Time for parents to vaccinate preteens

ROME — Nobody likes getting shots. But a shot lasts a second; diseases last much longer. The Georgia Department of Public Health has established Georgia Preteen Vaccine Awareness Week, observed March 12-16, to remind parents to talk with their preteens and teens about getting immunized against vaccinepreventable diseases.

“Preteens are at an age where they are becoming more aware of their health decisions. They know they should go to the doctor and get vaccinated, yet many times they just don’t go — and parents don’t see it as a priority,” said Janet Eberhart, Immunization Coordinator for the Georgia Department of Public Health Northwest Health District. “Parents, make it a priority to vaccinate your preteen against preventable diseases.”

According to the Georgia Department of Pub- lic Health Rule (511-2-2), all students born on or after Jan. 1, 2002, entering or transferring into seventh grade and any “new entrant” into eighth to 12th grades in Georgia need proof of an adolescent pertussis (whooping cough) booster vaccination (called “Tdap”) and an adolescent meningococcal vaccination.

This law affects all public and private schools including, but not limited to, charter schools, community schools, juvenile court schools and other alternative school settings (excluding homeschool).

The CDC currently recommends the following vaccines for preteens and teens:

Tetanus, Diphtheria and Pertussis (Tdap) Influenza (flu) Human Papillomavirus (HPV)

Meningococcal Disease (MenACWY)

Vaccines are the best defense against serious, preventable, and some- times deadly contagious diseases. They help families and individuals avoid expensive therapies and hospitalizations to treat infectious diseases like influenza and meningitis.

Immunizations also decrease absences from school and after-school activities and decrease spreading illness into the home and throughout the school and the community.

Georgia Preteen Vaccine Awareness Week is an opportunity to raise awareness through schools, health care providers, and the media regarding preteen immunizations, particularly Georgia’s pertussis and meningococcal requirements for incoming seventh-grade students. For more information, contact the local health department in Polk County at 770-749-2270, or visit the office at 125 E. Ware St., Cedartown, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Wednesdays, 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Thursdays and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Fridays.