Chicken pox vaccine now required for enrollment at ETSU

TriCities.com News, May 19, 2011

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. -- Incoming students who will begin full-time classes at East Tennessee State University starting this summer and beyond will be required to show proof of having the Varicella (chicken pox) vaccine or proof of immunity to this disease.

This policy is part of a new state law that applies to incoming new full-time students at all Tennessee colleges and universities, including those in undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs.

New students must receive two doses of the Varicella vaccination, which are given at least 28 days apart. ETSU will allow students to register for full-time courses for one semester if they have had only the first of the two vaccinations; however, the second vaccination must be administered before they can register for the following semester.

In addition to Varicella, ETSU students must show proof of having at least the first of two doses of the MMR (mumps, measles, and rubella) vaccine. As with the case of the Varicella vaccine, the second MMR dose must be administered before the student can register for the following semester.

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Students must get new whooping cough vaccine

Imperial Valley Press News, Feb. 20, 2011

A “new rule for school” is coming to California for the 2010-2011 school year, but some Imperial Valley organizations are already getting the word out to students.

Beginning July 1 all students entering seventh through 12th grades in public and private schools must show proof of having been immunized against whooping cough, according to an Imperial County Public Health Department press release.

Andrade said the Immunization Coalition and other health agencies spent the week posting on Web sites and handing out information in schools about Preteen Vaccine Week, which ended Saturday with a scavenger hunt and raffle at the Imperial Valley Mall in El Centro.

“We learned about preteen vaccines and how important it is to get vaccines,” Natalie Shunnarah, an El Centro resident and member of the winning scavenger hunt team, said. “It was fun,” said the 11-year-old.

Andrade said that while the Tdap vaccine (which protects against tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis) is required, it is also recommended for seventh- through 12th-graders to receive vaccines against varicella (chickenpox), HPV (human papillomavirus), the seasonal flu and meningococcal meningitis.


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