Prior to enrolling in the Virginia Beach City Public Schools, all students are required to have the following immunizations :

1. Diphtheria, Tetanus & Pertussis (DTP/DTAP) - A minimum of three doses, with at least one dose administered after the child's fourth birthday.
2. POLIO - A minimum of three doses, with at least one dose administered after the student's fourth birthday. If four (or more) have been administered before the fourth birthday, no more are required for school entry.
3. MEASLES , MUMPS, RUBELLA (MMR) requirements:
   1. Measles (Rubeola) - Two doses of Rubeola vaccine are required for all students enrolled in kindergarten through grade 12. The first dose must have been at age 12 months or older; the second dose, no sooner than four weeks after the first dose.
   2. Mumps - A minimum of one dose administered at age 12 months or older, usually in combination with Rubeola and Rubella (MMR).
   3. Rubella - A minimum of one dose administered at age 12 months or older, usually in combination with Rubeola and Mumps (MMR).
4. HEPATITIS B -A complete series of three doses of Hepatitis B is required for all students. The third dose must not have been given before 24 weeks of age.
5. VARICELLA (Chicken Pox)-This vaccine is required of all students born on or after January 1, 1997, and must have been administered after 12 months of age, unless the medical history and lab tests are officially documented.
6. Rising sixth graders are required to have a booster dose of the Tdap vaccine (tetanus, pertussis and diphtheria). If a tetanus containing vaccine has been administered in the five years prior to sixth grade entry, this booster vaccine is not required. Documentation of this vaccine may appear as DPT, Td, Dtap or Tdap.

A student whose immunizations are incomplete may be admitted conditionally, if the student provides documentary proof at the time of enrollment of having received at least one dose of the required immunization(s) accompanied by a schedule for completion of the remaining required dosage(s). At the time of enrollment, ALL immunizations must be as current and as up-to-date as possible. Enrollment and attendance can be delayed if compliance with immunization requirements is not met. Questions and the need for further clarification of immunization requirements may be directed to your school nurse at your school or to the Health Services Office at 757.263.2025.

Recommended immunizations include those for meningococcal meningitis.
Meningococcal disease is a rare, but potentially fatal, bacterial infection that can cause meningitis, a severe swelling of the brain and spinal cord, or meningococcemia, a severe blood infection. Meningococcal disease is spread through air droplets and by direct contact with an infected person. Early symptoms may resemble the flu, making diagnosis difficult. The disease can progress very quickly, killing an otherwise healthy young person in 48 hours or less. More than 50 percent of meningococcal disease in the U. S. occurs in persons 11 years of age or older.

Ten to 14 percent of cases are fatal; however, among adolescents it can be as high as 22 percent. One in five of those who survive the disease will suffer a permanent disability that could include brain damage, limb amputations, or hearing loss. However, up to 83 percent of meningococcal infections among the ages of 15 and 24 are potentially vaccine-preventable.

In February 2005, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) issued new recommendations stating that children at pre-adolescence (11- to 12-year olds), adolescents entering high schools, and college freshmen living in dormitories should be immunized against meningococcal disease. In addition, ACIP’s recommendations state that all other adolescents who wish to decrease their risk of meningococcal disease may elect to receive the vaccine.

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