The Norman Transcript

Headlines

Discussion

March 8, 2013

Pertussis vaccine offered

By Hannah Cruz The Norman Transcript

NORMAN — With more than 41,000 cases of pertussis reported across the U.S. during 2012 — including 18 deaths — according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Norman Regional Health System is taking steps to protect its youngest patients.

Susie Graves, director of Norman Regional’s Women’s and Children’s Services, said the hospital began administering the pertussis — or whooping cough — vaccine to all employees in February.

The highly contagious respiratory infection is most likely to affect infants 12 months and younger, according to the CDC website, but that age group does not complete the five-dose vaccine until they are 4-6 years old.

In light of this week’s National Patient Safety Awareness Week, Graves said the hospital’s program of vaccinating all employees for free is an effort to stop any chance of infection in its tracks.

“We are trying to protect any children we come in contact with by health care providers not being an agent carrying it to the children,” she said.

According to the CDC, among the vaccine-preventable diseases, pertussis is one of the most commonly occurring ones in the U.S.

Though the vaccine is not 100 percent effective, Graves said both children and adults, including pregnant women, are encouraged to get vaccinated.

“We encourage the families to go to the health department, also,” she said. “Anyone that is around children less than 12 months old should be vaccinated.”

The Cleveland County Health Department does not charge a fee for TDaP and TD (tetanus, diptheria, acellular pertussis; tetanus and diptheria) vaccines for eligible children through the age of 19.

Call the Norman location, 250 12th Ave. NE, at 321-4048 or the Moore location, 424 S. Eastern Ave., at 794-1591 for more information.

Hannah Cruz

366-3533

hcruz@normantranscript.com

For local news and more, subscribe to The Norman Transcript Smart Edition, or our print edition.

Text Only | Photo Reprints
Headlines
  • Oklahoma Tornado Disoriented and displaced residents make their way back to devastated homes

    Sparks of joy lit up grief-stricken eyes from time to time on Wednesday after Moore residents were allowed back into their neighborhoods for the first time after Monday’s EF-5 tornado devastated much of the city....

    May 23, 2013 1 Photo

  • dog_wreckage More shelters in forecast

    MOORE — Ten children are dead, and Mayor Glenn Lewis wants tornado shelters included in all new homes built in Moore. A proposed municipal ordinance would require a shelter either inside or outside....

    May 23, 2013 1 Photo

  • clean up 19 School administrators focused on the recovery, future

    MOORE — Just days after Moore Public Schools suffered the loss of nine students and complete destruction of Plaza Towers and Briarwood Elementary schools, administrators take it a day at a time, as details continue to emerge from affected ...

    May 23, 2013 1 Photo

  • Challpress1 State Senate approves $45 million from Rainy Day fund for relief

    OKLAHOMA CITY — The state Senate voted Wednesday to take $45 million from the state Rainy Day Fund for immediate tornado disaster relief....

    May 23, 2013 1 Photo

  • tornadomom Mother endures labor during tornado

    Shayla Taylor was ready to give birth to her second child just as the impending destruction of Monday’s EF-5 tornado bore down on the Moore Medical Center.

    May 23, 2013 1 Photo

  • Oklahoma visitor had brush with tornado’s fury

    MOORE — Tim Lawrence was just in town to visit his family, but he had to huddle close with them in a storm cellar Monday afternoon as the tornado swept through the neighborhood....

    May 23, 2013

  • City manager has been through it all before

    MOORE — Huddled in his city’s emergency operations center Monday afternoon, Moore City Manager Steve Eddy watched as a massive tornado prepared to tear through his community....

    May 23, 2013

  • warren_wreckage Lucky Bill Warren says he still believes in Moore

    One of the country’s busiest IMAX theaters, the Warren IMAX in Moore was in the direct path of Monday’s tornado and probably should have been destroyed. But the theater remains intact because of heavy-duty construction and could re-open as ...

    May 23, 2013 1 Photo

  • Families mourn children lost in tornado

    MOORE — Nicknamed “The Wall,” 8-year-old Kyle Davis loved soccer and going to Monster Truck exhibitions at the fairgrounds with his grandfather. JaNae Hornsby, 9, loved to draw, sing, and be a big sister and cousin to her younger ...

    May 23, 2013

  • Moore cemetery 5 Volunteers clean Moore Cemetery in advance of burials

    MOORE — Rosella Poff’s gravestone was laid in Moore Cemetery just nine months ago....

    May 23, 2013 2 Photos