IMMUNIZATION OF ADOLESCENTS - RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE ADVISORY-COMMITTEE ON IMMUNIZATION PRACTICES, THE AMERICAN-ACADEMY-OF-PEDIATRICS, THE AMERICAN-ACADEMY-OF-FAMILY-PHYSICIANS, AND THE AMERICAN-MEDICAL-ASSOCIATION

This report concerning the immunization of adolescents (ie, persons 11 -21 years of age, as defined by the American Medical Association [AMA] and the American Academy of Pediatrics [AAP]) is a supplement to prev ious publications (ie, MMWR 1994;43[No. RR-I] 1-38; the AAP 1994 Red B ook: Report of the Committee on Infectious Diseases; Summary of Policy Recommendations for Periodic Health Examination, August 1996 from the American Academy of Family Physicians [AAFP]; and AMA Guidelines for Adolescent Preventive Services [GAPS]: Recommendations and Rationale). This report presents a,new strategy to improve the delivery of vaccin ation services to adolescents and to integrate recommendations for vac cination with other preventive services provided to adolescents. This ner: strategy emphasizes vaccination of adolescents 11-12 years of age by establishing a routine visit to their health-care providers. Speci fically, the purposes of this visit are to a) vaccinate adolescents wh o have nor been previously vaccinated,vith varicella virus vaccine, he patitis B vaccine, or the second dose of the measles,,mumps, and rubel la (MMR) vaccine; b) provide a booster dose of tetanus and diphtheria toxoids; c) administer other vaccines that may be recommended for cert ain adolescents; and d) provide other recommended preventive services. The recommendations for vaccination of adolescents are based on new o r current information for each vaccine. The most recent recommendation s from ACIP, AAP, AAFP, and AMA concerning specific vaccines and deliv ery of preventive services should be consulted for details.