This report summarizes estimates of health impact and cost-effectiveness of childhood immunizations that were created to assess the relative value of most of the clinical preventive services recommended by the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) and the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) for the general population. This ranking of clinical prevention priorities is guided by the National Commission on Prevention Priorities (NCPP).

The estimates in this report may not reflect current ACIP recommendations. Readers are advised to check for updated recommendations at https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/acip/.

Preventing disease, disability and death in children reaps great benefits. Routine childhood immunizations in the United States are “one of the most cost-effective prevention programs in public health.” The most recent comprehensive assessment shows that because of vaccination, American children born in 2009 will contract 20 million fewer cases of vaccine-preventable diseases and avoid 42,000 early deaths due to those same diseases during their lifetimes.

This report on childhood immunization includes all vaccines recommended for children from birth to 10 years, as well as influenza, which is recommended annually to age 18. The current Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommendation for childhood immunizations is shown in Table 1. All children are recommended to have the following vaccinations prior to reaching adulthood: Hepatitis B; Rotavirus; diphtheria, tetanus, and acellular pertussis (Dtap); Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib); Pneumoccocal conjugate (PCV 13); inactivated poliovirus (IPV); influenza; measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR); varicella; Hepatitis A (HPV); and meningococcal.