Through requirements in the State School Aid Act, the Public Health Code, and the Revised School Code, the immunization status of children enrolling in a public or nonpublic school for the first time must be reported to school and local health officials. In fact, Department of Education officials note that most school districts comply with the reporting requirements, and only a few do not meet reporting deadlines due to delays in receiving the required information. Thus, the laws are sufficient to ensure that children entering school in kindergarten receive the initial immunizations. After kindergarten, however, there is no reporting requirement unless a student transfers to another school district. Many vaccines, such as those for diphtheria and tetanus, that children receive when they are old enough to start school require booster shots when the students are adolescents and are enrolled in the fifth to seventh grades. Unless a child moves to a new school or has regular health check-ups, parents of an older child may not realize that he or she needs booster shots or additional doses to maintain immunity. Furthermore, the diseases for which vaccines are required are more than mere childhood diseases and can result in serious complications when contracted by an adolescent or adult. By requiring an immunization assessment of every child when he or she entered the sixth grade, the bills would help education and public health officials determine whether students were up-to-date with the required immunizations and, thus, would protect other school children and the public from the outbreak of serious diseases that could be prevented.