<-1Requiring health care providers to disseminate information
2relating to pertussis education; and imposing a duty on the
3Department of Health.

<-4Requiring health care facilities to disseminate information
5relating to pertussis education; and imposing a duty on the
6Department of Health.

7The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
8hereby enacts as follows:

<-9Section 1. Short title.

10This act shall be known and may be cited as the Pertussis
11Education Act.

12Section 2. Purpose of act.

13The purpose of this act is to educate expectant mothers about
14pertussis disease and the availability of vaccine to protect
15newborn children against pertussis disease.

16Section 3. Findings.

17The General Assembly finds as follows:

18(1) Commonly known as whooping cough, pertussis is a
19highly contagious disease that can be prevented by

1vaccination.

2(2) During 2012, the Centers for Disease Control and
3Prevention (CDC) reported an increase in pertussis in the
4majority of states.

5(3) Pennsylvania ranked 13th in the country in the
6incidence of reported cases of pertussis.

7(4) Pennsylvania's incidence of pertussis is higher than
8the national incidence of cases of pertussis.

9(5) Recommended vaccination for children is at 2, 4 and
106 months of age, followed by vaccination at 15 to 18 months
11of age, followed by vaccination when the child enters school, 
12with the final vaccination when the child is between 11 and 
1312 years of age.

14(6) Pertussis can cause very serious illness which can
15be potentially life threatening in infants too young to be
16vaccinated.

17(7) More than half of infants who contract pertussis
18must be hospitalized.

19(8) Of those infants who are hospitalized with pertussis
20about 1 in 5 will get pneumonia and 1 in 100 will die.

21(9) By getting immunized during pregnancy, an expectant
22mother can transfer pertussis antibodies to her newborn child
23and likely protect against pertussis early in life before the
24infant is old enough to receive the pertussis vaccine.

25(10) The CDC recommends that providers of prenatal care
26implement a program of pertussis immunization for all
27pregnant women, preferably at 28 through 36 weeks of
28gestation.

29(11) The CDC recommends that families and caregivers of
30newborns be vaccinated at least two weeks prior to coming

1into close contact with a newborn.

2Section 4. Definitions.

3The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
4have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
5context clearly indicates otherwise:

6"Health care provider." A person who is licensed, certified
7or otherwise authorized by law to provide or render health care
8services to pregnant women in this Commonwealth.

9"Prenatal appointments." A series of visits between a health
10care provider and a pregnant woman that take place at scheduled
11intervals between the confirmation of pregnancy and the
12initiation of labor.

13Section 5. Dissemination of pertussis information by health 
14care providers.

15(a) Options.--A health care provider that provides health
16care services to a pregnant woman, which services are directly
17related to her pregnancy, shall provide her with educational
18information on pertussis disease and the availability of a
19vaccine to protect against pertussis at her first prenatal 
20appointment. Provision in a timely manner of publications
21prepared by the Department of Health pursuant to section 5 shall
22constitute compliance with this subsection.

23(b) Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be
24construed as requiring:

25(1) A health care provider to provide or pay for
26vaccination against pertussis.

27(2) A pregnant woman to receive vaccination against
28pertussis.

29Section 6. Informational publications by Department of Health.

30The Department of Health shall, on the department's publicly

1accessible Internet website, make available to health care
2providers printable publications that include information on the
3Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's recommendations
4that pregnant women, family members and infant caregivers
5receive vaccination against pertussis to protect their newborns
6from the transmission of pertussis.

7Section 7. Effective date.

8This act shall take effect in 60 days.

<-9Section 1. Short title.

10This act shall be known and may be cited as the Pertussis
11Education Act.

12Section 2. Purpose of act.

13The purpose of this act is to educate parents of newborn
14infants regarding pertussis disease and the availability of
15vaccination to protect newborn children against pertussis
16disease.

17Section 3. Findings.

18The General Assembly finds as follows:

19(1) Commonly known as whooping cough, pertussis is a
20highly contagious disease that can be prevented by
21vaccination.

22(2) During 2012, the Centers for Disease Control and
23Prevention (CDC) reported an increase in pertussis in the
24majority of states.

25(3) Pennsylvania ranked 13th in the country in the
26incidence of reported cases of pertussis.

27(4) Pennsylvania's incidence of pertussis is higher than
28the national incidence of cases of pertussis.

29(5) Recommended vaccination for children is at 2, 4 and
306 months of age, followed by vaccination at 15 to 18 months

1of age, followed by vaccination when the child enters school
2with the final vaccination when the child is between 11 and
312 years of age.

4(6) Pertussis can cause very serious illness which can
5be potentially life threatening in infants too young to be
6vaccinated.

7(7) More than half of infants who contract pertussis
8must be hospitalized.

9(8) Of those infants who are hospitalized with
10pertussis, about 1 in 5 will get pneumonia and 1 in 100 will
11die.

12(9) The CDC recommends that families and caregivers of
13newborns be vaccinated at least two weeks prior to coming
14into close contact with a newborn.

15Section 4. Definitions.

16The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
17have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
18context clearly indicates otherwise:

19"Department." The Department of Health of the Commonwealth.

20"Health care facility." As defined in section 802.1 of the
21act of July 19, 1979 (P.L.130, No.48), known as the Health Care 
22Facilities Act.

23Section 5. Dissemination of pertussis information by health
24care facilities.

25(a) Options.--A health care facility that provides health
26care services to a pregnant woman, which services are directly
27related to her pregnancy, may provide the woman, and any other
28adult family member present, with educational information on
29pertussis disease and the availability of a vaccine to protect
30against pertussis. The educational information may be provided

1before the woman's discharge after giving birth. Provision in a
2timely manner of publications prepared by the department under
3section 6 shall constitute compliance with this subsection.

4(b) Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be
5construed as requiring:

6(1) A health care facility to provide or pay for
7vaccination against pertussis.

8(2) A pregnant woman to receive vaccination against
9pertussis.

10Section 6. Informational publications by department.

11The department shall, on the department's publicly accessible
12Internet website, make available to health care facilities
13printable publications that include information on the Centers
14for Disease Control and Prevention's recommendations that
15pregnant women, family members and caregivers of infants receive
16vaccination against pertussis to protect their newborns from the
17transmission of pertussis.

18Section 7. Effective date.

19This act shall take effect in 60 days.