Monday, 05 March 2012
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Cross-posted from the WHO website. Many thanks to Hayatee Hasan Every immunization programme in the world has a national vaccination schedule that specifies the age at which antigens are to be given. But as we well know, in real life things rarely go according to plan! Inevitably, children and individuals come late for their vaccinations or for whatever reason, are unable to stick to the usual schedule. These irregular situations can be challenging to health workers who may not know what to do. If a child starts a vaccination series late, how many doses should be given? If a vaccination series is interrupted, does it need to be restarted or can it simply be resumed without repeating the last dose? The Global Immunization Vision & Strategy 2006-2015 aims to protect more people by expanding beyond the traditional immunization target group. This includes those who may be "off schedule". Regardless of when children and individuals come in contact with immunization services, it is important that their immunization status be checked and that they are provided with the vaccines they need or have missed. To help guide national programmes, WHO has consolidated its recommendations for interrupted and delayed vaccination into one summary table. Recommended schedule for interrupted and delayed vaccination Table 3 pdf (204kb) ********* Table 1 summarizes recommended routine immunizations for all age groups - children, adolescents, and adults. As such, it provides an overview of vaccine recommendations across the lifespan, including both primary series and booster doses. Table 1 pdf (195kb) Table 1 - en français pdf (206kb) Table 2 provides detailed information for routine immunizations for children, including age at first dose and intervals. It reiterates recommendations on the primary series and booster doses. Table 2 pdf (151kb) Table 2 - en français pdf (187kb) A User's Guide to the Summary Tables pdf (998kb) It is important to note that these recommendations are only a compilation of existing WHO routine immunization recommendations in a new format. All the recommendations come from WHO Position Papers that are published in the Weekly Epidemiological Record. The tables are updated as soon as any new WHO recommendation is published. The tables are designed for use by national immunization managers and key decision-makers, chairs and members of national advisory committees on immunization, and partner organizations, including industry. The tables are not intended for direct use by health workers. Rather their purpose is to aid technical decisions with respect to the national vaccination schedule. WHO would like to receive [[email protected]]feedback[/email] on the content and format of these tables.
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