FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, August 26, 2009

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Lori Maldonado
Deputy Director, Office of Communications
303-692-2028

As School Begins, State Reminds Parents to Immunize Children

DENVER - With the 2009-2010 school year beginning, the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment is urging parents to properly immunize their children.

“Childhood immunizations are an easy and effective way to protect your child from contagious diseases,” said Ned Calonge, chief medical officer at the department. “Through vaccinations we can prevent major outbreaks of diseases like measles and polio, which can have devastating consequences.”

The state's required vaccinations include:

• Chickenpox (varicella): Two doses of the vaccine are required for students entering kindergarten, first grade and second grade and one dose is required for students in third through ninth grades unless there is documentation by a health care provider that the child has had chickenpox.

• Diphtheria/tetanus/pertussis (DTaP): In general, a total of five doses of diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (whooping cough) vaccine are required for students entering a Colorado school for the first time. Only four doses of the vaccine are required if the fourth dose was administered on or after the fourth birthday. Children who are 7 years of age or older no longer receive the DTaP vaccine. Children between 7 through 9 years of age instead receive Td vaccine if they need to complete the requirement for tetanus and diptheria. Children 10 years of age or older receive the Tdap vaccine to complete the requirement for tetanus and diphtheria and to provide protection from pertussis.

• Hepatitis B: 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): Two doses of this vaccine are required for 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 is if a child received his or her third polio vaccine at or after the age of 4.

• Pneumococcal disease (Prevnar/PCV7): Pneumonia is a contagious disease that can have serious effects in infants and young children. The vaccine, Prevnar (PCV7), is an effective immunization administered in a series to children to prevent pneumonia. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends the routine vaccination of preschool children with the PCV7 vaccine. It now will be required for children in licensed child-care through 23 months of age, and the number of doses depends on when the vaccine was initially administered.

• Tetanus/diphtheria/pertussis (Tdap): CDC recommends all 11- to 12-year olds receive a dose of Tdap. In Colorado, Tdap vaccine is required for all incoming sixth, seventh, eighth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth graders this upcoming school year, and in subsequent years that schedule will incorporate other grades as well.

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 side of the state's Certificate of Immunization and can be obtained from doctors' offices and at schools.

For more information about childhood vaccinations, visit the department’s Web site at http://www.cdphe.state.co.us/dc/immunization .

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