LA CROSSE, Wis. (WKBT) - Wisconsin children have new vaccine requirements.
The state's Department of Health Services is making changes, effective February 1st, to the rules for meningitis and whooping cough immunizations.
Those include changing the age at which children get Tdap shots, which protect against tetanus, diphtheria, and whooping cough.
Meningitis vaccines are now required for students going into 7th grade, and boosters for eligible students going into their senior year of high school.
Also, chickenpox infections must be documented by a qualified health care provider.
Child care centers will need to begin working with parents to make sure kids have chickenpox vaccination documents.
Schools will put these changes into effect for the 2023 to 2024 school year.
This comes as only 88.7% of students met the minimum vaccination requirements during the last academic year. That's a 3.2% decrease from the previous year.
Dr. Stephanie Schauer, the Wisconsin immunization program manager, says everyone is safer when more kids are vaccinated.
"Any time we see a decline in immunization rates, it does mean that fewer kids are protected, and that is a concern," said Schauer. "We know that diseases such as measles require a very high level of immunity to prevent an outbreak from spreading."
You can talk to your child's doctor if you have any questions about vaccines.
If you need help paying for your child to be vaccinated, Wisconsin has a Vaccines for Children program that will help provide low-cost or free vaccines to eligible kids.
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