Vaccination and Immunization

The first meeting of the Committee on Assessment of Studies of Health Outcomes Related to the Recommended Childhood Immunization Schedule was held in February in Washington, DC, at the Pew Charitable Trust.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has updated its recommended immunization schedules for children and adolescents.

Infants who are immunized in the afternoon sleep better during the first 24 hours after immunization than those immunized earlier in the day, particularly if they have elevated temperatures.

Now more than ever you are on the front lines in the battle to get children immunized against dangerous diseases. More than 1 in 8 parents have adopted an alternative vaccination schedule for their children, with almost twice that number saying they do not believe the government’s recommended schedule is the best one to follow. You might be shocked to find out how dramatically risk increases when even 1 scheduled vaccine is skipped.

To identify parents' beliefs and barriers related to influenza immunization of school-aged children and to evaluate how accepting parents are of school-based influenza immunization, investigators surveyed parents of students at an elementary school in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Over the past decade, the United States has had tremendous success in achieving very high immunization compliance rates among children, sometimes as high as 91%.

Letters to the editor about iron deficiency, encouraging vaccinating children in the hopsital, and more.

In my exam room hangs a poster of diseases that have been significantly reduced through vaccination (eg, chicken pox, measles, polio)...

The federal government is changing the recommendations for vaccinations: what should the new ones be, and how will the changes affect your practice?

Various government groups work to safeguard the future of vaccines.

A discussion of the problems associated with the new CDC recommendations for immunizing children with the flu vaccine.

Immunization rates among children living in the inner city and enrolled in subsidized health care are just over half of national averages, a recent study has found.

Asthma inhalers, pediatric vaccination, and government funding of children's health insurance are the talk of the town this month.

If the promise of new vaccines, such as Gardasil, is to be achieved, pediatricians and family physicians must be relieved of the burdens associated with purchasing and administering them.

The July 2006 issue, which featured an update on STDs, included a case on primary syphilis in a teenager (page 427). Therapy with intramuscular penicillin G (weekly for 3 weeks) or ceftriaxone (daily for 2 weeks) was recommended. However, the CDC's newly published guidelines on STD treatment recommend therapy with a single intramuscular dose of 2.4 million units of penicillin G.1 If the patient is allergic to penicillin, the alternative is therapy with doxycycline (100 mg orally bid for 14 days) or tetracycline (500 mg qid for 14 days). Ceftriaxone is not a recommended treatment for syphilis.

Nationally, immunization levels are higher than ever, but new challenges mean no rest for the pediatric community. Consider these tips on maintaining immunization coverage-to help you preserve and extend essential protection for children in your care.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) unanimously voted on June 29 that children 4 to 6 years old receive a second dose of varicella vaccine for the prevention of chickenpox.

Your doctor has just told you that you have an infection with human papillomavirus (HPV). Most teens have a lot of questions about warts and HPV. This guide will help answer some of those questions.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that approximately 81% of the nation's toddlers are receiving all the vaccinations in the recommended series."These results are terrific news," said Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the CDC. "They illustrate the tremendous progress we've made in preventing what were once common childhood diseases. Most importantly, these results show that parents have high levels of confidence in our vaccination recommendations. It's encouraging to see that parents recognize the importance of protecting their children against diseases that while relatively uncommon, can cause serious harm."

With the recent licensing of conjugated, quadrivalent meningococcal vaccine (MCV4) and likely approval of other "childhood" vaccines to prevent disease during adolescence and adulthood, the national immunization program ventures onto new ground.