With schools about to restart, the county health department is reminding parents to make sure their children are immunized. This year in the state under-immunized children have contributed to outbreaks of chickenpox and pertussis (“whooping cough”), health department officials said.

All students entering kindergarten through twelfth grade will be required to show proof of three doses of hepatitis B vaccine, an age-appropriate series of diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis-containing vaccines (DTaP, pediatric DT, adult Td, or Tdap) and polio vaccine, and two doses of MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine.

Parents or guardians can check with their clinic or health care provider to get the vaccines their child may need for school this fall. A complete immunization schedule is available here.

Officials say that parents or legal guardians have the right to choose not to immunize their children, based on medical, religious or philosophical reasons. However, they note, there is risk in choosing against vaccination. With an immunization, children run the risk of becoming infected with a vaccine-preventable disease if exposed to the illness. Also, a child who is not fully immunized may be excluded from attending school or childcare during an outbreak of a vaccine-preventable disease.

Parents or legal guardians must complete and sign the separate Certificate of Exemption Status form to exempt their child from receiving vaccines required for school entry.