Facts & Information

Strep Throat Information

Influenza Information

For additional flu information, please visit the following sites:

RSV Information

For additional RSV information please visit the following site:

Immunization Information and Requirements

Vaccine finder

Easy to read vaccine schedules for children 6 years or younger

Easy to read vaccine schedules for children 7 to 18 years old

Vaccines for your children - CDC

Vaccine Information Statement

Please see IDPH’s press release with additional information about vaccines at http://www.dph.illinois.gov/news/vaccines-save-lives-and-are-safe.

View the Fall 2017 Minimum Immunization Requirements and other resources on the IDPH website at http://www.dph.illinois.gov/topics-services/prevention-wellness/immunization.

Multi-State Measles Outbreak

According to a recent Health Alert posted from the CDC titled U.S. Muliti-state Measles Outbreak, December 2014-January 2015 "The United States is experiencing a large multi-state measles outbreak that started in California in December 2014 and has spread to six additional states and Mexico" (CDC, 2015) More from that alert can be found on the CDC website. After recent events on the news regarding the closing of a preschool in Palatine, the Du Page County Health Department distributed fact sheets for distributing pertinent information. The following attachments are meant to keep all persons in the community aware- a parent flyer and community fact sheet are attached below.

Meningococcal Information and vaccination requirement

For additional meningococcal information please visit the following websites:

https://dph.illinois.gov/topics-services/diseases-and-conditions/diseases-a-z-list/meningitis.html

https://www.cdc.gov/meningococcal/vaccine-info.html

https://www.cdc.gov/meningococcal/vaccine-info-sp.html

Ebola and Enterovirus D68 Information

Pertussis On the Rise in DuPage County/Illinois

Cases of pertussis, also known as whooping cough, are on the rise. In 2010, several states reported an increase in cases and/or localized outbreaks of pertussis. Pertussis is a highly infectious and usually mild illness that is easily transmitted through coughing and sneezing and may last for several months. In DuPage County, there was an increase in the number of pertussis cases reported in late fall, with the majority of cases occurring in children and adolescents.

Over 445 cases of pertussis were reported in Illinois by the beginning of the school year, with 65 percent of those reported since May 2010. Of the cases reported since May 2010, 45 percent have occurred among school-aged children; over 30 percent have occurred in children under five years of age. Most children are immunized against pertussis disease by receiving a series of vaccine doses known as DTaP (Diptheria, Tetanus and Pertussis). However, immunity wanes as they reach adolescence. Since 2005, there has been an adolescent/adult pertussis booster vaccine (Tdap) that can be used for prevention and control of pertussis. Tdap vaccine is recommended to be routinely given at ages 11-12 years.

A letter posted by the DuPage County Health Department(in both English and Spanish) is linked below. More information is available from the Illinois Department of Public Health and the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

A new Illinois law makes it easier for students to carry asthma inhalers with them in school.

Illinois students and parents can breathe a little easier this school year, thanks to a new law that makes it less difficult for students to keep lifesaving asthma medication with them.

It is estimated that 9.4 percent, or about 7 million, of American children have asthma. The condition can be potentially life-threatening without immediate access to inhalers.

The new ruling stems from a 2001 law in Illinois that gave students the ability to keep asthma inhalers with them at all times (prior to the law, they might have to had keep inhalers in the nurse’s office).

Under the law, students had to obtain a yearly doctor’s note. Parents and advocates say that requirement was a barrier because it would sometimes require a separate doctor’s visit or a phone call to the child’s physician.

A student needs only a copy of the prescription and a note from his or her guardian. State officials believe the law is the first of its kind in the nation, according to the Chicago Tribune.