Guest guest Posted January 9, 2009 Report Share Posted January 9, 2009 'Lot of Pressure' Helps Popularize Vaccinations By lind S. Helderman and Washington Post Staff Writers Thursday, January 8, 2009; Page PG03 Prince 's County health authorities have quietly moved toward a solution to what was once one of the public school system's most alarming problems: the large number of students who were being barred from school because they had not received state-mandated vaccinations. White, spokesman for the Prince 's school system, said a campaign to get kids to clinics for their chickenpox and hepatitis B shots had reduced the number of students who lacked immunizations from more than 2,300 a year ago to 268 as of mid-December, before the winter break. School officials celebrated the decline then, saying they hoped to take care of the remaining few over the break and this month. "It's amazing," said Betty Despenza-Green, the school system's chief of student services, who credited the decline to "a lot of pressure" and "nurses being very, very strategic" in their targeting of students who needed the vaccinations. There was a change in the attitude of parents and students as well. "People didn't think we were taking this seriously and therefore they didn't comply," said Bates, the school system's health services supervisor. "Now they think we are taking this seriously." The public snapped to attention in November 2007, when R. Owen Jr. (District 5), then chairman of the school board, called the issue an "educational crisis" and State's Attorney Glenn F. Ivey (D) said he would prosecute parents who allowed their children to remain out of compliance, offenses that carry fines of $50 a day or up to 10 days in jail. In practice, the court did not throw people in jail over the immunizations, but the legal threat briefly gained national news coverage and helped persuade parents in the county to cooperate, school officials said. "I think certainly that contributed to it," Bates said of the turnaround. "It served to send a message that everyone in the county was connected and collaborative around this issue of immunization. . . . This [school] year we haven't even had to talk about taking those kinds of measures. I think every year it's going to become easier and easier." Listen to 350+ music, sports, news radio stations FREE while you browse.Start Listening Now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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