Pennsylvania Department of Health issues new immunization regulations for kids

Based on recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice, Pennsylvania’s Department of Health has issued new immunization regulations for school-aged kids.

One big change to note: a second chicken pox dosage.

 

The Times-Tribune reports “students at all grade levels are required to have a second dose of the chickenpox vaccine if they have never had the disease.” While babies get an initial dose of chicken pox, that immunization doesn’t last forever, and the illness is worse the older you are when you get it.

Seventh-graders will also be required to get a booster shot against certain types of meningitis and whooping cough. Finally, students in all grades will need an additional dose of mumps vaccine and a three-dose series of the hepatitis B vaccine.