State Vaccination Program

IHRIG, GINGERICH, BRENNEMAN, RHODES

Posted By: Mistina Christner (email)
Date: 7/25/2018 at 13:20:38

Source: Kalona News unsure of date

M-P Students take part in state vaccination program
By Holly Blosser Yoder

Seventh graders at Mid-Prairie experienced something truly scary last week on Halloween - shots. The students received Hepatitis B vaccinations at a school-based clinic administered by Washington County Public Health.
Though the prospect of a needle in the arm can cause quite a fright, the virus this vaccination combats is even scarier. Hepatitis B has become widespread in the United States. Up to 300,000 people become infected every year. Many become seriously ill, and some die.
Adolescents and young adults are at the highest risk for contracting the disease, according to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The seventh graders are in the age group targeted for vaccination by the Iowa Department of Health.
The entire series consists of three shots: initial dose, second dose following in one month and third dose given five months after the second. For most of the seventh graders receiving the shot last week, this was the first dose.

Good Response
There has been a "good response" to the program at Mid-Prairie, according to school nurse Becky Rhodes. "Nearly all students are taking advantage of this," she said.
Rhodes said she was pleased with the support given to the program by science teacher Jeff Foster, who gave students extra credit for returning the completed parent response form.
In addition, "Washington County Public Health was very helpful about being flexible to come when it suited the junior high," Rhodes said.
The State of Iowa pays for the shots, which cost $15 per dose, adding up to $45 per child for the complete series of injections.
Approximately 99% of adolescents in the United States have not been vaccinated against the virus at a period in their lives when they are most likely to get infected. The rough and tumble of active play, sports, physical education classes, industrial arts classes - anywhere that students can get injured and bleed - all represent potential risk..
Transmission occurs through the skin by way of cuts, scrapes, needlesticks or needle sharing; through the eyes, mouth or nose by exposure to blood or other bodily fluids; and through sexual contact.