Parents reminded of back to school vaccines

RALEIGH (WTVD) -- With the start of another school year, parents are reminded that the state of North Carolina requires vaccines for students.

School officials recommend that vaccines are taken within the first 30 days of the school year in order to avoid suspension.

"Vaccines are without a doubt the single most effective health intervention that we've ever had in the history of medicine," said Ephraim Tsalik, an associate professor of Medicine at Duke.

Tsalik said they have seen an increase in some preventable illnesses, like whooping cough, which can be fatal.

In the state of North Carolina, at least seven cases of mumps have been reported between January and May of 2017.

The grades of those infected ranges from elementary school to college students; however, a vaccine for mumps is required for kindergartners.

Kindergarten students are mandated to have the following:

• Diphtheria

• Tetanus

• Pertussis

• Polio

• Measles

• Mumps

• Rubella

• Haemophilus influenza type B

• Hepatitis B

• Varicella

Students entering the seventh grade or the age of 12 are mandated to have:

• Meningococcal
• Tetanus
• Diphtheria
• Pertussis (whooping cough)
• DTaP

Read more on information for students in Wake County here.