The Iowa Department of Public Health is requiring that every student enrolled in 7th grade get a second immunization booster shot for the 2013-14 school year.

Guthrie County Public Health Nurse Administrator Lisa Chiodo says kids must get a “Tdap” vaccination to help prevent cases of tetanus, diptheria and pertussis–otherwise known as whooping cough–from popping up.  Most children get the vaccination at an early age, but the state has seen a jump in whooping cough cases the past five years.

“So what’s being done is by giving these kids a booster shot they’re going to have a better immunization against the whooping cough, and then you’re not gonna see the fatalities and that type of thing in our population and also hospitalizations related to the whooping cough.  So we’re decreasing those cases.”

Guthrie County students who haven’t received their “Tdap” shots can get them at the Public Health Office at 2002 State Street in Guthrie Center.

Chiodo says the organization is also working with local schools to set up a school Tdap clinic whereby parents can send in a permission slip and have their child vaccinated at school.

The school Tdap clinic will be set up sometime before September 30th.