Tdap vaccine required for all secondary students

Woodrow Wilson Elementary School recently posted a friendly reminder that many parents may have overlooked but is necessary to keeping a child enrolled in the public school system in Iowa.

Parents with a student entering the seventh-grade next school year must have their child immunized with the the tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis vaccine or Tdap vaccine.

This policy is mandated by the Iowa Department of Public Health, and went into effect last year.

Pertussis, better known as the whooping cough, has been on the rise in Iowa. In 2012, there were 1,647 diagnosed cases, which was a 417 percent rise versus the previous five year average, according to IDPH.

Tetanus is a serious bacterial disease that affects the nervous, is commonly called lockjaw, and can be fatal. It is rarely reported in the U.S., however, according to the Mayo Clinic.

The Mayo Clinic also reports that cases of diphtheria are extremely rare in the U.S. and symptoms of this disease causes a serious bacterial infection in the mucous membranes of the nose and throat.

IDPH said making the Tdap vaccination a requirement was to assist in the removal of barriers to vaccine, achieve high vaccination coverage rates and subsequently lower rates of vaccine-preventable diseases. Prior to this change, Iowa was was one of 10 states that had no Tdap protocol in place for secondary school students.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration first licensed the Tdap vaccine in 2005. As of 2011, 74.7 percent of Iowa teens (13 to 17) were immunized, which was behind the national average of 78.2 percent.

For more information, it is recommended parents call the Jasper County Public Health  at (641) 792-3111.

Contact Senior Staff Writer Ty Rushing at (641) 792-3121 Ext. 6532 or trushing@newtondailynews.com