Elk Grove Village, IL—(ENEWSPF)—January 26, 2015. Updated vaccine recommendations for children and adolescents will be published in the February 2015 issue of Pediatrics and published online Jan. 26. The policy statement, “Recommended Childhood and Adolescent Immunization Schedule – United States, 2015” will include links to the 2015 recommended childhood and adolescence immunization schedules approved by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the American Academy of Family Physicians.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recognizes the importance of timely vaccinations for children, and encourages parents to adhere to the schedule as the best way to protect children from infectious diseases, including measles and influenza, which are currently experiencing outbreaks. Minor changes in the schedule have been made this year, including new columns to emphasize the availability of inactivated influenza vaccine and live-attenuated vaccine starting at 2 years of age as well as the need for 2 doses of flu vaccine for some children 2 through 8 years of age. A second column has been added at 9 through 10 years to indicate when 2 doses are no longer needed. A purple bar has been added for young children 6 months to less than 12 months traveling outside the United States who need the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine. In addition, minor, clarifying word changes were made to the catch-up schedules and the footnotes. The meningococcal footnote underwent extensive revision to clarify appropriate dosing schedules for high-risk infants and children for the use of three different vaccines.
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The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 62,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists dedicated to the health, safety and well-being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults. For more information, visit www.aap.org follow us on Twitter @AmerAcadPeds.
Source: www.aap.org
