“Vaccination Campaign for Children Born in 2009: School Nurses Inform and Update Vaccination Records”

The school nurses inform families with boys and girls born in 2009 in advance, through the center management, and update their vaccination calendar if necessary.

The Poniente Sanitary District of Almería, dependent on the Health and Consumption Council of the Junta de Andalucía, has started a vaccination campaign to protect children born in 2009 from tetanus and diphtheria. in charge of the school nurses and is being developed in the institutes of the region. In advance, through the management of each educational center, families are informed about the importance of receiving this vaccine as a preventive measure and the formal authorization of parents or guardians is requested. Likewise, if necessary, health professionals are also responsible for updating the vaccination record with other vaccines.

The campaign is being carried out progressively in 45 institutes in the region located in the municipalities of El Ejido, Roquetas de Mar, Adra, Vícar, Berja, Dalías and Balanegra. It began last April and will end in the coming days. The objective is to protect nearly 3,400 boys and girls born in 2009. A school nursing team travels to the educational center, where a classroom has been set up for this purpose. Health professionals also review each student’s vaccination record to update it and confirm that they have also received other vaccines corresponding to this age, such as the vaccine against human papilloma virus, meningitis and chickenpox.

The Poniente de Almería Health District has the collaboration of the territorial delegation of the Ministry of Educational Development and Professional Training of the Junta de Andalucía to carry out this action. Through the educational centers, families have been informed of the review of the vaccination status of their children to complete their vaccination schedule and have completed the informed consent to proceed with the administration of as many doses as required by minors born in 2009. In addition, Families report the existence of possible allergies in the minor or any other clinical data of interest. For their part, the school nurses inform parents about how they should react in the event of slight discomfort arising from the vaccine.

In the letter sent, the school nurses also highlight the importance of vaccines to prevent diseases and explain the characteristics of each one of them. However, the school nurses are also contacting families with sons and daughters born in 2009 and who have not received the vaccines at their educational center by phone call to make an appointment at their health center. Once the campaign in the institutes is over, they will continue with the corresponding follow-up to reach as many people as possible.

Tetanus is an infectious disease due to a bacterium called Clostridium tetani, potentially lethal, especially in newborns. The fundamental problem stems from a toxin produced by this bacterium, which causes uncontrollable contractions and spasms, altered consciousness and cardiovascular disorders. Mortality ranges from 20 to 70 percent, with a worse prognosis for newborns and the elderly. Fundamentally the contagion is due to the contamination of wounds, especially if they are dirty, with dirt or remains of animal or human feces. Tetanus is not transmitted from person to person. In Spain, it has been practically eliminated thanks to vaccination.

The diphtheria Respiratory, for its part, is a serious infectious disease produced by a bacterium called Corynebacterium Diphteriae, potentially deadly, transmitted between people, even if the transmitter is without symptoms. It was a very frequent cause of infant mortality. Thanks to vaccination, it has practically disappeared in our environment.

Additional information on this vaccination can be found on the Andavac website: https://www.andavac.es/. Families with children in this age group can make an appointment through the Salud Responde application, the ClicSalud+ website or, in person, at their health center.