Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20090201TDY02306.htm
Colleges push for vaccinations / Measles outbreaks in recent years spur schools to boost prevention
The Yomiuri Shimbun
Nearly 80 percent of major universities are planning to ask incoming students to get vaccinated for measles before starting classes for the next academic year in order to prevent outbreaks, a nationwide survey by medical societies has found.
Some universities even want the submission of vaccination certificates to be a prerequisite for enrollment.
The government implemented greater measles vaccination programs for third-year high school students this academic year, but the vaccination rate has been below 50 percent.
The Japan Pediatric Society, one of the participants in the survey, hopes that efforts by the universities will help increase student vaccination rates.
The other participants in the survey were an association of pediatricians in Kyoto and a school doctor association in that city. The survey contacted 112 universities--all universities in the country with a medical school and those with at least 2,000 students in each year. Ninety-three universities, or 83 percent, responded.
Seventy-two schools, or 77 percent of responding schools, said they would take pre-admission actions, with 51 universities saying they are instructing students to get vaccinated before enrolling. Forty-one universities said they were checking each student's history of measles infection and vaccination records before admission.
Almost all universities said they were considering countermeasures against a measles outbreak, including 20 universities that said they would require students to get vaccinated after enrolling.
Meanwhile, 48 universities said the vaccination was mandatory for their students before they teach at schools or work at hospitals or nursing centers as trainees.
It used to be mandatory for children to be vaccinated against measles once. However, the government changed the vaccination program in the 2006 academic year due to insufficient preventative effects, requiring two vaccinations--the first at age 1 and the second before entering primary school.
The government launched a five-year special vaccination program this academic year for third-year high school students and first-year middle schoolers who were vaccinated only once under the old system.
According to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, the measles vaccination rate among third-year high school students was only 48 percent as of the end of September.
The rate is particularly low in Tokyo and other major cities in Osaka, Kanagawa, Saitama, Kyoto prefectures, the ministry said.
The nationwide measles vaccination rate among 1-year-old children was about 80 percent in academic 2006--short of the 90 percent figure considered necessary to prevent an outbreak.
Last year, the number of measles patients in the country rose to about 11,000, earning Japan the ignoble distinction as a "measles kingdom."
In the United States, most primary schools require that children be vaccinated twice before enrollment. There were only 66 recorded cases of measles in the United States last year.
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Universities take tough measures
About 80 universities, mostly in the Kanto and Kinki regions, were forced to cancel classes for one or two weeks in 2007 due to measles outbreaks, which have increasingly occurred among people aged about 20.
Kobe University, which canceled classes in 2007 and 2008, decided to require all students enrolling this spring to submit papers to prove they have been inoculated or have had antibody tests proving they are immune.
It takes about two weeks after inoculation for a person to develop immunity. Therefore, Hokkaido University gave notice for high school students who have passed its entrance examinations to get vaccinated at least two weeks before the university's entrance ceremony. The university also is considering asking students who passed the entrance exam after failing it before to take an antibody test or to get vaccinations that will be paid for by the university.
Tokyo University attached a declaration card about inoculation to its application form and in strongly recommended in bold writing that those who have not had measles get inoculated.
Kyushu University started last year to distribute survey sheets on inoculation records, which were collected after entrance, and information cards about measles. The university said the measure has been very effective.
(Feb. 1, 2009)
Colleges push for vaccinations / Measles outbreaks in recent years spur schools to boost prevention
The Yomiuri Shimbun
Nearly 80 percent of major universities are planning to ask incoming students to get vaccinated for measles before starting classes for the next academic year in order to prevent outbreaks, a nationwide survey by medical societies has found.
Some universities even want the submission of vaccination certificates to be a prerequisite for enrollment.
The government implemented greater measles vaccination programs for third-year high school students this academic year, but the vaccination rate has been below 50 percent.
The Japan Pediatric Society, one of the participants in the survey, hopes that efforts by the universities will help increase student vaccination rates.
The other participants in the survey were an association of pediatricians in Kyoto and a school doctor association in that city. The survey contacted 112 universities--all universities in the country with a medical school and those with at least 2,000 students in each year. Ninety-three universities, or 83 percent, responded.
Seventy-two schools, or 77 percent of responding schools, said they would take pre-admission actions, with 51 universities saying they are instructing students to get vaccinated before enrolling. Forty-one universities said they were checking each student's history of measles infection and vaccination records before admission.
Almost all universities said they were considering countermeasures against a measles outbreak, including 20 universities that said they would require students to get vaccinated after enrolling.
Meanwhile, 48 universities said the vaccination was mandatory for their students before they teach at schools or work at hospitals or nursing centers as trainees.
It used to be mandatory for children to be vaccinated against measles once. However, the government changed the vaccination program in the 2006 academic year due to insufficient preventative effects, requiring two vaccinations--the first at age 1 and the second before entering primary school.
The government launched a five-year special vaccination program this academic year for third-year high school students and first-year middle schoolers who were vaccinated only once under the old system.
According to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, the measles vaccination rate among third-year high school students was only 48 percent as of the end of September.
The rate is particularly low in Tokyo and other major cities in Osaka, Kanagawa, Saitama, Kyoto prefectures, the ministry said.
The nationwide measles vaccination rate among 1-year-old children was about 80 percent in academic 2006--short of the 90 percent figure considered necessary to prevent an outbreak.
Last year, the number of measles patients in the country rose to about 11,000, earning Japan the ignoble distinction as a "measles kingdom."
In the United States, most primary schools require that children be vaccinated twice before enrollment. There were only 66 recorded cases of measles in the United States last year.
===
Universities take tough measures
About 80 universities, mostly in the Kanto and Kinki regions, were forced to cancel classes for one or two weeks in 2007 due to measles outbreaks, which have increasingly occurred among people aged about 20.
Kobe University, which canceled classes in 2007 and 2008, decided to require all students enrolling this spring to submit papers to prove they have been inoculated or have had antibody tests proving they are immune.
It takes about two weeks after inoculation for a person to develop immunity. Therefore, Hokkaido University gave notice for high school students who have passed its entrance examinations to get vaccinated at least two weeks before the university's entrance ceremony. The university also is considering asking students who passed the entrance exam after failing it before to take an antibody test or to get vaccinations that will be paid for by the university.
Tokyo University attached a declaration card about inoculation to its application form and in strongly recommended in bold writing that those who have not had measles get inoculated.
Kyushu University started last year to distribute survey sheets on inoculation records, which were collected after entrance, and information cards about measles. The university said the measure has been very effective.
(Feb. 1, 2009)