Featured Policy

This clinical report presents an approach to addressing the needs of children with complex medical needs and their families in the home environment and supporting the transitions between hospital and home.

This policy statement outlines the American Academy of Pediatrics’ recommendations for respiratory syncytial virus immunization.

This policy statement updates the recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics for the use of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines in the prevention of severe COVID-19 in children.

Injury is the leading cause of death and a frequent cause of disability in children and negatively affects physical health, mental health, and quality of life in both the short- and long-term.

This report summarizes existing literature and provides readers with information on how to screen for symptoms of iatrogenic opioid withdrawal as well as mechanisms for opioid withdrawal prevention.

The AAP supports certification of immunization to attend child care and school. The AAP also supports medically indicated exemptions to specific immunizations. The AAP advocatesfor the elimination of nonmedical exemptions from immunizations as contrary to optimal individual and public health.

This statement updates the recommendations of the AAP for the use of influenza vaccines and antiviral medications in the prention and treatment of influenza in children during the 2025–2026 influenza season.

Nationally and globally, infants and children younger than 13 years have less access to optimal antiretroviral therapy compared with youth (13–24 years) and adults, which can negatively affect health outcomes for those with HIV.

This clinical report is intended to provide guidance for health care providers to help identify individual patients at high risk of developing serious sequelae and to enable intervention before complications develop.

This policy statement outlines major issues regarding public policy, medical education, research, and collaboration in the area of child labor and sex trafficking/exploitation and provides recommendations for future work.

An AAP clinical report that complements an earlier policy statement helps pediatricians maintain professional boundaries with their patients and families and focuses on social media, advocacy messaging and self-disclosure.

A new AAP clinical report observes that establishing an early genetic diagnosis of an intellectual disability or global developmental delay is critical because it can inform the type of treatments the child may need, reduce further unnecessary diagnostic testing and provide accurate recurrence risk in families interested in having additional children.

The AAP recommends pediatricians take a comprehensive approach to prescribing and counseling about contraception through offering evidence-based information and adolescent-centered support, according to an updated policy statement with accompanying clinical report. 

A new clinical report helps pediatricians explain urinary tract dilation to parents, including advice on monitoring the condition both prenatally and postnatally, and recommendations on timing of additional imaging tests; when to see a specialist; and the use of preventive antibiotics.

Children with medical conditions that result in having limited or no ability to speak or express themselves can benefit greatly from use of assisted technology. A new clinical report from the AAP focuses on the pediatrician's role in prescribing these devices. 

Recent studies show postnatal cord blood sampling (PCBS) can be used for many laboratory studies. PCBS can be performed for all neonatal intensive care unit admissions, early-onset sepsis evaluations, initial and follow-up genetic testing, and studies for infants with congenital anomalies and deaths that occur prior to or after delivery.

This updated AAP clinical report provides an evidence-based framework for managing hemodynamically significant patent ductus arteriosus in preterm infants that can lead to increased pulmonary blood flow and systemic hypoperfusion.

A new AAP technical report provides a comprehensive review of the evidence-based literature surrounding abusive head trauma, which can help pediatricians communicate scientific information to child welfare agencies, the courts and others.

The AAP urges primary care providers ask three questions to identify an infant with liver disease during the 2-4 week well-child visit, along with other recommendations in a new clinical report. Biliary atresia accounts for 60% of liver transplants in infants younger than 1 year and 30% of all liver transplants in pediatric patients. 

The AAP approved the 2025 schedule, which outlines recommended screenings and assessments for patients from birth to age 21. No changes have been made to clinical guidance or footnotes in the 2025 Recommendations for Preventive Pediatric Health Care (Periodicity Schedule).

Pediatricians and pediatric trainees in North America are increasingly involved in caring for children and adolescents in or from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). In many LMICs, toxic environmental exposures are highly prevalent and account for twice as great a proportion of disease and deaths among young children as in North America.

This report aims to review recent advances in the understanding of fracture specificity, fracture mechanisms, and other medical conditions that predispose infants and children to fracture. This clinical report will aid pediatricians and pediatric care providers in developing an evidence-based differential diagnosis and performing appropriate evaluations when assessing a child with fractures.