Written by
Capitol Television News Service (CTNS)
SACRAMENTO, CA - Get your whooping cough vaccine now, that's the message from districts around California as the school year winds down.
Under a state law enacted last year all seventh through 12th grade students must prove they're vaccinated before the next school year begins or they won't be allowed in class.
"We don't want them to miss school, we want them to participate in activities, one of things about pertussis is that it can be a very long lasting disease, it can last from weeks to months and we don't want our students to miss that much school," California Department of Health Dr. Eileen Yamada said.
There were 9,100 whooping cough cases last year, including 10 fatalities involving babies. It was the biggest outbreak since 1947. Health officials fear parents will wait until the last minute to get their child vaccinated and are working with school districts to get the word out.
"We estimate, probably at least a million more, a million students will still need the vaccine before school starts," Yamada said. "We think a half to two thirds have already received the vaccine, but they need to look for their records."
Many schools have told parents that their child's academic records won't be passed on to the junior high or high school they're moving to next year unless they show proof of getting the T-Dap vaccine.
"A lot of schools have already started collecting the records this spring before school gets out because we know during summer a lot of the nurses and health staff aren't going to be right at the school so a lot of schools have done a lot of effort this spring," Yamada said.
August and September are the peak months for whooping cough, just as the school year begins, and while the number of cases is down from last year, the rate is far above normal, though so far there haven't been any fatal cases in 2011.
CTNS