KING COUNTY, WASHINGTON - School is starting soon! Does your child have the necessary immunizations to attend school or childcare this fall?
Public Health is providing special opportunities to help parents get their children immunized.
All children enrolled in childcare, preschool or school are required to have received:
- diphtheria/tetanus/pertussis (DTaP or DTP) vaccine;
- polio vaccine; and
- measles/mumps/rubella vaccine (MMR).
Hepatitis B vaccine is required for children enrolled in childcare and preschool, and kindergarten through second grade. Children under age five years enrolled in childcare or preschool also must have haemophilus influenzae B (Hib) vaccine.
The number of doses needed for each of these vaccines vary according to your child's age."
For children entering sixth grade and for transfer students in grades 7-12, a second dose of MMR is required. Adolescents (11-18 year olds) should receive a tetanus/diphtheria booster if it's been at least five years since their last one and hepatitis B vaccine if they haven't already completed the three-dose series. It is recommended that adolescents who have not had chickenpox disease receive varicella (chickenpox) vaccine, although it is not a school or childcare requirement in Washington state.
Although state law requires immunizations for school and childcare, parents are allowed to claim an exemption based on medical, religion, or personal reasons. However, an unimmunized child can be excluded from school during a disease outbreak situation.
Immunizations protect our children and communities from potentially life-threatening diseases. Our County's child immunization rate is among the very best in the nation, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, we still need to reach our year 2000 goal of 90% of preschool children immunized on time. The prevention and control of contagious diseases is crucial to our community's health. Public Health - Seattle & King County and King County's health care providers have made immunizations a major priority.
Please bring your child's immunization record card with you at the time of the clinic visit so that your child will receive all age-appropriate immunizations. The administration fee for each dose of back-to-school vaccine is $10, though no one will be turned away if they are unable to pay.
