Schools Resume Tetanus / Diphtheria Vaccine Requirement

For Immediate Release:
July 8, 2002

Contact:
Sue Denny
Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services
Section of Vaccine-Preventable and Tuberculosis Disease Elimination
573-751-6133

Schools Resume Tetanus / Diphtheria Vaccine Requirement

Students who have not received a tetanus / diphtheria (Td) vaccine for ten years or more will once again be required to have one for school entry. After a year and a half of shortages, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has announced that the supply is adequate to begin giving routine boosters.

"Most high school sophomores and juniors need booster doses of the vaccine," said Vic Tomlinson, chief of the immunization program at the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. "It will take planning and time to immunize all of them. We are encouraging schools to work with health care providers, students, and parents to obtain the Td booster in a timely but reasonable way."

"Adults who have not had this immunization for ten years or more should also be sure to get the vaccine," said Tomlinson. "We encourage both students and adults with private insurance that pays for vaccines to be immunized at their regular physician's office."

The shortage began in early 2001. The only other manufacturer of the vaccine discontinued the product, leaving only one manufacturer. The manufacturing process for Td vaccine takes eleven months, so it has taken until now for the remaining manufacturer, Aventis Pasteur, to increase capacity.

Infants and young children should receive at least four doses of a vaccine containing tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (whooping cough) vaccine before they begin kindergarten. Pertussis vaccine is not recommended for persons aged seven or older, but everyone should receive the Td vaccine every ten years.

Tetanus, also called lockjaw, is an acute, often fatal, disease. It causes severe muscle spasms, and difficulty with swallowing and breathing. The bacteria that cause tetanus are widely distributed in the soil and in the manure of many farm animals. Diphtheria is passed from person to person.

It is a serious bacterial infection that begins with a sore throat. Both diseases are very rare in the U.S.