BILL NUMBER: SB 249	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 20, 2009
	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 27, 2009

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Cox
   (Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Torlakson)

                        FEBRUARY 24, 2009

   An act to amend Section 120395 of the Health and Safety Code,
relating to vaccinations.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 249, as amended, Cox. Vaccinations:  meningitis.
  meningococcal disease. 
   Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health to
develop information about meningococcal disease, by April 1, 2002,
and make it available to each requesting degree-granting public and
private postsecondary institution and to each requesting school
district. Existing law authorizes the department to design and
implement a public awareness campaign to reach members of the
population identified as being at high risk for contracting the
disease.
   This bill would, instead, require the department to develop
information about meningococcal disease, including information
pertaining to children who are between 11 and 18 years of age, by
April 1, 2010.  The bill would authorize the State Department of
Education to add this information to any health education material
sent home to parents of students who are at least 11 years of age.

   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  (a) The Legislature hereby finds and declares that the
Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the federal Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention has recently recommended that
parents and adolescents between 11 and 18 years of age be made aware
that a vaccine is now available to protect this age group from the
potentially fatal  disease known as meningitis. 
 meningococcal disease. 
   (b) It is the intent of the Legislature to do all the following:
   (1) Encourage the State Department of Public Health to increase
the awareness of the availability of the vaccine to this age group.
   (2) Encourage local public health officials to provide information
about  meningitis   meningococcal disease 
, including the availability of, and recommendations for, the
vaccine, in any manner they deem appropriate.
   (3) Encourage  the State Department of Education and 
local school districts to educate their students within the 11 to 18
age group, as well as their parents, about the  meningitis
  meningococcal  disease, its potential danger, and
the availability of a vaccine to protect these children.
  SEC. 2.  Section 120395 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
   120395.  (a) The State Department of Public Health shall, no later
than April 1, 2010, develop information about meningococcal disease,
including  , but not limited to,  information
pertaining to children who are between 11 and 18 years of age. The
information  may include a recommendation that children between
11 and 18 years of age be vaccinated. The information  shall
include:
   (1) Information about meningococcal disease, including symptoms,
risks, and treatment.
   (2) Notice of the availability, benefits, risks, and limitations
of a meningococcus vaccination, with specific information as to those
persons at higher risk for the disease.
   (b) The department shall make available to each degree-granting
public and private postsecondary institution, upon the request of
that institution, information developed by the department on
meningococcal disease.
   (c) The department shall also send an information notice to each
school district advising each school district of the availability of
information developed by the department, and shall make the
information available to any school district upon the request of that
school district.
   (d) The department may also use the information developed to
design and implement a public awareness campaign about meningococcal
disease to reach members of the population identified as being at
high risk for contracting the disease. 
   (e) The State Department of Education may add the above-described
information about meningococcal disease to any health education
material that is sent home to parents of students who are at least 11
years of age.