School Reports | Immunization Index | Data and Statistics
Immunization Program
Indiana State Department of Health
2 North Meridian
Indianapolis, IN 46204
Published: 07/2001
Indiana State Department of Health
Gregory A. Wilson, M.D., State Health Commissioner
Mary DePrez, Deputy State Health Commissioner
Public Health Services Commission
Joni Albright, M.P.A., Assistant Commissioner
Immunization Program
Michael Runau, M.S., Program Director
Primary Author
Geoff Prysak, M.P.H., Epidemiologist
As required by IC 20-8.1-7-11, all schools in Indiana are required to self-report immunization coverage levels of their kindergarten, pre-kindergarten, first grade, second grade, sixth grade, and newly enrolled students to the immunization program at the Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) on an annual basis. The data from the 2000-2001 school immunization assessment is summarized in this report.
The intent of providing this information is to allow each school to compare its coverage levels to county and state coverage levels. Although assessments are required only once per year, it is of utmost importance that upon enrollment, each school inform parents as to which vaccines are required and give them a reasonable time frame for bringing their child(ren) “up-to-date.”
School data, listed on the current web page
(http://www.isdh.state.in.us), is alphabetized by county, with state totals
found at the bottom of each page. The following key is offered to explain the
abbreviations which are used:
Enr |
Number of children enrolled |
---|---|
Comp |
Number of children who have completed their immunizations according to State requirements |
% |
Percent of enrolled children completing their immunization requirements according to State requirements |
Data is presented for each grade for which reporting is required: pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, first grade, second grade, sixth grade, and new enterers. In order to reduce the risk of vaccine preventable disease, every effort should be made by Indiana schools to ensure that all enrolled children are up-to-date for their required vaccinations.
In 1999, Indiana implemented new and updated school immunization
requirements which affected kindergarten, first grade, and newly-enrolled
students. Due to the fact that many students did not have time to complete many
of their immunization requirements prior to the beginning of school, school
reported immunization rates were lower than had been seen in previous years.
However, by the 2000-2001 school year, school immunization rates should have
risen to their previously high coverage levels now that school officials have
had time to fully implement the new requirements.
A total of 2,225 schools (79.8%) reported data on 422,016 pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, first grade, second grade, sixth grade, and newly enrolled students in their schools.
Ninety-four percent of public schools reported immunization data, while only 48% of private schools reported immunization data.
754 (44%) schools in Indiana with pre-kindergarten or kindergarten enrollment reported completion levels greater than 95% for enrollees between two years of age and kindergarten.
Ninety-three percent of students of schools that reported immunization information have completed their immunizations according to State requirements, an increase of 9% compared to previous years’ completion levels (Table 1)
New school immunization requirements became effective for the 1999-2000 school year, which contributed to the single-year dip in immunization rates.
SCHOOL YEAR |
#
REPORTING SITES (# NOT REPORTING) |
# STUDENTS | # COMPLETE | % COMPLETE |
---|---|---|---|---|
1995-96 | 2,261 (251) | 264,899 | 255,963 | 97% |
1996-97 | 2,399 (94) | 272,869 | 264,211 | 97% |
1997-98 | 2,314 (191) | 269,703 | 260,962 | 97% |
1998-99* | 2,310 (158) | 271,558 | 263,195 | 97% |
1999-2000† | 2,314 (217) | 348,334 | 293,471 | 84% |
2000-2001‡ | 2,225 (563) | 422,016 | 390,859 | 93% |
* 1995-96 – 1998-99 school years includes:
Pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, sixth grade, and newly entered students.
† 1999-2000 school year includes: Pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, first grade,
sixth grade, and newly entered students (New requirements for school
immunizations began in the 1999-2000 school year).
‡ 2000-2001 school year includes: Pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, first grade,
second grade, sixth grade, and newly entered students
Schools and Local Health Departments should carefully review this data to identify facilities reporting less than 95% completion levels for students in any grade level
Schools with low coverage levels should make every effort to improve. Contact your local health department or immunization field representative if you need assistance.
All schools that have attained 95% coverage or greater are to be congratulated on their efforts and are encouraged to maintain attention for this important aspect of preventive health care.
School administrators and school nurses need to stay abreast of state immunization requirement changes and should work diligently to ensure that all incoming students for the 2001-02 school year are compliant with those requirements.
Presently, school immunization data are available on the ISDH website and we encourage all schools, school administrators, and parents to view the data. In the future, we hope to move towards electronic school immunization reporting via the internet.
Data in this report was collected from 2,225 schools throughout Indiana and compiled by the Indiana State Department of Health’s Immunization Program.