HBA-CCH H.C.R. 125 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.C.R. 125 By: Salinas Public Health 3/6/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Hepatitis A is a virus that is transmitted through contaminated food and water and close interpersonal contact. Interpersonal transmission occurs most frequently among individuals living in the same household and at day-care centers due to the fact that infected children are often asymptomatic. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices rank Texas among the states with a high-incidence of hepatitis A, and recommend vaccination programs for all children beginning with children in areas with the highest incidence rate. In 1999, the Texas Board of Health approved rules that require children in 32 border counties to receive hepatitis A vaccines in order to attend a public or private school or a child-care center. The Texas Department of Health has also identified 22 additional counties with incidence rates of hepatitis A high enough to warrant extending the vaccination programs to those areas no later than August 1, 2002. H.C.R. 125 urges the Texas Board of Health to approve rules to expand the Texas hepatitis A vaccination program. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS H.C.R. 125 urges the Texas Board of Health to adopt rules that expand the hepatitis A immunization program for children to include 22 additional counties identified by the Texas Department of Health as hepatitis A high-incidence areas and to other areas in Texas that are consistent with recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.