Bill Text: HI HCR160 | 2017 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Requesting The Department Of Health To Collaborate With The Department Of Education, Hawaii Association Of Independent Schools, And The University Of Hawaii To Promote Awareness Of Meningococcal Disease And The Availability Of Vaccines To Prevent It.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-03-14 - Referred to HLT, EDN/HED, referral sheet 30 [HCR160 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2017-HCR160-Introduced.html

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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	160
TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2017
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting the Department of health to collaborate with the department of education, hawaii association of independent schools, and the university of hawaii to promote awareness of meningococcal disease and the availability of vaccines to prevent it.

 

 

 

     WHEREAS, meningococcal disease is any infection caused by the bacterium Neisseria meningitidis; and

 

     WHEREAS, although 1 in 10 people are carriers for this bacteria with no signs or symptoms of disease, from 800 to 1,500 individuals fall ill from the Neisseria meningitidis bacteria each year; and

 

     WHEREAS, 10 to 15 infected individuals out of 100 will die even when treated and 10 to 20 out of every 100 people who survive will suffer from serious morbidity, including loss of limbs and impacts to the nervous system; and

 

     WHEREAS, infants under one year of age and young adults between the ages of 16 and 23, are among those most commonly impacted by this disease; and

 

     WHEREAS, meningococcal disease is spread from person to person via the exchange of the bacteria through respiratory and throat secretion during close or lengthy contact and community settings in which large groups of people gather, like college campuses, can increase the risk of the spread of meningococcal disease; and

 

     WHEREAS, there are different strains or serogroups of Neisseria meningitidis, with serogroups B, C, and Y accounting for most meningococcal diseases in the United States, including several recent outbreaks of serogroup B meningococcal disease on college campuses in which some cases resulted in death; and

 

     WHEREAS, vaccines that provide protection against multiple serogroups, including B, C, and Y which are the types most commonly seen in the United States, are available and vaccination for serogroups A, C, W, and Y is routinely recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommends that the decision to vaccinate against serogroup B be made on an individual level in consultation with health care providers; and

 

     WHEREAS, the recent incidence of meningococcal disease has served as a reminder of the critical role that awareness of vaccines to prevent illness from multiple serogroups of Neisseria meningitidis plays in prevention of this devastating illness; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-ninth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2017, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Health is requested to collaborate with the Department of Education, Hawaii Association of Independent Schools, and the University of Hawaii to provide information to students and parents statewide about meningococcal disease, including the various serogroups, symptoms, risks, prevention, and treatment; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Health is requested to include information on the availability, benefits, risks, and limitations of all meningococcal vaccines recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, including recommendations for serogroups A and B, and specific information for individuals at high risk of contracting meningococcal disease; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Health is requested to make recommendations to the Department of Education, Hawaii Association of Independent Schools, and the University of Hawaii regarding the immunization of current and entering adolescent and young adult students; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Health, Superintendent of Education, Chancellors of the University of Hawaii's University and Community College campuses, and Executive Director of Hawaii Association of Independent Schools.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Meningococcal Disease; Vaccination Recommendations