Jefferson County Department of Health and Environment (JCDHE) reminds parents and guardians to be sure their children have had all the immunizations required for their age group before they are enrolled in child care or school for the 2007-2008 school year. Vaccination is the best way to prevent many serious and life threatening childhood diseases.

The new Colorado requirements for the 2007/2008 school year include:

Tdap (Protects against Tetanus, Diphtheria and Pertussis) All school children entering 6 th and 10 th grades are now required to have the Tdap vaccine. In addition to its regularly scheduled immunization clinics, JCDHE will be holding a free Tdap clinic on June 11, 2007 for ages 11-64 at Marshdale Elementary School in Evergreen. The clinic is part of our emergency preparedness efforts. Visit the JCDHE web site at health.jeffco.us or call 303-232-6301 for more information.

Varicella (Protects against chicken pox) For the 2007-08 school year, one dose of the varicella or chickenpox vaccination is currently required for first through seventh grade. With the new school entry requirement, children entering

kindergarten are required to have a second dose of varicella or chickenpox vaccination. Previously, if a parent or guardian confirmed the child already had chickenpox, the immunization would not be required. But the new requirement for the 2007-08 school year requires the vaccine unless there is documentation by a health care provider that the child has had chickenpox.

Prevnar/PCV7 (Protects against Pneumococcal disease) This vaccination is administered in a series to children to prevent pneumonia. Routine vaccination of preschool children has been recommended for some time. 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.

JCDHE has immunization clinics on a regular basis at its Lakewood, Arvada and Conifer clinics. Please call 303-232-6301 to make an appointment. You may also want to view our web site for more information on immunizations and communicable disease control at: http://health.jeffco.us . JCDHE public health nurses are available to help parents and guardians with understanding immunization requirements.

Under Colorado law, parents may choose to have their children exempted from immunization requirements for medical, religious or personal reasons.

For more information on National Infant Immunization Week, please visit: http://www.cdc.gov/nip/events/niiw/

For more information or to contact JCDHE Immunization Program, please call 303-232-6301.

Nancy Braden is the Public Health Communications Coordinator for JCDHE.