Senate Bill sb1628c2

    Florida Senate - 2002                    CS for CS for SB 1628

    By the Committees on Education; Health, Aging and Long-Term
    Care; and Senator Pruitt




    304-2193-02

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to immunizations; creating s.

  3         381.0421, F.S.; requiring that individuals

  4         enrolled in a postsecondary educational

  5         institution be provided information regarding

  6         meningococcal meningitis and hepatitis B

  7         vaccines and, if residing in on-campus housing,

  8         provide documentation of vaccination against

  9         meningococcal meningitis and hepatitis B, or a

10         statement declining such vaccination; providing

11         an effective date.

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13         WHEREAS, meningococcal meningitis is a serious disease

14  that can lead to death within a few hours of onset, and

15         WHEREAS, meningococcal meningitis is a highly

16  contagious but largely preventable infection of the

17  spinal-cord fluid and the fluid that surrounds the brain, and

18         WHEREAS, one in ten cases of meningococcal meningitis

19  is fatal, and

20         WHEREAS, one in seven survivors is left with a severe

21  handicap, such as loss of a limb, mental retardation,

22  paralysis, deafness, or seizures, and

23         WHEREAS, individuals of any age can carry the disease

24  for days, weeks, or months unknowingly or without becoming

25  ill, and

26         WHEREAS, at any time, from 10 to 25 percent of the

27  population carries meningococcal meningitis, and

28         WHEREAS, scientific evidence suggests that college

29  students living in dormitory facilities are six times more

30  likely than other individuals to contract meningococcal

31  meningitis, and

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida Senate - 2002                    CS for CS for SB 1628
    304-2193-02




  1         WHEREAS, immunization against meningococcal meningitis

  2  will decrease the risk of disease, and

  3         WHEREAS, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

  4  recommends that college students be vaccinated against this

  5  disease, and

  6         WHEREAS, the Legislature urges that college freshmen

  7  residing in on-campus housing be vaccinated against

  8  meningococcal meningitis, NOW, THEREFORE,

  9

10  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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12         Section 1.  Section 381.0421, Florida Statutes, is

13  created to read:

14         381.0421  Vaccination against meningococcal meningitis

15  and hepatitis B.--

16         (1)  A postsecondary educational institution shall

17  provide detailed information concerning the risks associated

18  with meningococcal meningitis and hepatitis B and the

19  availability, effectiveness, and known contraindications of

20  any required or recommended vaccine to every student, or to

21  the student's parent or guardian if the student is a minor,

22  who has been accepted for admission.

23         (2)  An individual enrolled in a postsecondary

24  educational institution who will be residing in on-campus

25  housing shall provide documentation of vaccinations against

26  meningococcal meningitis and hepatitis B unless the

27  individual, if the individual is 18 years of age or older, or

28  the individual's parent or guardian, if the individual is a

29  minor, declines the vaccinations by signing a separate waiver

30  for each of these vaccines, provided by the institution,

31  acknowledging receipt and review of the information provided.

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    Florida Senate - 2002                    CS for CS for SB 1628
    304-2193-02




  1         (3)  This section does not require any postsecondary

  2  educational institution to provide or pay for vaccinations

  3  against meningococcal meningitis and hepatitis B.

  4         Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2002.

  5

  6          STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
                       COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
  7                          CS for SB 1628

  8

  9  -Includes legislative intent language relating to the
    recommendations of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
10  Prevention for immunizations of college students;

11  -Removes requirements related to diphtheria and tetanus;

12  -Requires separate waivers to be signed for each of the
    vaccines when a student wishes to decline an immunization; and
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    -Makes a technical correction to the name of the Centers for
14  Disease Control and Prevention.

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.