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GEORGIA – New this year, effective July 1, students in Georgia public schools must receive a booster dose of the meningococcal conjugate vaccine before entering Grade 11.
This is the vaccine that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it protects against meningococcal disease, a disease caused by the bacteria Neisseria meningitidis. Diseases that can cause infections of the lining of the brain and spinal cord (meningitis) and infections of the blood (sepsis) can be serious and fatal.
[SPECIAL SECTION: Channel 2′s complete guide for back to school 2021 in north Georgia]
“This vaccine helps protect against four different types of bacteria. People who contract this bacteria can have serious consequences, ”said Adam Sanchez, nursing director of the Glynn County Department of Health.
Sanchez said meningitis is spread by droplets from actions such as sneezing or coughing.
“10 to 15 in every 100 infected people can die from it. Of those who survive, 10 to 20 of them can have serious consequences such as hearing loss, kidney damage, loss of limbs and other serious conditions, ”Sanchez said.
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Some people admit that they only got the vaccine because of the requirement.
Action News Jax asked a few people on Monday what they were doing at the Glynn County Health Department.
“The meningococcal meningitis vaccine, just because we have to have it to go to school in August,” Curtiesha Holmes said.
Personal connections were instrumental in the decision to raise Grade 11 student Shane Jackson.
“I mean, it’s not a problem for me. My brother, he got sick when he was younger and now he can’t hear because of meningitis, ”Jackson said.
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In a letter from Kathleen Toomey, Georgia Department of Public Health commissioner and state health official, she said if your child does not have health insurance, you can contact your health department. local to get a vaccine inexpensively.
Health officials remind people that the stroke itself is not new.
“It’s a fairly safe and effective vaccine. It’s been around for a while. It’s not under an emergency use order, ”Sanchez said.
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Sanchez encourages parents and their children to get the reminder as soon as they can before dates fill up.
“This booster is available in just about every health care department and most pediatrician’s offices,” Sanchez said.
The requirement was supposed to be mandatory last year, but has been pushed back due to the pandemic.
The only exception for grade 11 students in Georgia is if the student received their first dose on or after their sixteenth birthday.
For more information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on meningitis and the vaccine, click here.
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