Hey, California parents! Did you know the state’s vaccination laws have changed?
Beginning in the 2011-2012 school year, all students entering 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grades will need proof of a whooping cough vaccination (known as Tdap) before starting school. (If children received the Tdap shot on or after their 7th birthdays, they do not need another.)
The law applies to students enrolled in public and private schools.
The Fresno County Department of Public Health is encouraging all parents to schedule an appointment with their teens’ health care providers for a Tdap vaccination, other vaccinations, and a complete health check-up.(Click here to hear some of the county health department’s “Vaccinate Your Teen” PSAs.)
Between Jan. 1, 2010 and Dec. 3
Why is this important?
Between Jan. 1, 2010 and Dec. 31, 2010, California experienced the most severe whooping cough epidemic in 63 years, according to the California Department of Public.
The epidemic hit the state’s Latino community especially hard. Nine of the ten infants who died of whooping cough last year were Latino.
Read more from Harvesting Health about whooping cough:
No matter what age you are, you should be vaccinated against the disease. If you are a pregnant women or the caretaker of an infant, it’s essential that you get vaccinated.
Here’s why: I’ve heard over and over during my reporting that whooping cough might not kill adults, but it can kill infants who are not yet protected against the disease.
Take it from Mariah Bianchi. In this video on the website ShotbyShot.org, Bianchi describes how she had (what she thought was) the common cold toward the end of her pregnancy with her second child. Turns out, it was whooping cough.
Her son, Dylan, was born two weeks early, and he died of whooping cough.
In a heartbreaking moment in the video, Bianchi, who is a nurse, describes the pain of losing a child to a vaccine-preventable disease. “I’ll never get over the guilt,” she said. “The guilt of giving your child a disease that kills him.”
If Mariah’s story doesn’t spur you into action, and send you straight to the doctor’s office or a local health clinic, maybe the sound of whooping cough will.
In this video, also posted on ShotbyShot, Jennifer López shares the sound of a baby coughing and gasping for air, and encourages parents to get vaccinated to protect their young children.
Need more information? If you speak Spanish, check out the immunization website, vacunasymisalud.org.
Related post: Why have Latino infants been so hard hit by the whooping cough epidemic?
