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NEWS RELEASES
Students Received Recommended Vaccines at No Cost
to Families
HOUSTON (Dec. 17, 2008) – About 500
adolescents at five Houston-area middle schools recently received
free, nationally-recommended Tdap and meningococcal vaccines through
a collaborative school-based pilot program called “Vaccinating
Adolescents: Taking it To The Schools.” The program was developed
and led by the Center for Vaccine Awareness and Research at Texas
Children’s Hospital with support from Houston Independent School
District (HISD), Texas Department of State Health Services, Harris
County Hospital District and Memorial Hermann Hospital.
Targeting medically-underserved neighborhoods, the program sought to
immunize as many students as possible while gathering valuable
research from parents about the most effective way to deliver
vaccines to their children. Beginning in October, over 7,300
parental questionnaires were distributed to families through eight
Houston-area middle schools, including Edison, Burbank, Ortiz, Key,
Jackson, Hogg, John Marshall, and Patrick Henry. Based on
questionnaire results, about 4,500 immunization consent packets were
distributed to families of the latter five middle schools where
on-site student immunizations were conducted.
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Antonio Avalos receives a shot from
Patricia Perez as Texas Children’s
Hospital’s Dr. Middleman looks on
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“Adolescents are a difficult population to reach because they don’t
always make routine visits to their healthcare provider’s office,”
said Dr. Amy Middleman, director, Adolescent and Young Adult
Immunizations, Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine
Awareness and Research. “Yet adolescents are at risk of catching and
spreading serious diseases that can easily be prevented with the
recommended immunizations.”
Dr. Middleman pointed to the death in October of a teenage girl from
meningitis at Houston’s Revere Middle School as an example of the
seriousness of the threat.
She added that the supportive collaboration between HISD, state
health officials, Memorial Hermann, and the hospital district was
the key to the program’s viability. Because federal funding was
tapped to provide the vaccines and existing school-based healthcare
facilities and staff were used to administer the shots, the
immunizations were delivered efficiently and at no cost to the
families. The cost of Texas Children’s program staff and survey
materials was underwritten by private grants.
“The high degree of collaboration among all the project partners
made it a success,” said
Dr. Middleman. “Together, we educated a lot of teachers, parents and
students about vaccine-preventable diseases, immunized students and
gathered solid research information on vaccine delivery that will
help us provide even more shots more effectively in the future.”
The meningococcal vaccine guards adolescents against meningitis
while Tdap protects against tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis, also
known as whooping cough. Both vaccines are recommended for
adolescents between the ages of 11 -18 by the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention. Currently, the State of Texas does
not mandate these vaccines for adolescents, but may make them
mandatory in the near future.
In the meantime, the program’s collaborators hope to use the
research conducted through the pilot program to improve immunization
rates among the city’s adolescents.
“The Harris County Hospital District has a long tradition of
addressing the health-related issues of the youth in our
communities,” said Christina Mintner, director of school based
clinics, Harris County Hospital District. “We were pleased to join
forces and participate in such an important immunization program and
study that will provide much needed information.”
The research findings from “Vaccinating Adolescents: Taking It to
the Schools” will be compiled and reported by Texas Children’s
Center for Vaccine Awareness and Research in spring, 2009.
About the Center for Vaccine Awareness and Research
The Vaccine Awareness and Research Center at Texas Children’s
Hospital promotes healthier children and families by providing
parents and health care professionals with the latest information
and recommendations on vaccines for infants, children, adolescents,
pregnant women and adults through its Web site,
www.vaccine.texaschildrens.org and by conducting research that
contributes to effective vaccine delivery models. An ongoing
program, the center is the creation of four Texas Children’s
Hospital physicians who are experts in the fields of vaccine
education and research, pediatrics, infectious diseases and
adolescent medicine.
About Texas Children's Hospital
Texas Children's Hospital is committed to a community of healthy
children by providing the finest pediatric patient care, education
and research. Renowned worldwide for its expertise and breakthrough
developments in clinical care and research, Texas Children’s is
ranked in the top ten best children’s hospitals by U.S. News and
World Report. Texas Children’s also operates the nation’s largest
primary pediatric care network, with over 40 offices throughout the
greater Houston community. Texas Children’s has embarked on a $1.5
billion expansion, Vision 2010, which includes a neurological
research institute, a comprehensive obstetrics facility focusing on
high risk births, and a community hospital in suburban West Houston.
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