Middle schoolers need two new vaccines in 2008

Starting the 2008 school year, middle school students in Yuma County and around the state will be required to have two new vaccines.

The state will require all children 11 years of age and older to get a meningococcal vaccine to guard them against meningitis, as well as a tetanus, diphtheria and acellular pertussis combination, or Tdap, to prevent them from getting pertussis and tetanus, said Shirley Rodriguez, coordinator of health services for Yuma Elementary School District 1.

At present, all children are required to have these vaccinations when they enroll in pre-kindergarten or elementary school: DTaP or diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccine; MMR or measles, mumps and rubella; IPV (inactivated polio vaccine) shot; hepatitis B; and varicella, she said. Those requirements will remain in place.

Rodriguez is urging parents to have their children vaccinated now instead of waiting for next year so students don't experience any delays when school begins.

Although vaccines are not given in the school district, they are available at the Yuma County Health Department, at outpatient clinics and from family doctors, Rodriguez said.

The Arizona Department of Health Services says the state is requiring the vaccine against meningitis because the disease spreads so quickly.

Meningitis is an infection that causes inflammation of the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord.

Rodriguez said meningitis is a very serious disease that is "not seen too much" in middle school. However, it is more frequently occurring among high school and college students, she added, and having the shot applied at a younger age ensures students are protected against the disease.

The state says the vaccine for pertussis and tetanus has a whooping cough booster in it.

DHS says the goal is to prevent younger children from catching the sometimes fatal whooping cough from their older siblings.

"The disease affects their breathing. Sometimes it's so bad that they die from it because they can't breathe," Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez can recall a few cases of adolescents with whooping cough in the district's junior high schools over the past four years.

She said it is a disease seen all over the country, and that "we've also had it."

Jill Walton, Crane Elementary School District nurse coordinator, said she has not seen cases of these diseases in her district.

The new Tdap vaccine is designed specifically for older children to rebuild their immunities against whooping cough since they were last vaccinated in early childhood, she said.

"I know we seem to inundate kids nowadays with all these vaccines, but you know, it's preventative. Seems like everytime we turn around, there's something more and more dangerous lurking out there that you have to protect your kids from. And vaccinations are one way to do it," Walton said.