For immediate release: August 1, 2006 (06-119)

Contacts:
Michele Perrin, Immunization Program CHILD Profile 360-236-3720
Deanna Whitman, Communications Office 360-236-4022

Make sure your child is immunized and ready for school this year
Prepare your child by making sure their immunizations are up to date

OLYMPIA ¾ Children all across Washington will soon be starting school. Parents can help them start the school year healthy by making sure their immunizations are up to date. Childhood vaccinations remain one of the most effective ways to protect children against serious and preventable illnesses, some of which have no cure or treatment.

"Immunizations are especially important in a school setting where diseases can spread quickly," said State Health Officer Dr. Maxine Hayes. "Children that are immunized protect themselves as well as the children around them and their own families from getting sick."

With about a month before the new school year starts, it’s time for parents to schedule their children for a checkup. Parents should use this time to make sure their child has all the immunizations they need to return to school. Several immunizations are required before children can attend school and childcare (immunization exemptions are allowed for medical, personal or religious reasons).

This school year, kids entering kindergarten and sixth grade must get the chickenpox vaccine or document that they’ve had the disease. Children from 19 months to kindergarten who attend licensed childcare or preschool must also be vaccinated. Parents should consider the tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (Tdap) vaccine for children ages 11 and older. This booster shot is the first vaccine to protect older children against whooping cough (pertussis). Young children receive a vaccine that prevents these same diseases, but protection starts to wear off in the early teen years.

Health care providers that use the CHILD Profile Immunization Registry can track patient immunization history and make sure their patient’s immunizations are up to date. Providers can save time getting parents the information they need for school or childcare by printing a child’s immunization record directly from the registry. Parents should make sure to request their child’s immunization record a month before school.

Parents are urged to use their regular health care providers for all childhood immunizations. For help finding a health care provider or an immunization clinic, call your local health agency or parents can call the Within Reach (www.withinreachwa.org/) Family Health Hotline at 1-800-322-2588.

Information on which vaccines are required for school and childcare is available on the Department of Health Immunization Program CHILD Profile Web site (www.doh.wa.gov/cfh/Immunize/schools.htm). The CHILD Profile Immunization Registry Web site (www.childprofile.org/) provides information on the Immunization Registry.

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