Recommended childhood immunization schedule

The Recommended Childhood Immunization Schedule for 1995 was developed by the Committee on Infectious Diseases (COID) of the American Academy of Pediatrics in collaboration with the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP).1 Since the January 1995 publication, the AAP, ACIP, and AAFP have agreed on the following revisions: 1. The revised schedule is dated January-June 1996 and will be reprinted in July 1996 with any indicated changes. Incorporating dates in the chart will assure health care providers that they are using the most current schedule. 2. A column has been added to indicate that the second dose of hepatitis B vaccine can be administered at 1 month of age, provided that at least 1 month has elapsed since the first dose was given. Also, the doses of vaccine are provided in micrograms by individual product instead of volume, as several different concentrations of recombivax-HB (Merck, Sharp and Dohme) vaccine are available. 3. A bar has been added at 11-12 years of age to indicate that adolescents who have not previously received three doses of hepatitis B vaccine should initiate or complete the three-dose series. 4. Varicella zoster virus vaccine (Var) has been added to the schedule. In addition to the previously issued Academy recommendations, answers to commonly asked questions are addressed in a recent AAP News article.2,3 5. Information on inactivated poliomyelitis vaccine (IPV) has been added to reflect the Academy's current policy.