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Section 1. Active and Passive Immunization
ACTIVE IMMUNIZATION
Vaccine Administration
General Instructions for Vaccine Administration
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Personnel administering vaccines should take appropriate precautions to minimize risk of spread of disease to or from patients. Hand hygiene should be used before and after each new patient contact. Gloves are not required when administering vaccines unless the health care professional has open hand lesions or will come into contact with potentially infectious body fluids. Syringes and needles must be sterile and preferably disposable. To prevent inadvertent needlesticks or reuse, a needle should not be recapped after use, and disposable needles and syringes should be discarded promptly in puncture-proof, labeled containers. Changing needles between drawing a vaccine into a syringe and injecting it into the child is not necessary. Different vaccines should not be mixed in the same syringe unless specifically licensed and labeled for such use. Occupational Safety and Health Administration recommendations for use of gloves and needle devices are available, which are aimed at decreasing transmission of infectious agents by exposure to body fluids (www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb).
Because of the rare possibility of a severe allergic reaction to a vaccine component, people administering vaccines or other biological products should be prepared to recognize and treat allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis (see Hypersensitivity Reactions to Vaccine Constituents, p 46). Facilities and personnel should be available for treating immediate allergic reactions. This recommendation does not preclude administration of vaccines in school-based or other nonclinic settings. When possible, patients should be observed for an allergic reaction and syncope for 15 to 20 minutes after receiving immunization(s).
Syncope may occur after immunization, particularly in adolescents and young adults. Personnel should be aware of presyncopal manifestations and take appropriate measures to prevent
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