Health
CDC, medical societies publish child, adolescent immunization schedules
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Jan. 29, 2007
Infants should receive three doses of the rotavirus vaccine. Children as old as 5 should get an annual influenza immunization. And a second dose of the varicella shot should be administered to those ages 4 to 6, according to the 2007 Childhood Immunization Schedules published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Physicians in the Jan. 5 Morbidity and Mortality and Weekly Report.
These revised schedules incorporate recommendations made by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices over the past year. Other changes include an endorsement of the human papillomavirus vaccine for girls as young as 9 and catch-up vaccination for those up to age 26. In response to the schedule's increasing complexity, particularly for adolescents, it also has been split into two -- one for infants through age 6 and the other for those 7-18.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2007/01/29/hlbf0129.htm.