As parents are busy preparing for their children to return to school in the coming weeks by shopping for clothes, notebooks, pencils, backpacks and lunch boxes, the Wetzel-Tyler Health Department is reminding parents to not forget an immunization check-up.

Immunization helps keep children protected from dangerous vaccine-preventable diseases that can be serious. Children entering school for the first time in West Virginia are required to show age appropriate vaccination for DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis), polio, MMR (measles, mumps, rubella), varicella (chickenpox) and hepatitis B. Beginning this year, all 7th and 12th graders must show proof of having received their age appropriate vaccinations for Tdap and MCV (meningitis) before entering school.

The Wetzel-Tyler Health Department will be holding immunization clinics Aug. 8, 15 and 22 from 1-3 p.m. for children that still need to be vaccinated. Parents of children who cannot get vaccinated in their doctor’s office for any reason, must obtain a physician referral from the doctor in order for their child to be eligible for vaccination at the Wetzel-Tyler Health Department.

For more information call the Wetzel-Tyler Health Department at 304-337-2001 or go to the health department’s website at www.wetzeltylerhealthdepartment.com