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Schools

Whooping Cough Vaccine Is Mandatory for Middle and High-School Age Students

The district is enforcing a new state law requiring students in grades seven through 12 to receive a whooping cough shot.

Beverly Hills parents have a few more weeks to get their children the whooping cough vaccine in accordance with a new state law.

Students entering grades seven and above are required to have received a whooping cough shot [Tdap] after their 10th birthday. They can conditionally attend class for up to a month after school starts before being excluded from campus.

“Over the first few weeks of school we will be working to ensure that every family who has not yet submitted records of Tdap boosters is aware of the requirement,” BHUSD Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources Dawnalyn Murakawa-Leopard said in an email to Patch. “We want to prevent students from missing school unnecessarily.”

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It is unclear how many students in the Beverly Hills Unified School District are not in compliance. The BHUSD website and the sites for all five city schools are running reminder bulletins:

“New Law! 7th through 12th graders need a whooping cough (pertussis) shot before starting school September 2011.”      

Find out what's happening in Beverly Hillswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

For further information on the new Tdap requirement, check out the California Department of Public Health's Frequently Asked Tdap Requirement Questions for Schools and Providers here

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