General recommendations for immunization practices in children and adolescents

Immunization is the most cost-effective method of preventing many infectious diseases. Recommendations for immunization practices are based on scientific knowledge of vaccine characteristics, the principles of immunization, the epidemiology of specific diseases, host characteristics, and expert opinion of public health officials and specialists in clinical and preventive medicine on vaccine benefit and safety issues. Therefore, recommendations for vaccination practices balance scientific evidence of benefits and risks of immunization programs. Many of the standards for child and adolescent vaccination programs that have been previously published are universal and are applicable to many countries where different public health concerns may exist. However, several updated changes are added to these standards to maximize the benefits from the vaccination services. This report will provide the most recent technical guidance about common vaccination concerns for clinicians who administer vaccines to infants, children, and adolescents.