Get ready: new vaccinations required for 2009-2010 school year

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment is requiring new vaccinations for students for the 2009-2010 school year. They are:

• Kindergartners need two doses of the varicella, or chickenpox, vaccine instead of one.

• Students in sixth through ninth grades need one dose of varicella. This wasn’t required last year. If a student has had chickenpox, the school needs documentation from a licensed physician, not just a parent. If the school already has documentation from a parent, that is acceptable.

• Students in sixth through ninth grades need three doses of hepatitis B; it wasn’t required last year.

• East Heights Early Childhood Education students need two doses of hepatitis A. They didn’t need any last year.

• Eleven-year-old children need a diphtheria-tetanus-acellular pertussis booster. That wasn’t required last year.

For more information about the new requirements, contact the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department clinic at 843-0721. Information about the required immunizations can be found online at kdheks.gov/immunize/schoolInfo.htm.