Reminder: New student immunization requirement
All 6th-12th-grade students must have
Tdap
August is National Immunization
Awareness Month
Send a link to a friend
[August
07, 2013]
SPRINGFIELD -- To kick off
National Immunization Awareness Month in August, the Illinois
Department of Public Health is reminding parents and health care
providers of the new Tdap immunization requirement for the 2013-2014
school year.
|
All sixth- through 12th-grade students are now required to show
proof of receiving one Tdap vaccine, an immunization against
tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis. Students must either show proof
of having received one Tdap vaccination, must have an appointment to
get the vaccine or have an approved medical or religious exemption
on file. Last year, only sixth- and ninth-grade students needed to
receive Tdap. Students who received the Tdap immunization last year,
or anytime since 2005, simply need to show proof of having received
the vaccine.
"This new requirement for sixth- through 12th-graders comes at a
time when we have seen increases in whooping cough cases over the
past couple years," said IDPH Director LaMar Hasbrouck. "Schools are
highly susceptible to outbreaks of infectious diseases because
students can easily pass illnesses to one another as a result of
poor hand-washing, uncovered coughs and crowding conditions."
Vaccination continues to be the single most effective strategy to
reduce illness, and even death, caused by pertussis and other
vaccine-preventable diseases. Children who are not vaccinated are at
increased risk for disease and can spread disease to others in their
classroom and community -- including babies who are too young to be
fully vaccinated and people with weakened immune systems due to
cancer and other health conditions.
[to top of second column] |
During National Immunization Awareness Month, check with your
health care provider about your vaccinations, and those of your
child, to make sure you are up-to-date on immunizations.
Parents or health care providers wanting to inform other parents
or health care providers of the new Tdap school requirement can find
ready-to-print posters as well as other immunization information at
www.idph.state.il.us/about/
shots.htm#back_to_school.
[Text from
Illinois
Department of Public Health file received from
the
Illinois Office of
Communication and Information]
|