Kids Face Pain of Shots, Then School

Ouch . . . it’s that time of year again.

Children entering kindergarten face the double whammy of preparing for their first day at elementary school and the pain of receiving their state-required immunization shots.

With the first day of school just around the corner, the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services has issued an advisory that children must be immunized.

In order to meet school entry requirements, kindergarten children must have shots for diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio, hepatitis, measles, mumps and rubella and are required to be tested for tuberculosis, said Shirley Fannin, director of Disease Control Programs at the county health department.

First-time students are required to have a Mantoux skin test, which detects tuberculosis infection, Fannin said. She also recommended chickenpox vaccinations.

Shots and tuberculosis skin tests are available free of charge at 15 county-operated health centers in the Valley.

For the nearest location, call (800) 427-8700, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Children who have not had the required vaccinations will not be allowed to attend school, Fannin said.

“I consider immunization the best kind of prevention because it takes care of the disease before it occurs,” Fannin said. Fannin also said that beginning July 1, 1999, a new state law will require all students entering the seventh grade to show proof of immunization against hepatitis B.

Immunization for hepatitis B requires three shots over a four-month period, Fannin said. Parents may want to make plans for those shots now to meet the July 1999 deadline.