News release from Super Shot:
Super Shot Promotes Pertussis Prevention in Northeast IN by Hosting the Public Health Nurse Regional Meeting This Thursday
(June 3, 2014) – The Public Health Nurse Regional meeting, hosted by Super Shot for the first time, will take place on June 5, 2014 at 11:30am at Manchester University School of Pharmacy. The organization is pleased to host Katie Van Tornhout, mother of Callie, an infant who died at the age of 5 weeks in 2010. What was Callie’s killer? Pertussis.
Following this meeting, at 1:45pm, Van Tornhout will speak to community stakeholders, including staff from local hospital birthing centers and quality/infection prevention departments, school nurses, local university faculty and students as well as Super Shot staff.
Van Tornhout has been a passionate advocate for pertussis prevention and vaccination since her daughter’s untimely death in 2010. She has shared Callie’s story nationally, including an appearance on Good Morning America in 2010, and has partnered heavily with Every Child by Two, a national organization promoting early childhood immunization.
Pertussis is a vaccine preventable disease of the respiratory tract. It is also known as ‘whooping cough’ or the ‘100 day cough.’ While the disease is usually not serious in adults and older children – where it mimics the common cold – it can be devastating to infants in the first year of life, causing hospitalization in 5 of 10 infants, and death in 1 or 2 of 100 hospitalized infants. Thirty to forty percent of infants with pertussis are infected by their mother, while 80% are infected by a close household member or caregiver.
Vaccination is the number one way to prevent pertussis. The vaccine is recommended at the ages of 2, 4 and 6 months, 12-15 months, 4-6 years, and 11-12 years. It is also recommended that all pregnant women be vaccinated during EVERY pregnancy, and that all adults receive one dose of pertussis vaccine, in the form of Tdap, instead of the routine Td vaccine given prophylactically every 10 years or for wound treatment. It is also recommended for all healthcare workers and childcare givers.
About Super Shot
Super Shot is a non-profit organization that operates an independent reduced cost immunization program ($8 per shot, though no one is turned away for inability to pay; Medicaid accepted) that serves children in Allen and surrounding counties with family-friendly hours and convenient locations. Last year, Super Shot served 6,929 children during 8,900 visits, administering 25,981 immunizations. Super Shot also sent 54,166 Reminder/Recall postcards, placed 50,319 autodialed calls and made 8,846 personal calls to families to help keep their children up-to-date. Have questions about Super Shot locations? Call 424-7468, or view the Super Shot clinic schedules at www.supershot.org.