STUCK IN CLASS : HEALTH DRIVE PROVIDING FREE CHILDHOOD SHOTS.Byline: Patricia Farrell Aidem Daily News Staff Writer They were typical preschoolers, antsy ant·sy adj. ant·si·er, ant·si·est Slang 1. Restless or impatient; fidgety: The long wait made the children antsy. 2. while Mom talked and filled out some forms. And then they heard it. The howl from behind the book case. Eyes grew wide, teeth clamped on lower lips, swinging little legs grew rigid. They knew their turns were coming behind the book case. That's where nurses Maria Gilmore and Catalina Larrachea waited, needles in hand offering no more than a Daffy Duck Band-Aid as concession for a poke here and a prick there. In 3-1/2 hours, more than 30 youngsters were immunized at Emblem Elementary School in Saugus against the standard slew of childhood diseases in a free program being offered this month and Aug. 31 at locations around the Santa Clarita Valley The Santa Clarita Valley is the valley of the Santa Clara River in Southern California. It stretches through Los Angeles County and Ventura County. Its main population center is the city of Santa Clarita. The valley was part of the 48,612-acre (19,672. . About 40 children received shots Monday, Day 1 of Operation Immunization immunization: see immunity; vaccination. , at Meadows Elementary School in Valencia. ``I told him I'd take him to McDonald's afterward,'' said Kim Krauss, explaining the bribe that brought 5-year-old Blake to Emblem. ``He had a doctor's appointment tomorrow to get his shots, but this is free.'' El Proyecto del Barrio bar·ri·o n. pl. bar·ri·os 1. An urban district or quarter in a Spanish-speaking country. 2. A chiefly Spanish-speaking community or neighborhood in a U.S. city. , a social service agency in the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. , provided the vaccines for diphtheria diphtheria (dĭfthēr`ēə), acute contagious disease caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae (Klebs-Loffler bacillus) bacteria that have been infected by a bacteriophage. It begins as a soreness of the throat with fever. , pertussis pertussis: see whooping cough. , tetanus, mumps, measles, rubella rubella or German measles, acute infectious disease of children and young adults. It is caused by a filterable virus that is spread by droplet spray from the respiratory tract of an infected individual. , polio, meningitis and hepatitis B. Locally, the free program is being administered by the county's Santa Clarita Valley Service Center and coordinated at the various locations by volunteers, center director Lupe Lopez said. Immunizations are available to all children, regardless of family income, who live in the Santa Clarita region bounded by the Ventura and Kern county lines and northeast to Acton. Health officials said the shots cost about $200 a child at a private doctor's office. It is the first time such a wide scale immunization has been offered in Santa Clarita, Lopez said. But it's tough, she added, to explain to the children that this is actually good news. ``We had one yesterday who was funnier than heck,'' Lopez said of the line of children who received shots. ``She keeps going, `No no no no no no no no no. I'm a little girl. You can't do this to a little girl.' ``It was so funny, it busted everybody up. She must have hated us all by the end. But she was right, no one should do that to a little girl.'' CAPTION(S): Photo, Chart Photo: (color in SAC) Kim Krauss holds still her son Blake, 5, for his vaccination shot Tuesday at Emblem Elementary School in Saugus. Shaun Dyer/Special to the Daily News Chart: (SAC only) IMMUNIZATIONS |
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