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

4The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
5hereby enacts as follows:

6Section 1. Short title.

7This act shall be known and may be cited as the Pertussis
8Education Act.

9Section 2. Purpose of act.

10The purpose of this act is to educate <-mothers of newborn 
11infants regarding <-expectant mothers about pertussis disease and
12the availability of vaccine to protect newborn children against
13pertussis disease.

14Section 3. Findings.

15The General Assembly finds as follows:

16(1) Commonly known as whooping cough, pertussis is a
17highly 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, <-with the final vaccination when the child enters 
12school. <-followed by vaccination when the child enters school, 
13with the final vaccination when the child is between 11 and 
1412 years of age.

15(6) Pertussis can cause very serious illness which can
16be potentially life threatening in infants too young to be
17vaccinated.

18(7) More than half of infants who contract pertussis
19must be hospitalized.

20(8) Of those infants who are hospitalized with pertussis
21about 1 in 5 will get pneumonia and 1 in 100 will die.

22(9) By getting immunized during pregnancy, an expectant
23mother can transfer pertussis antibodies to her newborn child
24and likely protect against pertussis early in life before the
25infant is old enough to receive the pertussis vaccine.

26(10) The CDC recommends that providers of prenatal care
27implement a program of pertussis immunization for all
28pregnant women, preferably at 28 through 36 weeks of
29gestation.

30(11) The CDC recommends that families and caregivers of

1newborns be vaccinated at least two weeks prior to coming
2into close contact with a newborn.

<-3Section 4. Definitions.

4The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
5have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
6context clearly indicates otherwise:

7"Health care provider." A person who is licensed, certified
8or otherwise authorized by law to provide or render health care
9services to pregnant women in this Commonwealth.

10"Prenatal appointments." A series of visits between a health
11care provider and a pregnant woman that take place at scheduled
12intervals between the confirmation of pregnancy and the
13initiation of labor.

14Section <-4 5. Dissemination of pertussis information by
15hospitals <-health care providers.

16(a) Options.--A <-hospital health care provider that provides
17health care services to a pregnant woman, which services are
18directly related to her pregnancy, shall <-before discharge after 
19giving birth, provide her with educational information on
20pertussis disease and the availability of a vaccine to protect
21against pertussis <-at her first prenatal appointment. Provision
22in a timely manner of publications prepared by the Department of
23Health pursuant to section 5 shall constitute compliance with
24this subsection.

25(b) Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be
26construed as requiring:

27(1) A health care provider to provide or pay for
28vaccination against pertussis.

29(2) A pregnant woman to receive vaccination against
30pertussis.

1Section <-5 6. Informational publications by Department of
2Health.

3The Department of Health shall, on the department's publicly
4accessible Internet website, make available to health care
5providers printable publications that include information on the
6Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's recommendations
7that pregnant women, family members and infant caregivers
8receive vaccination against pertussis <-during the postpartum 
9period to protect their newborns from the transmission of
10pertussis.

11Section <-6 7. Effective date.

12This act shall take effect in 60 days.