by JULIE JEROME
Special to the Hays Free Press
Texas law requires students in Texas schools to be immunized against certain vaccine-preventable diseases. The Department of State Health Services is stressing the importance of getting required vaccines as soon as possible to avoid the back-to-school rush that occurs every year in August.
The following is a list of the required vaccines for students who will attend a Texas school in the 2010 - 2011 school year. It includes new requirements that were added to kindergarten and seventh grade in 2009. Please be aware that students without the required immunizations or a valid exemption will not be allowed to attend school.
Vaccine requirements for students entering kindergarten through 12th grade:
• 3-5 doses of diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DtaP/DTP/DT/Td)
• 3-4 doses of polio
• 2 doses of measles, mumps and rubella (MMR)
• 3 doses of hepatitis B
• 1-2 doses of varicella
• 1 booster dose of tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis (Tdap) after the last dose of tetanus-diphtheria-containing vaccine.
Additional vaccine requirements for students entering kindergarten, first grade, seventh grade and eighth grade:
• 2 doses of hepatitis A for students entering K-1st grade
• 2 doses of varicella for students entering K-1st and 7th-8th
• 1 booster dose of tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis (Tdap) for students entering 7th grade if at least five years have passed since the last dose of tetanus-diphtheria-containing vaccine
• 1 dose of meningococcal for students entering 7th-8th grade
More information about school vaccine requirements is available on the Immunization Branch website at www.immunizetexas.com (click on the “School and Childcare” link) and through your school nurse.
