or our Q&As on the subject: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/09/whooping-cough-qa-where-can-i-go-to-get-a-whooping-cough-vaccination.html

[Momma]

I have nothing against giving kids boosters, but I question their efficacy. All the kids I know who have had whooping cough (including my own child) were fully vaxed (all 5 shots) and in elementary school. My daughter had her last shot only a year before she caught whooping cough. The only information the CDC releases is that "the vaccine is not 100% effective" - anecdotal information suggests it is a LOT less than 100% effective, and thus giving it to more people won't make much of a dent in the epidemic.

I add this comment because all the media coverage demonizes those who don't get their kids vaxed and thus spread the disease. This constant media refrain means we have had to deal with a lot of stigma as we try to educate our community about whooping cough.