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.