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New vaccine required for 7th graders

If you've got a 7th grader getting ready for school he or she will first have to roll up their sleeve.

Tdap is a new required shot for all 7th graders.  It covers Tetanus, Diphtheria, and Pertussis.

Cindy Dibler is an enrollment secretary with the Broken Arrow School District.

She says the Health Deparment's Caring Van will be providing free immunizations August 22 and August 23 in Broken Arrow during BAPS enrollment.

Pertussis, also known as whooping cough, is a contagious disease that is easily passed from person to person through coughing.  It’s very serious for babies and can cause coughing fits so bad that it’s hard for them to breathe.

The Oklahoma State Department of Health reports hundreds of babies are hospitalized each year for whooping cough, and some die from it.  In California last year, ten babies died from whooping cough.

Health experts say protection from whooping cough as well as the whooping cough vaccine wears off over time.  So even if you had the disease or the vaccine as a child you need a booster.

Parents should ask their doctor for the Tdap vaccine.  Health officials say all adults need a Td (tetanus and diphtheria booster) every ten years.

Tdap replaces one of those boosters.

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