CDC Vaccine Immunization Schedule for 2017
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released the immunization schedule for routine vaccination against 16 diseases in infants, children, teenagers, and adults.
The schedule is a guide to the order and timinga of each shot. It was developed by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice (ACIP), a panel of experts who make recommendations to the CDC.
The ACIP has three meetings every year to update immunization scheule recommendations, discuss new research, vaccine safety and effectiveness concerns, disease outbreaks, supply issues, and more.
There are currently 25 shots recommended in the first 15 months of life. Alternative immunization schedules leave out some vaccines and spread them out over a longer period of time.
Alternative or delayed schedules are appealing to parents who fear that too many vaccines will overwhelm their child’s immune system and cause side effects.
The problem is that any child who is not fully vaccinated can get sick if they are exposed to a disease, or international travelers who carry diseases from other parts of the world without vaccination programs.
And while natural immunity provides stronger protection than a vaccine against most diseases, it is risky to expose a child to an illness because they may develop severe complications.
Delaying vaccines does not offer any benefits to children, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). They warn that delaying certain vaccines only leaves children vulnerable to preventable illness.
Furthermore, the AAP says the amount of germs that a child is exposed to every day (2,000 to 6,000) is much more than the antigens in any combination of vaccines (150 for the whole schedule).
For More Information
- 0-18 Years Child Combined Immunization Schedule
- Pneumococcal Immunization Schedule
- Hib-ActHib Immunization Schedule
- Hib-Pedvax Immunization Schedule
- DTaP Immunization Schedule
Source: What is the vaccine schedule most doctors recommend?
