Vaccine Recommendations for Infants & Children

Vaccinating children for travel requires careful evaluation. Whenever possible, children should complete the routine immunizations of childhood on a normal schedule. However, travel at an earlier age may require accelerated schedules. Not all travel-related vaccines are effective in infants, and some are specifically contraindicated.

The recommended childhood and adolescent immunization schedule is available at www.cdc.gov/vaccines/schedules/hcp/imz/child-adolescent.html. The catch-up schedule for children and adolescents who start their vaccination schedule late or who are >1 month behind can be accessed at www.cdc.gov/vaccines/schedules/hcp/imz/catchup.html. These tables also describe the recommended minimum intervals between doses for children who need to be vaccinated on an accelerated schedule, which may be necessary before international travel.Country-specific vaccination recommendations and requirements for departure and entry vary over time. For example, proof of yellow fever vaccination is required for entry into certain countries. Meningococcal vaccination is required for travelers entering Saudi Arabia for the annual Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages. The World Health Organization issued temporary vaccination recommendations for residents of and long-term visitors to countries with active circulation of wild or vaccine-derived poliovirus. Clinicians should check the CDC website for up-to-date requirements and recommendations (www.cdc.gov/travel).

Additional information about diseases and routine vaccination is available in the disease-specific sections in Chapter 4. Interactive tools for determining routine and catch-up childhood vaccination are available at www.cdc.gov/vaccines/schedules/hcp/child-adolescent.html.