Child vaccination, part 2: childhood vaccination
procedures.
Zimmerman RK, Burns IT
Department of Family Medicine and Clinical Epidemiology,
University of
Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pennsylvania 15261, USA. zimmer+@pitt.edu
In 1996, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices
(ACIP), the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), the American Academy
of Pediatrics (AAP), and the American Medical Association recommended a well-child
office visit at age 11 to 12 years to check vaccination status. Vaccination status should be assessed for
varicella, hepatitis B, the second dose of measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine,
and tetanus-diptheria (Td) toxoid if not given in the past 5 years. Adolescent
patients should be screened for high-risk conditions indicating the need for
influenza, pneumococcal, or hepatitis A vaccines. The Accelerated Immunization
Schedule and Minimal Interval Table should be consulted for children who are
behind schedule.
ALL
INFORMATION, DATA, AND MATERIAL CONTAINED, PRESENTED, OR PROVIDED HERE IS FOR
GENERAL INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS REFLECTING THE
KNOWLEDGE OR OPINIONS OF THE PUBLISHER, AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED OR INTENDED
AS PROVIDING MEDICAL OR LEGAL ADVICE. THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO
VACCINATE IS AN IMPORTANT AND COMPLEX ISSUE AND SHOULD BE MADE BY YOU, AND YOU
ALONE, IN CONSULTATION WITH YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.
"A foolish faith in authority is the worst enemy of truth."
-- Albert Einstein, letter to a friend, 1901
"I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves, and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education."
-- Thomas Jefferson, letter to William C. Jarvis, September 28, 1820
"What's the point of vaccination if it doesn't protect you from the unvaccinated?"
-- Sandy Gottstein
"Who gets to decide what the greater good is and how many will be sacrificed to it?"