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Appendices

The following text is from an archived Red Book® edition and may not reflect current recommendations or information. To view the current edition, click here.

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Section 1. Active and Passive Immunization

IMMUNIZATION IN SPECIAL CLINICAL CIRCUMSTANCES

American Indian/Alaska Native Children

Compared with children from other ethnic groups, American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) children historically have been at greater risk of acquiring certain vaccine-preventable diseases, such as hepatitis A and hepatitis B, Hib, and S pneumoniae infections, and being hospitalized for respiratory syncytial virus infection and other lower respiratory tract infections (LTRIs). Increased risk of acquiring vaccine-preventable diseases has been demonstrated among AI/AN children who live on reservations or in traditional rural villages. However, high incidences of hepatitis A and hepatitis B infections also have been demonstrated among urban AI/AN children, which may result from frequent visits to extended family members who reside in rural and reservation communities with crowded living conditions and lack of indoor plumbing. In addition, there may be some geographic differences in disease risk.

During the past decade, universal childhood immunization for hepatitis B and targeted immunization for hepatitis A in the United States have eliminated disease disparities for these pathogens in most AI/AN children, and significant decreases in disease have been demonstrated for Hib and S pneumoniae. Continued immunization is critical to maintaining this success and eliminating other disparities. Because of the difficulty in ascertaining disease risk as well as the high degree of mobility of the AI/AN population among reservations, rural villages, and urban settings, all physicians caring for AI/AN children should consider the following special immunization recommendations.

HEPATITIS A. Historically, hepatitis A incidence has been . . . [Go to Full Text]


Related text in Red Book:

Respiratory Syncytial Virus

Red Book 2006: 560-566. [Extract] [Full Version]  

Haemophilus influenzae Infections

Red Book 2006: 310-318. [Extract] [Full Version]