NFID Experts Urge Wide Use of New Childhood Vaccine Schedule

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WASHINGTON, March 27, 1997 -- The U.S. Public Health Service joined with pediatricians today to praise the new 1997 childhood immunization schedule for giving pediatricians and parents more choices when selecting vaccines, without compromising safety and efficacy. Details of the new schedule -- and reasons for the changes -- were discussed at a press conference sponsored by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID).

"We are experiencing record high immunization coverage, with most childhood diseases that are preventable with vaccines at or near all-time low levels," stated Walter Orenstein, M.D., Director, National Immunization Program of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). "The new changes, which have been recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), should help continue this trend."

The three new recommendations are:

1. Expanded options to use the inactivated polio vaccine -- which is administered as a shot -- rather than the oral polio vaccine for the first two polio immunizations a child receives.

2. Use of the acellular pertussis vaccine as the preferred vaccine for infants, beginning with the first shot of the series. Previously, the acellular pertussis vaccine, which produces fewer side effects than the whole cell vaccine, was not available for the primary series.

3. Use of combination vaccines, where appropriate, as a way to reduce the overall number of shots at any single visit.

"I want to stress the strong commitment of the government and professional organizations to simplify the childhood vaccine schedule," stated Jeffrey P. Davis, M.D., Chairman, ACIP, and Chief Medical Officer and State Epidemiologist for Communicable Diseases, Wisconsin Division of Health. "For example, while the new polio recommendations could result in more shots for the child, combination vaccines -- those newly available and those in development -- will actually lower the total number of injections a child will receive. Combination vaccines can help simplify the schedule, leading to a decreased number of injections during a single visit and fewer visits to the clinic or doctor's office in order to complete the primary immunization series."

"More combination vaccines should simplify the schedule, reduce need for clinic visits, and may increase immunization levels," stated Joel Ward, M.D., Professor of Pediatrics, UCLA Center for Vaccine Research. "For example, in 1995, 92 percent of all toddlers were vaccinated against Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib), while only 68 percent of children had received their hepatitis B shots. Use of a new combination vaccine, COMVAX, which combines protection against Hib and hepatitis B, may help bring the immunization rates for hepatitis B to the same high levels as Hib."

"The greatest fear of pediatricians is that our success in reducing or even eliminating childhood diseases will lead to public complacency about the need for vaccines," stated Samuel Katz, M.D., Professor of Pediatrics, Duke University Medical Center. "Most parents today have never seen devastating diseases like diphtheria, measles and Haemophilus influenzae type B (which can cause meningitis).

"In the 1950s, parents were personally familiar with devastating childhood diseases, such as polio, which caused 25,000 or more victims annually to end up with braces, crutches, wheelchairs or in iron lungs," continued Dr. Katz. "Parents were also familiar with the effects of rubella (German measles) during pregnancy, since in just one year in the 1960s, more than 25,000 infants were born deaf, blind, mentally retarded and/or with congenital heart disease. It is critically important to realize that the organisms causing these diseases have not disappeared but have only receded into the background. Children must continue to receive their vaccinations on schedule, for this is the only way to avoid renewed suffering from these dreaded diseases."

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