Did your Iowa teen get the required meningitis shot?

Mackenzie Ryan
The Des Moines Register

Iowa schools are warning that seventh- or 12th-graders who don't have the newly required meningitis vaccination by the first day of school cannot attend class.

Nearly 1,000 students across Polk County still lacked the vaccination as of Monday afternoon, putting them in jeopardy of being sent home from school, according to data from Nola Aigner, spokeswoman for the Polk County Health Department.

For months, Iowa schools have been notifying families by mailing letters, placing calls and even setting up vaccination clinics. But even with those efforts, educators fear that hundreds of metro-area students will arrive without the required meningitis vaccination or an accepted exemption.

The new rules, passed by lawmakers in 2016, are proving particularly challenging, since most required vaccinations are given to kids before starting elementary school. There's also strict enforcement required.

"By law, students without the shots cannot attend school and will not be allowed to attend," said Johnston Associate Superintendent Bruce Amendt.

According to the new state rules on meningitis immunizations: 

  • Students entering seventh grade and born after Sept. 15, 2004, will need proof of one dose of the vaccine.
  • Students entering 12th grade and born after Sept. 15, 1999, will need proof of two doses of the vaccine, or one dose if the shot came after the student turned 16.
  • Exemptions can be made for medical purposes, such as an allergy to the shots, or for religious purposes.

Some schools are preparing contingency plans. In Des Moines Schools, for example, students without the shot will be asked to go to a designated room while parents are contacted and arrangements made to receive the vaccination. 

The district's health clinic will direct students to community clinics, and the district is prepared to provide transportation as needed, said spokesman Phil Roeder.

Officials have been working with the Polk County Health Department and other community partners to ensure appointments are available during the first week of school.

"It's a very serious disease," said Diane Gladson, health services supervisor for Des Moines Schools. "At the end of the day, it's going to save lives, so it's worth all the hard work."

While the number of meningitis cases is relatively low — Iowa sees about 10 to 20 cases per year — the disease can quickly kill healthy teens and young adults.

About 10 percent of people who contract meningitis die from it, and about 20 percent of survivors can have long-lasting affects: brain damage, deafness, blindness or loss of limbs.

School nurses urged families having trouble getting their teen vaccinated to contact their local school for assistance.

"We can help them find resources for where they can go," said Laura Mears, manager of Blank Children's Hospital nurses who work in West Des Moines Schools.

DATABASE:View your school's vaccination rates

ONLINE:Learn about Iowa's immunization requirements

Staff at Johnston Schools, for example, has been calling families to help arrange clinic appointments or, as needed, home visits.

The district also partnered with Urbandale Schools earlier this month to offer physicals and shots; many Iowa districts offered similar vaccination clinics this summer. 

Iowa is now one of 32 states to require the vaccination in order to attend school; in addition, many colleges already require immunization against meningitis. 

Meningococcal meningitis survivor and vaccination advocate Leslie Meigs looks on as her brother Andrew, a college student in Texas, receives a meningococcal group B vaccine in January 2015.