Changes in School Immunization Requirements Announced
April 6, 2005
Schoolchildren and their parents will face new immunization requirements next fall when the 2005-2006 school year begins, state health officials announced today.
The new requirements will primarily impact children entering seventh grade or kindergarten.
Students entering the seventh grade who are 11 or older will need to show proof that they have received a booster dose of tetanus/diphtheria (Td) vaccine within the past five years. Students who start seventh grade before turning 11 will need to get a booster shot as soon as possible after their 11 th birthday, unless they already have received a booster since turning 7.
Children entering kindergarten (or, in the case of a school without kindergarten, first grade) will be need to have received two doses of measles/mumps/rubella (MMR) vaccine since they were 12 months old.
The new requirements reflect national recommendations by the U.S. Public Health Service, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Academy of Family Physicians.
“We’re still seeing large measles outbreaks across the world,” said Beth Cottingham, with the Immunization Program of the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services. “In the United States, they mostly affect preschool kids who have not yet been vaccinated and school-aged children who have been vaccinated with one dose of MMR. Giving kids a second dose before kindergarten helps protect those who didn’t respond to the first dose of vaccine.”
Cottingham said the tetanus/diphtheriabooster is important for children entering adolescence because they are at continued risk of exposure to tetanus (or lockjaw) through everyday activities such as fishing, hunting, camping, football, softball, farming, and ranching.
For more information about school immunization requirements, contact your family physician, local health department, tribal public health agency, or the state Immunization Program at 444-5580. Cottingham also suggested checking with local schools to see if they plan to offer low-cost immunization clinics.
Page last updated: 01/30/2012
