House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda

House of Representatives
Session of 2013 - 2014 Regular Session

Posted:	July 2, 2014 09:45 AM
From:	Representative Mario M. Scavello
To:	All House members
Subject:	MENINGITIS IMMUNIZATION LEGISLATION

In the near future, I plan to introduce legislation amending the Public School Code of 1949 providing for required immunization. As some background information, meningococcal meningitis is a serious bacterial infection that includes swelling of the tissues around the brain and spinal cord. This disease develops rapidly and can claim the life of an otherwise healthy person in as little as 24 hours after the first symptoms appear. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly 1,000-1,200 people contract meningococcal disease in the United States each year. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), which provides guidance to the CDC, recommends routine meningococcal vaccination for children and adolescents at 11 or 12 years of age, followed by a second vaccination at age 16. Keeping up to date with recommended vaccines is the best defense against meningococcal disease. Therefore, my legislation requires the Pennsylvania Department of Health to adopt a regulation requiring students, upon entering the 7th and 12th grade, to receive an immunization containing meningococcal conjugate vaccine that is in accordance with the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. I hope you will join in co-sponsoring this resolution. Thank you for your interest and support.
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Introduced as HB2416