NEW FEDERAL LAW REQUIRES PROOF OF IMMUNIZATIONS.

Byline: Krystn Shrieve Staff Writer

Seventh-graders spending their final weeks of summer shopping at the mall or heading down the school supply aisle, should add the newly required hepatitis B shots to their back-to-school lists.

A new federal law that became effective July 1 requires all students entering seventh grade to show proof of a series of three hepatitis B shots, along with other shots needed to start school.

Lin Glusac, immunization coordinator at Ventura County Public Health, said seventh-graders were chosen because they have been overlooked in the past.

``It's a new law and older students have been left out,'' Glusac said. ``That whole group is lost unless their physicians have been updating their immunizations. This is a way to catch up.''

There are three strains of hepatitis, a virus that causes damage to the liver, said Norene Finney, a nurse at the Simi Valley Public Health Clinic where many students have come in for the immunizations.

Hepatitis A is transmitted through food and water, hepatitis B and C are transmitted through body fluids, Finney said.

Glusac said seventh-graders were targeted because they could be prone to experiment with risky behavior such as sexual activity, tattooing, body piercing or intravenous drug use that could lead to hepatitis B transmission.

``We would like to think our kids don't do these things,'' Glusac said. ``But in the real world these things happen.''

Hepatitis B also can be transmitted through seemingly innocent means such as sharing toothbrushes or razors, caring for wounds or the changing of diapers, said Marilyn Billimek, the public health nurse program coordinator for the communicable disease office in Ventura County.

Students who have not at least started the hepatitis B series - which take from four to six months to complete - will not be allowed to enter school, Glusac said.

Also required for seventh-graders is a second MMR shot for measles, mumps and rubella - the first of which was probably given at 15 months of age. A tetanus booster is recommended if the student has not received a booster within the last five years, and a chickenpox shot is recommended if the student has not already had the chickenpox.

The hepatitis B shots are also required for kindergartners along with the regular round of required shots, including those for diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis, polio and mumps, measles and rubella.

School districts throughout the county have distributed information about the new federal law in newsletters, report cards and other mailings.

The county's public health officials also held immunization clinics at 87 schools in 17 districts where they administered shots to 3,541 students, Glusac said.

Under President Clinton's Vaccines for Children's program no child can be denied immunizations.

IMMUNIZATIONS

Parents are required to bring along their child's yellow California immunization record.

The American Red Cross is offering free immunizations and health screenings for children ages 3 to 18 throughout Southern California on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. For more information, call [phone].

Simi Valley Hospital will hold a Kids Care Fair from noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday at the Boys and Girls Club, 2850 Lemon Drive.

The Ventura County Chapter of the American Red Cross will offer free immunizations for children ages 3 to 18 at the 10th annual Kids Care Fair from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday at the Esplanade Shopping Center, 195 Esplanade Drive in Oxnard. For information, call [phone] Ext. 400.

Free immunizations are provided by Ventura County. For information, call [phone].

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Photo, Box

Photo: (Color) Simi Valley Hospital's Kids Care Fair runs from noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday. Besides immunizations, Care Fair offers health screenings.

Box: IMMUNIZATIONS (See text)