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2010 immunization schedules released

The 2010 recommended immunization schedules and the catch-up immunization schedule have been approved by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Physicians and are now available.

Changes to the previous year’s schedule include the following:

• The statement concerning use of combination vaccines in the introductory paragraph has been changed to reflect the revised ACIP recommendation on this issue, that is, “the use of a combination vaccine generally is preferred over separate injections of its equivalent component vaccines. Considerations should include provider assessment, patient preference, and the potential for adverse events.”
• The last dose in the inactivated poliovirus vaccine series is now recommended to be administered on or after the 4^th birthday and at least six months since the previous dose. In addition, if four doses are administered prior to age 4 years, an additional fifth dose should be administered at age 4 through 6 years.
• The hepatitis A footnote has been revised to allow vaccination of children older than 23 months for whom immunity against hepatitis A is desired.
• Revaccination with meningococcal conjugate vaccine is now recommended for children who remain at increased risk of meningococcal disease after three years if the first dose was administered at age 2 through 6 years or after five years if the first dose was administered at age 7 years or older.
• Footnotes for human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine have been modified to include the availability of and recommendations for bivalent HPV vaccine, and a permissive recommendation for administration of quadrivalent HPV vaccine to males aged 9 through 18 years to reduce the likelihood of acquiring genital warts.

The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act requires that health care providers provide parents or patients with copies of Vaccine Information Statements before administering each dose of the vaccines listed in the schedules.

PDFs of the updated schedules are available online in Pediatrics.

For more information:

• CDC. Recommended immunization schedules for persons aged 0-18 years — United States 2009. MMWR. 2008;57(51&52):Q1 — Q4.
• CDC. ACIP provisional recommendations for the use of combination vaccines. Atlanta, GA: US Department of Health and Human Services, CDC; 2009.
• CDC. Updated recommendations of the ACIP regarding routine poliovirus vaccination. MMWR. 2009;58:829-30.
• CDC. Updated recommendation from the ACIP for revaccination of persons at prolonged increased risk for meningococcal disease MMWR. 2009;58:1042-3.
• CDC. ACIP provisional recommendations for the use of human papillomavirus vaccines. Atlanta, GA: US Department of Health and Human Services, CDC; 2009.
• American Academy of Pediatrics. Active and passive immunization. In: Pickering LK, ed. 2009 Red Book: Report of the Committee on Infectious Diseases. 28th ed. Elk Grove Village, IL; 2009.