County, schools team up to offer state-mandated vaccines
Brian D. Bridgeford/News Republic
Sauk County Public Health Department nurse Pat Rego displays the vaccines against diseases such as whooping cough and chicken pox. By September, all Wisconsin children entering sixth, ninth and 12 grade are required to get a second whooping cough vaccination, while those entering kindergarten, sixth and 12th grade must get a chicken pox shot, unless they suffered the disease and have a natural immunity.
By Brian D. Bridgeford / News Republic
Preventing the spread of the red spots of chicken pox or painful hack of whooping cough is the reason some children in the Baraboo schools must complete a new round of vaccinations by September, school and health officials say. Both the school district and Sauk County Public Health Department are cooperating to help parents and children complete the new requirement under Wisconsin's immunization law. Children entering the sixth, ninth and 12th grades must receive the Tdap — tetanus, diphtheria and whooping cough — vaccine, said Diana Cone, registered nurse serving Baraboo High School. If a child has had her tetanus shot in the last five years, she is excused from the requirement, she said. A vaccination for chicken pox is required for students entering kindergarten, grade six and 12th grade. Children who have had chicken pox and thus developed natural immunity are exempt from the requirement for shots, Cone said. From time to time, students at BHS are afflicted with chicken pox, she said. But that is rare. "At the high school and middle school level, there are quite a few children that have already had the disease, especially high schoolers," Cone said. "Because when they were infants or children, they weren't required to have the immunization." Parents who oppose vaccinations for personal or religious reasons can have their child excused from the requirement by filling out a form, she said. "There are a very small number of people who choose not to have their children immunized," Cone said. While the district is offering vaccination clinics, parents whose children are uncomfortable getting shots or who have had reactions to past immunizations should have their family physician administer them, Cone said. On May 8, the Sauk County Public Health Department will provide vaccinations free for juniors at BHS and eighth-grade students at Jack Young Middle School, Cone said. They will be at Gordon L. Willson Elementary School on May 23 to vaccinate fifth-grade students whose parents want them to get the shots. The new immunization rules are part of an effort to further reduce the number of children who get these illnesses, said Dan Hopfensperger, director of the Wisconsin Immunization Program. In recent years, the number of chicken pox cases has been on a downward trend, he said. Wisconsin had nearly 11,900 cases in 1994, according to a state report on vaccine-preventable diseases. The number fell to 3,500 in 2000 and was down to 603 cases in 2004 and 487 cases in 2005. The incidence of chicken pox jumped up to 1,050 cases in 2006, the most recent year for which numbers are available, Hopfensperger said. The number of whooping cough cases rises and falls sporadically, he said. The state tally shows 140 cases of the illness in 2000, rising to 708 in 2003 and peaking at nearly 5,000 whooping cough cases in 20004. By 2006, whooping cough cases fell to 188, also the last numbers verified by public health officials, "Pertussis (whooping cough) is fairly cyclical. We had that big outbreak in 2004 (and) 2005," Hopfensperger said. "It ebbs and flows, every three or four years you might have and uptick in cases." In the past, whooping cough vaccine was given to children from birth through age 6, he said. The vaccine's effectiveness waned over the years, and health officials have seen an increase in whooping cough cases among adolescents and adults. "(It's) usually not that serious a disease in adolescents and adults, but they were usually the individuals who transmitted it to younger family members, where the pertussis can be a lot more serious, especially in children age 1 or younger," Hopfensperger said. In 2005, a new vaccine was released that can be given to older children. With the new vaccine being given to older children around the state as well, Hopfensperger said he hopes cases of whooping cough will continue to decline. While both whooping cough and chicken pox are most commonly found in children, adults can be infected by them, said Pat Rego, a Sauk County public health nurse. Whooping cough can lead to pneumonia in vulnerable older people, and chicken pox is a problem if a pregnant woman get the disease. "The children (with chicken pox) being around teachers, or aunts or (anyone who) may be pregnant, that is a concern," she said, "The whooping cough, certainly it affects the elderly and the very, very young." Rego said the additional vaccinations are a step toward eliminating chicken pox and whooping cough in the same way children getting polio has been eliminated in the United States. County public health nurses are providing the two vaccines at all four school districts in Sauk County this spring, she said. Each month, they provide four clinics in Baraboo, Sauk City and twice in Reedsburg, at which free childhood vaccinations are available. "We have the routine (monthly clinics), and we're doing three extra clinics this summer," Rego said. Parents who want more information about the new vaccination requirements or available clinics should call Cone at (608) 355-2944; or Baraboo elementary schools nurse Sheri Kujak at (608) 355-3912. Call the Sauk County Health Department about their clinics or other issues at 355-3290. Chicken pox and whooping cough vaccination information: Baraboo High School nurse Diana Cone - (608) 355-2944 Elementary schools nurse Sheri Kujak - (608) 355-3912 Sauk County Health Department - (608) 355-3290 General vaccine information Web site - http://vaccineinformation.org Sauk County Public Health Department immunizations Web site - http://www.co.sauk.wi.us/dept/ph/ph/immunization.htm County public health walk-in clinics: Reedsburg Area Medical Center 2000 North Dewey Ave., Reedsburg 1-4 p.m. 1st Tuesday of each month West Square Building 505 Broadway - Lower Level, Baraboo 3-6 p.m. 2nd Thursday of each month Sauk City Community Center 730 Monroe St., Sauk City 3-5 p.m. 3rd Tuesday of each month Reedsburg Area Medical Center 2000 North Dewey Ave., Reedsburg 3-6 p.m. 3rd Thursday of each month All childhood vaccinations are free, as well as tetanus and measles-mumps-rubella shots for adults. Adult vaccinations available for a fee include: influenza, pneumonia, hepatitis A and B, and meningitis. Contact the Sauk County Health Department at (608) 355-3290 for more information. What is? - Whooping cough • A bacterial infection of the breathing tubes in the lungs. • Causes spasms of severe coughing lasting as long as a minute. • Spasms can cause children to turn red or purple. • Treatable with antibiotics. • Once a major cause of childhood death, but now rarely fatal. What is? - Chicken pox • A virus infection common in childhood. • Visible signs are skin blisters filled with watery fluid. • Chicken pox is very easily spread by coughing, sneezing or contact with fluid from blisters. • Chickenpox can cause serious complications in pregnant women or people with damaged immune systems. • The varicella virus can cause the painful skin eruptions called shingles later in life.