SCHEDULE FOR LAUSD TDAP IMMUNIZATION CLINICS
By Connie Llanos, Staff Writer, LA Daily News | http://bit.ly/npCUWl
Updated: 08/03/2011 - Parents who were scrambling to get their kids vaccinated against whooping cough by the start of the school year have been given an additional 30 days to meet the state requirement.
Gov. Jerry Brown last week signed SB 614, which extends the deadline for school districts to get students' proof that they've been immunized against pertussis.
Some medical experts are concerned about allowing middle and high school students to start classes without a Tdap booster shot, while educators say the extra time will prevent youngsters from missing out on needed class time.
"These 30 days will help us get everyone immunized and all records straight while not preventing some students from getting their education and staying in class," said Dee Apozaka, nursing director for the Los Angeles Unified School District.
Apozaka said the district embarked on a community outreach campaign last fall, sending letters home with students and calling their homes to alert them to the new immunization requirement.
- smf correction: Dee Apodaca, RN is the LAUSD Nursing Director
Despite their best efforts, getting students to comply has been a challenge.
With nearly three out of every four LAUSD students coming from low-income families, officials said a lack of health insurance or shortage of money is a barrier to getting immunizations.
Hundreds of students at one LAUSD middle school and three high schools started their 2011-12 fall semester on July 5 without proof that they'd been immunized. All but a handful of these students have since gotten the booster, Apozaka said.
- smf: as of yesterday Dr. Kimberly Uyeda, MD - director of LAUSD Student Medical Services says year-round schools (cited above) are about 98% compliant.
District officials face a similar situation at Sun Valley, Arleta and Polytechnic high schools, which start classes this Friday. As of late last week, some 42 percent of students at Poly, 58 percent at Sun Valley and 68 percent at Arleta hadn't been vaccinated.
Students who fail to show their vaccine records within 30 days will be told to stay home from school until they get the booster shot, officials said.
Several doctors are opposed to the vaccine extension though, citing concern about the unusual spike in whooping cough cases since last year.
According to the California Department of Public Health, more than 9,000 cases of whooping cough were reported in 2010, including 10 infant deaths. That number was the highest since 1947.
More than 1,900 cases have been reported so far this year.
"This is a very contagious illness that spreads very quickly, and because it looks like the common cold in most people, many may not even know that they have been infected," said Dr. Jayvee Regala, a pediatrician at Northridge Hospital.
"I have had parents calling in daily about getting this vaccine for months," he said. "This is something parents should take responsibility for."
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