For the first time since 2006, a complimentary print copy of the AAP Red Book will be available to eligible AAP members when the 2018 edition is released in May.
Every one of the 240 chapters in the 2018 Red Book: Report of the Committee on Infectious Diseases has been revised since the 2015 edition. In addition, three chapters have been added on Zika, chikungunya and coagulase-negative staphylococcal infection, and a number of chapters have been removed to maximize the applicability of the book to pediatricians’ daily work.
Now in its 31st edition, the Red Book has been the definitive source for the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of pediatric infectious diseases for 80 years.
Over 500 world experts from the fields of pediatrics, family practice and obstetrics and gynecology as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration provided key content to the 2018 edition, ensuring that it is the most comprehensive Red Book ever for busy pediatricians and pediatric subspecialists and pediatric surgical subspecialists.
The AAP Board of Directors and executive leadership decided in 2016 to provide a print copy of the 2018 Red Book to all active members as part of their member benefits (see resources). The decision was based on results of AAP Periodic Surveys conducted in 2013 and 2014, in which an overwhelming majority of AAP members expressed their preference for the print version. Members will continue to have access to Red Book Online at http://aapredbook.org and to the Red Book app.
Following are among the more important changes in the 2018 edition:
- liberalization of the use of doxycycline for short-treatment durations;
- an extension of the age range in which the AAP recommends initiation of HPV vaccination to include 9- and 10-year-olds; and
- a prohibition on administration of live-virus rotavirus vaccines to infants born to mothers who received biologic response modifiers during pregnancy.
The 2018 edition also includes the following revisions:
- The congenital syphilis management algorithm has been expanded to include the reverse-sequence testing that is being utilized increasingly in laboratories.
- Recommendations on return to school after diarrheal diseases have been harmonized between the AAP Managing Infectious Diseases in Child Care and Schools: A Quick Reference Guide, 4th Ed. (the Purple Book) and the relevant pathogen-specific chapters in Section 3 of the 2018 Red Book.
- The recommendation for return to school following group A streptococcal pharyngitis has been shortened from 24 hours to 12 hours following initiation of antimicrobial therapy.
- The chapter on internationally adopted, refugee and immigrant children has been reorganized to better delineate recommendations among these three populations.
- Recommendations have been added for use of a third dose of measles-mumps-rubella vaccine during mumps outbreaks.
- The recommended age for use of interferon gamma release assays for the diagnosis of tuberculosis has been lowered from 5 years to 2 years.
- Three options are offered for treatment of latent Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection, each of which is considered adequate depending on individual patients’ circumstances.
The 2018 Red Book is dedicated to two of the most influential leaders in pediatric infectious diseases ever to work with the Academy: Larry K. Pickering, M.D., FAAP, and Carol J. Baker, M.D., FAAP. As editor and associate editor, respectively, for five editions of the Red Book spanning 15 years, Drs. Pickering and Baker worked side-by-side to create editions that were used by pediatricians the world over. Their brilliance and compassion inspired all who contributed to those editions, which remain the standard by which all subsequent editions will be judged.
Dr. Kimberlin is editor of the 2018 AAP Red Book.
