Pneumococcal immunization: policy development and implementation from the ACIP perspective.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) of the U.S. Public Health Service is responsible for making recommendations on the use of new vaccines and periodically revising those for established vaccines. Recommendations for pneumococcal vaccine were first issued in 1978 and revised in 1981. The changes which appear in the revision reflect the continuing maturation of the Committee's judgment on the vaccine and are a good example of the process by which the ACIP develops its recommendations on national immunization practices.