Immunization Deadline Looming

PVSD's Jessica Lester provided the following information:

The Perkiomen Valley School District and the Pennsylvania Department of Health are reminding parents and caregivers of the upcoming May 1, 2012, deadline to ensure that school-aged children have had all required immunizations.

When the 2011-12 school year began, families were given an eight-month provisional period to bring students up-to-date, and that period is now coming to a close. New immunization regulations took effect last August and require children in all grades to receive the immunizations listed:

• 4 doses of tetanus*

(1 dose on or after the fourth birthday)

• 4 doses of diphtheria*

(1 dose on or after the fourth birthday)

• 3 doses of polio
• 2 doses of measles**
• 2 doses of mumps**
• 1 dose of rubella (German measles)**
• 3 doses of hepatitis B
• 2 doses of varicella (chickenpox) vaccine or history of disease

*Usually given as DTP or DTaP or DT or Td

**Usually given as MMR

Children attending seventh grade need the following:

• 1 dose of tetanus, diphtheria, acellular pertussis (Tdap) (if five years have elapsed since the last tetanus immunization)
• 1 dose meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MCV)

If they have not already done so, parents or caregivers must provide proof of these immunizations to a school nurse by May 1. If the school does not have a record of these immunizations for a student, he/she may be excluded from school per state law.

For a list of clinics or sites providing low or no-cost immunizations, please visit the Montgomery County Health Department website.

For questions or concerns, PV parents/caregivers are also welcome to visit the district website or contact their school nurses for more information:

o   Judith Morgitan, High School – 610-489-1230 – jmorgitan@pvsd.org

o   Faye Smith, Middle School East – 610-489-8851 – fsmith@pvsd.org

o   Rosemary Kelley, Middle School West – 484-977-7210 – rokelley@pvsd.org

o   Debra Barron, Evergreen – 610-409-9751 – dbarron@pvsd.org

o   Beth Hallowell, Schwenksville – 484-961-7064 – bhallowell@pvsd.org

o   Meg Lewis, Skippack – 610-409-6060 – mlewis@pvsd.org

o   Theresa Espersen, South – 610-489-2991 – tespersen@pvsd.org