QUALITY STANDARDS FOR IMMUNIZATION

This is the third in a series of guidelines commissioned by the Infect ious Diseases Society of America through its Practice Guidelines Commi ttee, It is presented as a standard of care rather than a practice gui deline because the case for following these recommendations is very st rong and it should be followed with rare exceptions. The purpose of th is guideline is to provide assistance to clinicians when making decisi ons on providing immunizations to healthy infants, children, and adult s. The document is a summary of guidelines already developed by nation al organizations. The targeted providers are pediatricians, family pra ctitioners, internists, and other physicians who provide immunizations , The IDSA provided the funding, Panel members represent experts in ad ult and pediatric infectious diseases. The guidelines are evidence-bas ed. A standard ranking system is used for the strength of the recommen dations and the quality of the evidence cited in the literature review ed, The document has been subjected to external review by peer reviewe rs as well as by the Practice Guidelines Committee and was approved by the IDSA Council, An executive summary and tables highlight the major recommendations. Indicators For measuring compliance with the standar ds are included, The guideline will be listed on the IDSA home page at http://www.idsociety.org.