Ellis Middle School immunized 162 students, as well as 17 from Queen of Angels School, on Thursday.

Friday, December 01, 2000

Ellis Middle School immunized 162 students, as well as 17 from Queen of Angels School, on Thursday. A total of 328 shots were given.

Parents take advantage of the school-sponsored immunization clinic out of a need for a convenient solution to fulfilling a health and legal obligation, school nurse Pat Engelhardt said.

The state requires students to have all Hepatitis-B vaccinations, a second combined measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) shot and a tetanus booster before their entrance into the seventh grade.

Expected side effects include swelling, redness and pain around the injection site. Parents should use ice packs and ibuprofen or Tylenol to ease their child’s discomfort. Extreme reactions would have been identified at the time of the vaccination, but none were reported.

Preparation for the immunizations started long before this week. A film explaining the process was shown in October, to help to ease students into the wonderful world of needles. Engelhardt provided additional information after the film.

"The two most frequent questions I heard were ‘Will it hurt?’ and ‘Do I really need it?’" Engelhardt said.

Engelhardt conducted two additional information sessions with the girls in October and before the shot was administered Thursday. These special consultations were precautionary because birth defects can result if the MMR vaccination is given during pregnancy.

Additional Hepatitis-B vaccinations will be given in April at all of the city of Austin and county sites that were immunized this time around, including LeRoy, Sacred Heart, Lyle and Grand Meadow.

If parents missed filling out the required paper work for this round of vaccinations, they can take advantage of Mower County Public Health’s shot clinic from 3:15 to 4:45 p.m. every Friday.