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A new look for 2013 immunization schedule
This year’s pediatric immunization schedule has a new look and includes several changes compared with the 2012 schedule.
The 2013 Recommended Childhood and Adolescent Immunization Schedule, published this week in Pediatrics and as a supplement to the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, features five pages that include a combined schedule with recommendations for children aged 0 months to 18 years, a catch-up page and a two-page footnote section.
The amended schedule was the joint effort of many clinicians, and also was the result of a pilot study of pediatricians, family practice physicians, public health nurses and research from the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education in Tennessee.
According to the AAP policy statement, the new schedule reflects a few changes since last year, specifically a recommendation on Tdap for pregnant adolescents and adults, which, the authors note, “was in response to increasing cases of pertussis nationally and a recognition that the greatest burden of disease, morbidity, and mortality occurs in infants prior to the time that they can achieve protection from their primary series with DTaP.”
The updated statement also includes a note on the Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccine, which clarifies that a single dose should be administered to unvaccinated children aged at least 15 months. In addition, there is a new footnote that clarifies the number of rotavirus vaccine doses for RV1 and RV5.
A parent-friendly vaccine schedule for children and adolescents is available at www.cdc.gov/vaccines/schedules/index.html.
For more information:
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AAP COID. Pediatrics. 2013;doi:10.1542/peds.2012-3706.
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CDC. MMWR. 2013;62(Early Release):1-19.
Disclosure: Brady reported no relevant financial disclosures.
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This year, for the first time, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) immunization schedules for routine use in people in the United States from birth through adulthood are being published together as a supplement in MMWR and in journals of partner organizations. Both the structure of the schedules and the content in the schedules has been updated.
Recommendations for routine use of vaccines in children and adolescents are harmonized to the greatest extent possible with recommendations made by the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), the AAP, and the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG). Recommendations for routine use of vaccines in adults are reviewed and approved by the American College of Physicians (ACP), AAFP, ACOG, and the American College of Nurse-Midwives.
The National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD) of the CDC maintains the most current immunization schedules, including the 2013 schedules, on the Vaccines & Immunization pages website (www.cdc.gov/vaccines/schedules/hcp/index.html). Printable versions also are available via the same link.
All of the ACIP vaccine recommendations made during previous years, including the eight 2012 recommendations published in MMWR (www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/ACIP-list-by-date.htm), have been incorporated into the 2013 schedules. Additionally, the new 2013 schedules incorporate new references; links to supplemental information such as travel vaccine requirements and recommendations; as well as vaccination information for people with primary and secondary immunodeficiencies. Specific changes are laid out in the introductory material for each schedule.
Health care professionals should use both the recommended schedule and the catch-up schedule in combination with their respective footnotes, which contain a wealth of information. All in all, the new format should make scheduling vaccines vastly simpler for clinicians as well as creating opportunities to provide easily understandable information to patients of all ages, including those who may be hesitant about vaccines (www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/patient-ed/conversations/index.html).
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