The American Academy of Pediatrics and the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices have approved new recommendations for the use of quadrivalent meningococcal conjugate vaccines in adolescents and in people who are at persistent high risk of meningococcal disease (Pediatrics. 2011;128:1213-1218).
The adolescent recommendations state:
- Adolescents should be routinely immunized at ages 11 through 12 years and given a booster dose at age 16 years
- Adolescents who received their first dose at ages 13 through 15 years should receive a booster dose at ages 16 through 18 years or up to five years after their first dose
- Adolescents do not need a booster dose if they receive their first dose of meningococcal conjugate vaccine at or after age 16 years
Those at increased risk for invasive meningococcal disease because of persistent complement component deficiency (aged 9 months through 54 years) or functional or anatomic asplenia (aged 2 to 54 years), and adolescents with HIV infection, should receive a two-dose primary series administered two months apart.
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Patients should receive a booster dose three years after the primary series if the primary two-dose series was given from ages 2 through 6, or a booster dose every five years if the two-dose series or booster dose was given at age 7 or older, or if they are at risk of meningococcal disease because of persistent complement component deficiency or functional or anatomic asplenia.
