BOISE — Getting your kiddos back to school ready can be a little hectic, especially with all the shopping involved but make sure you don't forget about getting your kids up-to-date on all their vaccines!
Idaho law requires children to have adequate immunizations unless parents file an exemption for religious, medical or other reason.
For a list of mandatory shots, click here.
"We have about 70,000 kids enrolled across the state, of those 61,000 are considered having records that show they are adequately immunized. That's about 9,000 children in Idaho schools whose records are either incomplete, missing or they filed exemptions," says Chris Smith with Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.
To see how many kids are exempt in your school, click here.
Some of those 9,000 children are either too medically fragile or have adverse reactions to vaccines and can’t get their shots, but they can still be protected.
"A medically fragile or an ineligible child can benefit by herd immunity, which is the concept of by vaccinating the largest number of children and people within a population that we can prevent the spread of a vaccine-preventable illness," says Dr. Mark Uranga, a pediatrician with St. Luke's.
Dr. Uranga says measles is a prime example.
"Measles is something that is highly contagious but if you can break the chain of contagion by herd immunity while you can have isolated cases you’re not going to have an outbreak," says Dr. Uranga.
So not only does getting vaccinated directly protect your child, but being up-to-date on immunizations can keep the entire classroom healthy.