implementation, which will be presented to the entire committee at its October meeting. Combination vaccines that include IPV will enhance implementation by minimizing the number of injections needed. Until a new policy is developed and implemented, the ACIP reaffirms its current polio vaccination policy.

After a meeting of the ACIP on June 20, 1996, the CDC released a media advisory that read in part:

CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) today voted to change the recommendation for routine childhood polio vaccination. To decrease the occurrence of vaccine-associated paralytic polio, the committee's recommendation is that children in the United States receive two doses of inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) followed by two doses of oral polio vaccine (OPV). The ACIP continues to believe that both the four-dose schedule of OPV, currently routinely recommended, and the alternate four-dose schedule of IPV remain acceptable options for childhood immunization.

This recommendation follows a 2-year review by ACIP of the current policy, written in 1982. The CDC will now evaluate the recommendation. Until the CDC decides on the recommendation, CDC reaffirms the ACIP 's current polio vaccination policy that relies primarily on OPV for prevention of polio in the United States. Parents should be made aware of the polio vaccines available and the reasons why these recommendations are made. The benefits and risks of the vaccines for individuals and the community should be stated so that vaccination is carried out among persons who are fully informed.