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Regular Session, 2013
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 102
BY REPRESENTATIVE WILLMOTT
A RESOLUTION
To urge and request the Department of Health and Hospitals, center for community and
preventive health, to work with school-located influenza vaccination stakeholders to
prepare for the 2013-2014 influenza season in order to immunize children against
influenza.
WHEREAS, every year in the United States, on average, more than two hundred
thousand people are hospitalized from influenza-related complications and the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that between three thousand and forty-nine
thousand people in the United States die from influenza-related causes; and
WHEREAS, it is estimated that between four hundred fifty thousand and nine
hundred thousand Louisiana residents become infected with influenza each year; and
WHEREAS, the total number of influenza-related hospitalizations in Louisiana range
from five hundred to one thousand six hundred per year, with the rate varying from fifteen
to thirty-five per one hundred thousand population per year; and
WHEREAS, influenza is a contagious respiratory illness caused by the influenza A
and B viruses; and
WHEREAS, the best way to help prevent seasonal influenza is by getting a
vaccination each year; and
WHEREAS, the CDC recommends annual seasonal influenza vaccination for all
eligible persons in the United States, including all individuals six months of age or older; and
WHEREAS, children and young adults five years to nineteen years of age are three
to four times more likely to be infected with influenza than adults; and
WHEREAS, school-aged children is the population group most responsible for the
transmission of influenza; and ENROLLEDHR NO. 102
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WHEREAS, influenza vaccination programs located in schools are effective ways
to vaccinate eligible children and increase vaccination rates in children; and
WHEREAS, influenza vaccination programs located in schools may improve
organizational capacity to conduct sustained mass vaccination clinics for children as might
be required in response to a pandemic; and
WHEREAS, participation in vaccination programs by a school district or an
individual should be voluntary and the vaccine should be administered with the consent of
a student's parent or legal guardian.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
Legislature of Louisiana does hereby urge and request the Department of Health and
Hospitals, center for community and preventive health, to work with school-located
influenza vaccination stakeholders to prepare for the 2013-2014 influenza season in order
to immunize children against influenza.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the Legislature
of Louisiana does hereby urge and request the Department of Health and Hospitals to
collaborate with the state insurance commissioner, private insurers, and vaccine stakeholders
to facilitate the accessibility of coverage for all reasonable and customary expenses,
including the cost of the vaccine and administration fee, incurred when the influenza vaccine
is administered outside of a physician's office in a school or other settings.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the Legislature
of Louisiana does hereby urge and request the Department of Health and Hospitals to help
support these programs through coordination with local health departments, school nurses,
mass vaccinations access companies, school health care programs, or other local entities.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the Legislature
of Louisiana does hereby urge and request the Department of Health and Hospitals to assist
mass vaccination companies in registering with the medical assistance program in order to
receive vaccine from the federal Vaccines for Children program for eligible children and
reimbursement from the medical assistance program for administration. ENROLLEDHR NO. 102
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BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Health and Hospitals shall
submit a written report on the results of the school-located vaccination programs which
addresses barriers to the expansion of the programs and proposes options for sustaining
existing programs to the House Committee on Health and Welfare on or before April 1,
2014.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
secretary of the Department of Health and Hospitals.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATI VES