Alert - Assembly Bill 354 passes

by Debbie A. Allsup
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(NaturalNews) California's Assembly Bill 354 - stating that beginning July 1, 2011, all seventh through twelfth grade students must have had the pertussis shot with all appropriate boosters - has passed. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has decided that the original series of pertussis shots lose potency between five and ten years after being administered; therefore, a booster is necessary. According to this bill, in 2005 a pertussis booster was licensed in the U.S. in the form of a Tdap vaccination specifically intended for teens and adults. Is there a way around this law?


If children received the Tdap vaccine after their seventh birthday, they are not required to have the booster. Further information from the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) is as follows:


Pertussis is widespread. If your child is 10 years and older has not yet received
the 'Tdap' pertussis booster shot, please contact your doctor or health department. Getting a booster shot now will protect your child against the ongoing threat of pertussis and meet a new school requirement that begins in the 2011-2012 school year (California law - Assembly Bill 354). Adults are also advised to get a pertussis booster shot, if they haven't already.


Thankfully, the CDPH also states that parents can exempt their children from taking the booster "for verified medical conditions or personal beliefs" even though it has been made a law.


The CDPH wants every child in California to dose up with Tdap, asserting all the while that the shot "will protect your child against the ongoing threat of pertussis." This recommendation is made despite the last sentence in "Chapter 10: Pertussis" of the Vaccine-Preventable Diseases (VPD) Surveillance Manual 4th Edition which states, "The efficacy of Tdap vaccination in controlling school or institutional outbreaks has not been evaluated." The CDC uses an information collection form to document vaccination history, doses, dates of doses, etc. of all patients identified as having pertussis, as mentioned in the VPD Surveillance Manual 4th Edition. Consequently, the CDC does have all the facts as to whether this booster has worked so far or not because right in front of their eyes they can see if this child had the booster and when.


Surely, after six years, some report on the actual effectiveness of the pertussis booster is available for the CDC and the public to evaluate. If not, why has the use of something not thoroughly evaluated for its effectiveness been made into a law?


According to a CDC article titled "Outbreaks," ten infant deaths occurred in California in 2010 from pertussis. One of the babies had the first dose of the pertussis vaccination just 15 days before he died of pertussis, and most of these babies were younger than 3 months. Because of the recent outbreak, the CDC recommends an accelerated immunization schedule for infants, and the CDC encourages the booster shot for individuals who are around babies. The updated regulations state that the first pertussis shot is to be given when the baby is just six weeks old, with one shot to follow every four weeks until five have been given. Again, Californian children are exempted from vaccinations under Section 120365 of the Health and Safety Code after parents sign a waiver.


Interestingly, to satisfy this new law, students only need to have the pertussis shot, even though a vaccine just for pertussis (without being in cocktail form) is not available in the U.S. In short, by making pertussis vaccination a requirement, youngsters are forced to receive the tetanus and diphtheria vaccinations as well.


Parents are cautioned to research the issue and CDC findings.

Sources

ftp://leginfo.public.ca.gov/.../bill/.../ab.../ab_354_cfa_20100817_190745_ sen_floor.html
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5503al.htm
http://www.cdc.gov/osels/ph_surveillance/nndss/annsum/2008/08graphs.htm, #41, #42
www.cdc.gov/pertussis/outbreaks.html
http://www.cdph.ca.gov/programs/immunize/Documents/EarlyAlertToSchools-AB354.pdf
http://www.cdph.ca.gov/programs/immunize/Documents/Pertussis%20report%209- 14-2010%20- %20For%20Release.pdf
http://www.nivc.org/