Vaccination and Immunization

If you aren't ready with the answer to this question and a way to put it in context for parents, you just might not get another chance. What would you say?

Here's how to put a parent's concern to rest.

Since mom went to the hassle of bringing along the 4 year old to her little brother's appointment, why not help make it worth the trip and get her up-to-date, too?

Watch to learn about the flu season and it's impact on younger adults with the H1N1 strain of the flu virus and how important the flu vaccine is for this part of the population.

Dr Anne Schuchat, Assistant Surgeon General and Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, discusses the recent CDC report on declining humanpapillomavirus vaccine rates in adolescents.

The high cost of purchasing and administering vaccines has been a topic of discussion by pediatricians for some time. New vaccines cost much more than the older ones, and even the old vaccines have consistently increased in cost over the years. This has caused some pediatricians to consider dropping vaccines from their practices altogether.

The CDC releases its numbers on how many adolescents receive the human papillomavirus vaccine.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has taken the unusual step of recommending nasal spray vaccine over flu shots for healthy children aged 2 to 8 years.

The American Academy of Pediatrics, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Academy of Family Physicians, and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recently approved the 2014 recommended schedules for childhood and adolescent immunizations.

Vaccine-hesitant parents respond to strong provider recommendations.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has released its guidance for influenza vaccination during the 2013-2014 influenza season. As always, AAP recommends that all children and adolescents aged 6 months and older receive either the trivalent or quadrivalent influenza vaccine, and children should be immunized as soon as the vaccine becomes available.

Do sick-visit immunizations dampen parental incentive to return for missed well-baby examinations?

Influenza-associated neurologic complications in children are rare but can be severe. Familiarity with the clinical presentation and frequency of specific neurologic findings can help pediatricians with early diagnosis and treatment.

IOM advises sustained federal commitment to research on schedule safety

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has endorsed the recommendation of the World Health Organization (WHO) Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization to retain the use of thimerosal as a preservative in vaccines.

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.

Here, in the second in a series of podcasts, Dr Ellen Clayton reviews findings of a landmark Institute of Medicine study on vaccine safety and offers information about specific vaccines that may be very useful to you when you answer questions from worried parents.

The issue of vaccine safety has been making headlines lately. Some of the publicity-particularly in the lay press and television-has been negative.

You and your colleagues are undoubtedly hearing questions from a lot of concerned parents about the new guidelines for vaccinating young boys against HPV infection. What are the chief concerns-and how can you best address those concerns?

What exactly are the new guidelines for vaccinating boys against HPV infection-and why is this development good news for both men and women?

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.

How will you address this question when your patients ask? Find out in this podcast.

As the calendar advances to the fall months, we are reminded everywhere that it’s time for the annual influenza vaccination. In August 2011, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) updated its vaccination recommendations to include new guidelines for children ages 6 months through 8 years, and for persons with egg allergy.