September 1, 2005
Immunization Requirement for 7th Graders Revised
State health officials reminded parents and health-care providers Thursday that a new immunization requirement for students entering seventh grade has been postponed .
The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services originally announced last spring that new seventh graders who were at least 11 years old would need to show proof to school officials that they had received a booster dose of tetanus/diphtheria (Td) vaccine within the past five years.
The new requirement reflected a national recommendation 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.
However, the recent availability of a new combination vaccine for adolescents that protects against tetanus, diptheria and pertussis (whooping cough) has prompted the health department to change its recommendation.
"Because of the epidemic of pertussis we've experienced across the state this year, we believe it would be prudent to wait and vaccinate middle-schoolers for tetanus, diptheria and pertussis all at the same time," said Joyce Burgett, head of the Immunization Program at DPHHS.
Burgett said the requirement that children entering seventh grade get the tetanus/diptheria booster has been postponed until the beginning of the next school year in 2006. She expects the supply of the combination vaccin e that also protects against pertussis will be widely available by then.
"We regret any confusion this change may have caused students, parents, and school officials," Burgett said. "But we see an opportunity here to protect Montana children from a disease that has already caused the deaths of two infants, as well as a great deal of inconvenience and d iscomfort for many families. We have a chance to get this pertussis outbreak under control."
Under existing immunization requirements, preschool children are required to get a series of pertussis shots. But the epidemic of pertussis among adolescents nationwide this year indicated that the protection wears off after several years.
A second new vaccine requirement affecting kindergarteners remains in effect, Burgett said. Children entering kindergarten (or, in the case of a school without kindergarten, first grade) will need to have received two doses of measles/mumps/rubella (MMR) vaccine after the age of 12 months.
The requirement for two doses of measles/mumps/rubella (MMR) vaccine for all students entering middle school or high school remains in place.
For more information about school immunization requirements, contact your family physician, local health department, or the state Immunization Program at 406-444-5580.
Page last updated: 06/15/2006
