School may be in full swing, but Gilroy is still in the weeds
when it comes to a certain immunization.
School may be in full swing, but Gilroy is still in the weeds when it comes to a certain immunization.
For 782 of 4,800 students, the clock is ticking. They’ve got nine days left to prove they’ve received a whooping cough shot, known as the “Tdap” vaccination.
Students who haven’t turned in their immunization records by Sept. 22 will be plucked from class and put into separate locations from their immunized classmates, according to Eileen Obata, Gilroy Unified School District head nurse. These students will then wait for parents to pick them up, or come to school with an immunization record, she said.
“Seven-hundred kids having to go home is going be chaos,” she said, Tuesday morning.
Obata is referring to the new California legislation that took effect July 1 requiring all California middle and high school students (7th- through 12th-grade) to get vaccinated against pertussis, or whooping cough, by the beginning of the 2011-2012 school year. This deadline was extended July 14 with the passing of Senate Bill 614, which granted schools an extra 30 days after classes began to verify Tdap records.
“It’s just so frustrating,” said Obata, of GUSD’s repeated attempts to inform parents of the impending requirement. “Students are happy in their classes. They’ll get behind on their school work if they have to leave.”
Phone calls were made to the Los Gatos, Hollister and Morgan Hill school districts for comparisons. MHUSD has 101 students who still need the Tdap, LGUSD has 21 students and HSD did not return calls as of press time.
On Tuesday, Obata met with GUSD nurses, staff and Superintendent Debbie Flores for a “TDAP strategic planning” meeting to prepare for Sept. 22. When this day rolls around, GUSD will have to deal with shuffling non-immunized students out of their classes and into separate locations, such as libraries.
“Sometimes it takes excluding their child to get the parents to wake up and say, ‘wow, they really need this,” said Obata. “(The parents) get mad at this, but this is a public health law.”
The Tdap shot is a response to a large growth in pertussis cases in the past few years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most recent numbers show more than 17,000 cases of whooping cough were reported throughout the country in 2009, affecting mostly infants and teens. Symptoms include a runny nose, low-grade fever and rapid deep coughs that are followed by a high-pitched “whoop,” according to the CDC. The disease can lead to death if untreated because of exhaustion and the inability to breathe normally.
“It’s just horrible. It chokes you. It’s like you can’t breathe,” said Obata, a GUSD nurse of 15 years.
So far this year, she said GUSD has already experienced two cases of whooping cough – with a third pending.
The district began notifying parents in fall 2010, mailing letters home in October, February and May, followed by a fourth sent out Sept. 9, according to Obata. GUSD also posted a notice on its website, in addition to initiating three rounds of automated calls. Office staff have now resorted to “time consuming” individual calls; 50 having been dialed out from South Valley Junior High so far.
On Sept. 21, GUSD will send home with its non-immunized students a notice that reads: “Please do not send your child to school tomorrow, because we do not have proof of a Tdap,” warned Obata.
By law, parents who do not want state required immunizations for their child – be it for personal or religious beliefs – have a right to keep their child from being vaccinated, Obata said.
There are stipulations that accompany this, however, as objecting parents must visit their child’s school and sign a waiver in front of a witness. Their child will also be subjected to exclusion from school anytime a peer contracts pertussis, Obata said. While the Public Health Department is in charge of determining the length of the infectious period, she pointed out exclusion periods can last for up to 14 days.
Obata estimates the number of parents who have opted to sign the waiver is less than 1 percent, or around five parents for each of the three middle school and four high school sites.
She said, however, the Tdap booster is “extremely safe;” much more so than the “old DTP’s (diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccines) that we used to give years ago.”
If parents are uncertain if their child has received a Tdap, or have any additional questions, Obata pleads, “call nurses at the school. We would rather be inundated with calls then have parents be confused.”
Where to get whooping cough vaccinations (“Tdap” booster)
– Gardner South County Health Center: 7526 Monterey St. 846-6755
– School Health Clinic of Santa Clara County, Gilroy neighborhood health clinic: 7861 Murray Ave. 842-1017
– Walgreens: 770 First St. 847-0983. Cost is $63.99 without insurance
– Rite Aid: 360 E.10th St. 848-2328. Cost is $57.99 without insurance
All 7th- through 12th-grade students must provide verification of a Tdap booster, or whooping cough vaccination, by Thursday.
Students who still need their Tdap booster
– Gilroy High School: 296
– Advanced Path (an alternative high school located on the GHS campus): 45
– Christopher High School: 107
– Mt. Madonna Continuation High School: 35
– Ascencion Solorsano Middle School: 164
– Brownell Middle School: 79
– South Valley MIddle School: 51
– The Dr. T.J. Owens Gilroy Early College Academy: 5
* Numbers current as of Sept. 9
