Parents Urged to Make Certain Their
Children Are Up to Date on Immunizations Prior to
Attending School
August 7, 2006, DENVER -Colorado Department of Public
Health and Environment officials Monday reminded parents
and guardians to make certain their children have had
all the immunizations required for their age group
before they return to school this year or are enrolled
in preschool or school for the first time.
Dennis Ellis, executive director of the
Department of Public Health and Environment, said,
"Parents will help give their children a healthy start
to the new school year by making certain they are up to
date on their immunizations."
He explained that immunizations prevent children from
getting serious infectious diseases, such as whooping
cough and the measles, and encouraged parents to
schedule an appointment with their health care providers
to have their children immunized.
For individuals who do not have health
insurance and who want to have their children immunized,
they can call the department's Family Healthline to
obtain a list of public health clinics offering free and
low-cost immunizations. The number for individuals
living in the Denver metropolitan area is 303-692-2229,
and for outside the metropolitan Denver area, the number
is 1-800-688-7777.
A Web site also is available and contains
clinic locations and an immunization schedule that
parents can download and take with them to their
doctor's office. The schedule helps track a child's
immunizations. The Web site address is
www.immunizecoloradoskids.com. The Web site is a part
of Colorado's ongoing immunization marketing campaign,
"Immunize Colorado's Kids-Protect the Ones You Love."
It is recommended that Colorado children
have immunizations to protect them from 13 childhood
diseases by the time they enter kindergarten or first
grade. These include vaccinations for diphtheria,
tetanus and pertussis or whooping cough (DTaP),
haemophilus influenzae type b (HIB), hepatitis A,
hepatitis B, influenza, measles, mumps, pneumococcal
disease or pneumonia, polio, rubella and varicella or
chickenpox.
Immunizations specified for the child's age are required
for enrollment at a childcare center, beginning at two
months of age, in addition being required for beginning
school.
The requirements include:
- Chickenpox (Varicella): The requirement for this
vaccine, which first became mandatory in Colorado on
July 1, 2000, is being gradually phased in, although
health officials recommend that the vaccine be
administered to all children and youth up to the age of
18 who have not had the disease. However, one
immunization for chickenpox currently is required for
school entry through sixth grade.
- Diphtheria/Tetanus/Pertussis: In general, a
total of five doses of diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis
(whooping cough) (DTaP) vaccine are required for
students entering a Colorado school for the first
time. The number of doses may vary, however, depending
upon the age at which the student received prior doses.
The Colorado Board of Health reinstated the requirement
for five doses of DTaP effective September 1, 2004. The
requirement for the fourth and fifth doses of DTaP had
been temporarily suspended in April 2001 because of a
shortage of the vaccine. During the 2005-2006 school
year, children who missed previous doses of DTaP should
receive their "catch up" doses to ensure they are fully
protected. The national supply of DTaP now is adequate
to administer all five doses to children as they become
due. due Children who are 7 years of age or older no
longer receive DTaP. They instead receive Tdap/Td if
they need to complete the requirement for tetanus and
diphtheria.
- Hepatitis B: A total of three doses of this
vaccine are required for preschool and all grades.
- Haemophilus Influenzae Type B (Hib): This
vaccine is a preschool requirement for children 4 years
of age or younger but is not required for children 5
years of age or older. One, two or three doses of this
vaccine are required, depending on both the child's
current age and the age when the vaccine was
administered.
- Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR): In general,
two doses of this vaccine are required for children in
kindergarten through 12th grades. One dose is required
for preschool children.
- Polio: In general, three doses of
this vaccine are required for children in preschool.
Grade school, middle school and high school students
entering a Colorado school for the first time are
required to have four doses of this vaccine.
The exception to this rule would be if a child
received his/her third polio vaccine at or after the
age of 4.
Parents and guardians should be certain to take
immunization records with them when enrolling a child in
a Colorado school for the first time.
Joni Reynolds, director of the Department
of Public Health and Environment's Immunization Program,
said that if a school determines that a child's
immunizations are incomplete, parents have only 14 days
after receiving notification from the school for their
child to receive the first recommended immunization and
to present to the school a written plan for completion
of the remaining immunizations.
Reynolds said that Colorado law permits
schools to suspend students until receiving proof that
the immunization requirements have been completed or are
in process or a parent has chosen to file a request for
exemption. The state's schools are to deny admittance of
students who do not present an immunization record at
the beginning of school.
Under Colorado law, parents may choose to have their
children exempted from immunization requirements for
medical, religious or personal reasons. Exemption forms,
which are required in lieu of the Certificate of
Immunization for those parents who choose exemption, are
on the reverse of the state's Certificate of
Immunization and can be obtained from doctors' offices
and at schools.
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