Tdap Vaccine Required For North Carolina Students

Raleigh, NC (AHN) - An additional dose of vaccine for tetanus, diphtheria and pertusis (Tdap) will be required for North Carolina students. The Commission for Public Health authorized the new rules and also designates that all children before enrolling in school, college or university should get a second dose of vaccine for mumps. Immunization rules also encourage additional vaccine coverage for mumps and pertussis or whooping cough.

Most children are vaccinated against whooping cough before going to kindergarten but the immunity declines after 10 years. Outbreaks of mumps still happen in United States and other parts of the world and it was reported that 2006 Iowa and other Midwestern states outbreak begins on a college campus.

The new immunization programs are recommended to lower the incidence of whooping cough and mumps in North Carolina. Both vaccines are available for free through the State's health departments and doctors but physicians may charge for an administration fee.

Whooping cough - or pertussis - is an infection of the respiratory system characterized by severe coughing spells that end in a "whooping" sound when the person breathes in. Infants and younger children are more likely to require hospitalization because they're at greater risk for complications such as pneumonia, ear infection, dehydration, and seizures. In infants younger than 6 months of age, whooping cough can even be life-threatening.