WASHINGTON — The clock is being reset for some students who haven’t received immunizations required for school.
Maryland’s top doctor is giving school systems in the state an extra 45 days to get students and their parents to comply, based on a few conditions set by the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
One condition is that school systems determine whether “legal interventions” are needed to compel caregivers to comply with state immunization laws. Another condition requires school systems to establish immunization programs with local health care providers.
This year, Maryland has new immunization requirements for children entering kindergarten and seventh grade, including vaccines to protect against tetanus, meningitis and whooping cough (pertussis).
Children who fail to provide proof of required immunizations are typically barred from school. Under the provisions of Maryland’s 45-day extension for compliance, children kept out of class earlier this school year now are allowed to return.
As of last Thursday, 1,491 seventh graders in Montgomery County schools had failed to show they’d received the whooping cough booster, The Washington Post reports. And more than a dozen Montgomery County students in four schools have come down with whooping cough.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports the number of whooping cough cases in the U.S. is up 30 percent this year, compared to last.
Whooping cough is a highly-contagious respiratory disease that begins with symptoms similar to the common cold. Symptoms can escalate into serious coughing fits lasting for weeks.
Free vaccine clinics are being held statewide to help students meet vaccination requirements. This week in Montgomery County, walk-in vaccine clinics with no appointment necessary will take place in Germantown, Rockville and Silver Spring. In Anne Arundel County, free walk-in clinics for students will be held in Glen Burnie, Parole, Annapolis and Fort Meade.
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