With children starting school earlier than usual this year, UCLA pediatrician Dr. Piper Calasanti reminds families to schedule a visit to their healthcare provider for necessary vaccinations, especially for diseases such as whooping cough and measles, which have increased in prevalence in California over the past year.

“There are several vaccinations children are required to have before they can go back to school and others the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommend,” said Dr. Calasanti, whose practice is based in Santa Monica. “All of them are important for protecting children – and those around them – against serious and often life-threatening diseases.”

Children entering kindergarten are required to be vaccinated for polio, chicken pox, measles/mumps/rubella, hepatitis B, and tetanus/diphtheria/pertussis (whooping cough), she noted. Students entering seventh grade are required to have a booster shot of the Tdap (tetanus/diphtheria/pertussis) vaccine.

Tags: back to school, CDC, chicken pox, children, Children’s Health, childrens health, Dr. Piper Calasanti, hepatitis b, immunization, measles, MMR, mumps, pertussis, polio, rubella, school, whooping cough