Submitted information<\/i><\/p>\n
COLUMBUS — As the summer begins to wind down, it is time for parents to begin thinking about preparing to send their children back to school. Along with remembering school staples such as folders and back packs, the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) wants to remind parents to get their children immunized for vaccine-preventable diseases before the beginning of the 2018-2019 school year.<\/p>\n
To emphasize the importance of immunizations for everyone, and to make sure that children in particular are protected with all of the immunizations they need, ODH is joining the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in recognizing August as National Immunization Awareness Month.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWhen parents are thinking about their back-to-school checklists, vaccines should be at the top of the list,\u201d said ODH State Epidemiologist and Bureau Chief of Infectious Diseases Sietske de Fijter. \u201cGetting children all of the vaccines recommended by CDC\u2019s immunization schedule is one of the most important things parents can do to protect their children\u2019s health as well as the health of classmates and the community,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Unvaccinated children are at increased risk for contracting vaccine-preventable diseases like measles, mumps and rubella. If children get vaccine-preventable diseases, they can easily spread those diseases to high-risk infants who are too young to be fully vaccinated and individuals who have weakened immune systems due to other health conditions.<\/p>\n
Parents of adolescents should remember that Ohio Law requires the ACWY meningococcal vaccine for all incoming seventh and 12th grade students. All incoming seventh graders must have one dose of the ACWY meningococcal vaccine, and all incoming 12th graders must have a second dose of the vaccine.\u00a0<\/span>CDC also recommends the meningococcal B vaccine as a permissive recommendation for anyone 16 through 23 years of age to provide protection against most strains of serogroup B meningococcal disease as a permissive recommendation.<\/p>\n