Students need to have current shots

The Daily Inter Lake

With the start of a new school year just a few months away, Flathead school districts are hosting kindergarten registrations this spring.

The process varies with the school district, but one thing is consistent: Parents must bring their child's birth certificate and up-to-date immunization record to registration.

Would-be kindergartners, who must be at least 5 by Sept. 10, have specific immunization requirements set by the state. Before entering school, children must have at least four DTaP shots to be immunized against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (whooping cough). The final shot must be given after a child's fourth birthday.

Children must receive a second MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) shot before entering kindergarten. Children typically get their first dose after their first birthday.

They also must receive three doses of a polio vaccine, given at least four weeks apart. The last one must be given after the fourth birthday.

These are minimum requirements, according to the Flathead City-County Health Department. The state and federal governments recommend children have five DTaP and four polio vaccinations.

Kindergartners aren't the only ones who need their immunization records checked before school starts.

The state now requires youths age 11 and older and entering the seventh grade to receive tetanus boosters. At this time, school nurses also check that all seventh-graders have had two doses of an MMR vaccine.

To get the tetanus booster, a child must be at least 11 and at least five years must have passed since the child's last DTaP shot.

Parents may take their children to their health-care provider or to the Flathead City-County Health Department for immunizations. The health department offers immunizations every weekday.

In Kalispell, clinic hours are from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. and from 1:30 to 4 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. The clinic is open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Wednesdays. Call the health department at 751-8100 for further information.

Call individual school districts for registration dates. Kindergarten roundups also are listed in the Inter Lake's school calendar on Saturdays.