KIDS TAKE A SHOT AT HEALTH: NEW LAW GETS TOUGH

The last week has been a busy one for area school nurses and county health centers as classes began and students no longer had a grace period to comply with the law on immunizations.

Charlotte Craig, director of the Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center, and Warren Manning, administrator for the Scott County Health Department, both said their offices have been busy.

"We've been swamped this week," Manning said. The Sikeston clinic gave 240 shots on Tuesday, basically all to school-age children. In addition, he said there was a fair turnout for a Wednesday evening clinic to accommodate those who couldn't make it during regular office hours.

The Cape Girardeau health center also saw a steady stream of students needing immunizations. The last-minute rush occurred just before Jackson began school on Wednesday and Cape Girardeau on Thursday. Even on the opening days of school, students were referred to the health center if their documentation wasn't correct.

"Parents should want to have their children immunized because these are communicable diseases," said Craig, who likes the idea of requiring students to have the proper shots before attending school.

"We have eliminated most of these diseases through immunizations," continued Craig. "People seem to have lost the appreciation for the fact that these diseases used to kill children. They only way to keep the diseases down is to immunize against them.

"If you don't enforce the need for immunizations in a closed situation like a school, you're allowing the opportunity for the diseases to reoccur," she said.

Having children immunized is a good idea, agreed Rhonda Barks of Oak Ridge, who had two of her children at the health center this week.

"You don't want your children to be sick," Barks said. Both her son and daughter are current on their immunizations.

"I just follow the recommendations of the health center," Barks said. "They provide a schedule for the immunizations and I have them done when they're supposed to be done."

Candy Hill, a full-time mother of three from Cape Girardeau, has been coming to the health center since her 6-year-old daughter was little. All her children have received their immunization shots at the center. The visit to the center this week was to get some shots for her 4-year-old son since he's starting Head Start next Tuesday.

"The nurses are nice when they're giving shots," Hill said. "The kids feel comfortable with them since they've been coming here all along."

The elimination of the grace period for having the proper immunizations to start school was supposed to happen last year but was interrupted by the flood, Craig said. She said she was glad that the Missouri Department of Health had decided to enforce the law this year.

The new law requires every student in the fourth grade and below to have had five DPT shots for diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus, four polio shots and two MMR shots for measles, mumps and rubella.

The DPT shots are the only ones that are negotiable for meeting the requirements, Craig said. The number needed is based on the child's age.

No other shots are required until a child reaches high school, Craig said. The law requires students to have a tetanus booster shot 10 years after the last DPT shot was given.

Craig said the health center saw mostly school-age kids on Tuesday. She said it was the fourth big clinic that the center has had this summer.

"We're busy all the time," Craig said. "It's just been worse this year."

Craig said she was pleased there were only about 30 students sent to the center for immunizations after classes began in the area.

"We must have done a pretty good job of letting people know that the immunizations were needed before school started," Craig said. She also said school nurses had been working hard to let parents and students know about the new requirement.

The center has six immunization clinics scheduled each month, Craig said. In addition, the center had six extra days this summer just devoted to booster shots. She said the center does not charge for the immunizations.

Craig advised that adults also need a tetanus booster shot every 10 years to prevent lockjaw.

"Gardeners and mechanics are prone to lockjaw," Craig said. "Every one who works in an area that might be prone to dirty injuries and puncture wounds should have a tetanus booster at least every 10 years. Actually, every adult really needs one every 10 years."

In Scott County, Manning said the health department asks $2.50 from those who can afford to pay for the immunizations.

He said his department doesn't do immunizations on a walk-in basis. The next immunization clinic in the county is Tuesday at the Sikeston office, 205 W. Malone.

Immunizations are done at the Benton office on the first and third Wednesdays of the month, Manning said. They are also available in Oran on the first Thursday of the month and in Scott City on the second Wednesday of the month.