Over the past five years or so, school nurses in Cabarrus County have seen one or two cases of whooping cough per year, mostly in middle-schoolers.
Because of increasing cases of whooping cough and a new state requirement, this year's entering sixth-graders must have the new “Tdap” vaccine (tetanus/diphtheria/pertussis), said Jan Odell, who leads the school nurse program for the Cabarrus Health Alliance.
The new rule applies if it has been five or more years since the child's last Tdap dose.
Students can receive the booster shot from their doctor, or free at the Cabarrus Health Alliance.
“Whooping cough is certainly more dangerous for very young and very old,” Odell said. If an adolescent has whooping cough, it could spread and cause an infant to end up in the hospital, she said.
Still, “For any middle-schooler or high-schooler, it's not fun to have a whooping cough for three to six weeks and not be allowed to do school and other things,” she said. “And it just spreads the disease.”
If children attend private school or are home-schooled, the regulations apply if they were 12 years old on or after Aug. 1. They also are required to get a booster dose if five years or more have passed since the last shot.
Children must have other state-required immunizations and provide an immunization record to their school no later than 30 days after school starts.
Besides middle-schoolers, the Tdap booster regulation applies to students enrolling in a college or university for the first time on or after July 1, if they haven't had the vaccine within the past 10 years.
“Parents, don't delay – the doctors and Health Alliance (offices) are filling up. Take care of this before Aug. 25,” Odell said of the first day of school for Cabarrus County students. She urged parents to call the Cabarrus Health Alliance for a free appointment.
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