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In this file photo, Rambo Islas, 8 months, is held by his mother Maria Islas, as he gets a shot for a vaccine administered by RN Nicole Ives at the Dallas County Health & Human Services immunization clinic in Dallas on Friday, March 8, 2019.
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In this file photo, Rambo Islas, 8 months, is held by his mother Maria Islas, as he gets a shot for a vaccine administered by RN Nicole Ives at the Dallas County Health & Human Services immunization clinic
... more
Photo: Vernon Bryant, MBR / Associated Press
Photo: Vernon Bryant, MBR / Associated Press
In this file photo, Rambo Islas, 8 months, is held by his mother Maria Islas, as he gets a shot for a vaccine administered by RN Nicole Ives at the Dallas County Health & Human Services immunization clinic in Dallas on Friday, March 8, 2019.
less
In this file photo, Rambo Islas, 8 months, is held by his mother Maria Islas, as he gets a shot for a vaccine administered by RN Nicole Ives at the Dallas County Health & Human Services immunization clinic
... more
Photo: Vernon Bryant, MBR / Associated Press
Vaccination rates show a dropoff
Parents across Texas are beginning preparations to have their school-age students return to classes, many will be taking their children to clinics and doctors to get their immunizations up to date.
Classes begin Aug. 14 in Katy and Fort Bend ISD; Aug. 15 in Spring Branch ISD; and Aug. 26 in Houston ISD.
In Texas, the state minimum requirement for vaccinations includes:
Diphtheria/tetanus/pertussis.
Polio.
Measles, mumps and rubella.
Hepatitis B.
Varicella.
Meningococcal (beginning in the 7th grade).
Hepatitis A.
However, the rates of vaccinations for Texas students have been dropping as more and more parents are seeking waivers to the required vaccinations.
According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, kindergartners are required to have 10 immunizations to be enrolled in Texas schools. They are not required to have the meningococcal vaccination. However, parents of kindergartners have been seeking more and more exemptions. Since the state first reported exemption rates in 2006, the rate for kindergartners has risen from 0.3 percent in the 2005-06 school year to 2.15 percent for the 2018-19 school year.
Locally, the Texas Department of State Health Services reports that most larger districts in the area have lower exemptions than the state rate, with Katy ISD bucking that trend. The department reports that Katy ISD had 2.43 percent of its kindergartners were granted non-medical vaccine exemptions. Of 5,130 total kindergartners reported in the district, 129 received exemptions.
Other area large districts include:
Fort Bend ISD with 74 (1.6 percent) of 4,637 kindergartners receiving exemptions.
Spring Branch ISD with 26 (1.14 percent) of 2,276 kindergartners receiving exemptions.
Houston ISD with 132 (0.85 percent) of 15,607 kindergartners receiving exemptions.
A full database has been compiled the Texas Tribune at https://tinyurl.com/yxjcu2ga.
The Tribune reports that “State law requires approximately 1,200 public school and charter districts and 830 accredited private schools to report student vaccine exemptions annually to the Texas Department of State Health Services. Only schools that reported data to the state in the 2018-19 school year are included in this database. An exemption is not necessarily indicative of a student’s vaccination status.”
Overall in the state of Texas, the number of “individuals who have had at least one vaccine exemption affidavit requested on their behalf has grown more than tenfold, to more than 70,000 in the 2018 fiscal year.”
Dr. David Persse, Houston’s local health authority and EMS medical director, previously said that the rising percentages in public schools indicates an alarming trend
“Not only do vaccines protect most people who get vaccinated, but if enough people get vaccinated, then a disease never has a chance to steamroll its way through a population,” Persse said in a Houston Chronicle article (https://tinyurl.com/yyqdt8pj).
Measles has been reported 17 times in Texas, as of July 10, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. Harris County leads the state with four cases. There were nine reported cases in 2018 and just one in 2017. The current year is the second worst 2006, according to state records, with the worst year being 2013 with 27 reports.
DSHS is “urging health care providers to consider measles when diagnosing patients because early identification, along with immunization, is key to preventing measles from spreading.”
For information on obtaining waivers in Texas, visit the State Health Services website at https://tinyurl.com/y5rcqj3t.
Immunizations
For parents needing to get their children’s shot records up to date, numerous immunization opportunities are available.
In Fort Bend County, the Health & Human Services Department holds clinics at:
Missouri City Annex, 307 Texas Parkway, Suite 148, in Missouri City.
Rosenberg Annex, 4520 Reading Road, Suite A-200, in Rosenberg.
North Annex, 22333 Grand Corner in Katy.
Call 281-342-6141 for information on the Fort Bend County clinics.
The Fort Bend Children’s Discovery Center in conjunction with Texas Children’s Hospital will offer free back-to-school immunizations to Fort Bend children from 9 a.m. to noon Wednesday, July 31, at 198 Kempner St. in Sugar Land. For more information, visit www.childrensdiscoveryfb.org or call (832) 742-2800.
In Katy, upcoming immunization opportunities include:
The Christus Mobile Clinic, at 25722 Kingsland in Katy, has upcoming clinics on Aug. 9 and 12. Call 713-803-1880 for information.
Katy ISD high school campuses will have clinics throughout the month of August. Go to www.katyisd.org for more information.
In Spring Branch ISD, the Spring Branch Family Development Center will sponsor its annual Back-to-School Health Fair, providing children with proper immunizations. This year’s health fair will be held from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday, Aug. 10, at the Spring Branch Family Development Center, 8575 Pitner Road. For more information, go to https://tinyurl.com/y2dhpgwg.
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