News : Secondary school students required to receive Tdap immunization

The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH), Bureau of Immunization will require tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (Tdap) vaccine for students enrolling in seventh grade beginning with the 2013-2014 school year. The new requirement became effective January 16, 2013.

The change will require a one-time booster dose of Tdap vaccine for students enrolling in grades seven and up, if born on or after September 15, 2000. The secondary school vaccine requirement will help Iowaachieve and maintain high adolescent vaccination coverage levels while reducing the number of pertussis cases occurring annually.

“Many students have already received the Tdap vaccine and simply need to provide proof to the school,” said Nancy Farmer, Benton County Public Health Director.

Pertussis or whooping cough is caused by Bordetella pertussis and causes epidemics every three-to -five years. In 2012, 1,647cases of pertussis were reported to IDPH, a 417 percent increase in cases compared to the average of the previous five years. The majority of cases occurred in children 10-14 years of age.

Pertussis can cause serious illness in infants, children and adults. The disease starts like the common cold, with runny nose or congestion, sneezing, and sometimes a mild cough or fever which is followed by severe coughing. Pertussis can cause violent and rapid coughing, over and over, until the air is gone from the lungs and you are forced to inhale with a “whooping’ sound. While treatment with antibiotics will prevent an individual diagnosed with pertussis from spreading the disease, the cough may last for weeks.

Children receive pertussis-containing vaccine beginning at two months of age, and are recommended to get a booster dose at 11 or 12 years of age. The National Immunization Survey (NIS) Teen, 2011 results indicate 74.7 percent of Iowaadolescents 13-17 years have received the Tdap vaccine compared to the national average of 78.2 percent.

For more information about pertussis, visit www.idph.state.ia.us/Cade