Schools
Students Need Whooping Cough Shot
Students in seventh through 12th grades must have whooping cough vaccine by 30 days after the start of the school year.
Along with backpacks, binders and pens, keep “pertussis vaccine” at the top of your back-to-school list. If your child is entering grades seven through 12, you need to provide proof of having had the shot, according to a new state law.
Last week, both houses of the state Legislature approved a law that would give parents and students until 30 days after school starts to show proof of vaccination against whooping cough. Without it, they won’t be allowed to stay in school.
The new law actually grants a 30-day extension for the vaccination because an earlier law would have required students to be vaccinated by the first day of school. However, school and health officials found that many students around the state weren’t on track to have the vaccination by the first day of school.
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The vaccine requirement aims to prevent another outbreak of pertussis—known as whooping cough—which surged to epidemic proportions in California in 2010. More than 9,000 cases of pertussis were reported in California, the highest number in more than 60 years. In a distinction we could do without, more than half of all pertussis cases in the U.S. occurred in California last year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
Pertussis begins with coldlike symptoms—low fever, runny nose, sneezing and mild cough. The illness progresses to severe fits of coughing that can last for months and that can make breathing difficult. A high-pitched “whoop” follows the paroxysms of coughing. Highly contagious, pertussis was responsible for 10 deaths in California last year; nine of those victims were infants younger than 2 months old.
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The required Tdap booster shot protects your child from pertussis, as well as diphtheria and tetanus. Most children had initial Tdap shots before starting school at age 5 or 6. The immunity from these shots wears off after several years, which is why the booster is required now.
If your child hasn’t had the Tdap booster, there’s still time, but don’t delay. Call your child’s doctor to check on availability of the Tdap booster. Appointments for a shot only are often quicker and easier to get than being seen for illness.
