For more than 85 years health care professionals have “referred to the Red Book” for trustworthy guidance on pediatric infectious disease prevention, management, and control.

The new 33rd edition continues this tradition of distinction with the latest clinical guidance on the manifestations, etiology, epidemiology, diagnosis, and treatment of more than 200 childhood infectious diseases.

Find the latest information about vaccines, emerging novel diseases, diagnostic modalities, and treatment recommendations from the combined expertise of the CDC, the FDA, the NIH, and hundreds of physician contributors.

Red Book guidance spans far beyond the pediatric practice to include family medicine, emergency medicine, public health, school health, and other medical specialties.

New in the 2024 Red Book

• All chapters were assessed for relevance in the dynamic environment that is the practice of pediatric medicine today, and every chapter has been modified since the last edition.


• The chapter Discussing Vaccines With Patients and Parents has been significantly revised.


• Two new chapters on COVID-19 and Mpox have been added.


• Greatly expanded tables, figures, and algorithms enable quick access to essential information.


• The System-Based Treatment Table has been moved to the beginning of the book and has been reordered so that the grouped recommendations by body system are more easily and quickly accessed.


• Standardized approaches to disease prevention through immunizations, antimicrobial prophylaxis, and infection-control practices have been updated throughout the Red Book.


• Reference to evidence-based policy recommendations have been updated throughout the Red Book.


• Appropriate chapters throughout the Red Book have been updated to be consistent with 2024 AAP and CDC vaccine recommendations, CDC recommendations for immunization of health care personnel, and drug recommendations from 2024 Nelson’s Pediatric Antimicrobial Therapy.


• The Breastfeeding and Human Milk chapter was updated to align with information in the 2022 AAP policy statement on breastfeeding.


• The listing of Codes for Commonly Administered Pediatric Vaccines, Toxoids, and Immune Globulins has been expanded.