ACHA Releases Updated Guidelines on Immunizations and TB Assessment and Management

The American College Health Association (ACHA) recently updated its immunization and tuberculosis (TB) guidelines for college and university students, reflecting current public health practices and the evolving needs of campus communities. The new recommendations aim to support institutions in protecting student health through clearer, more comprehensive guidance.

Immunization Recommendations: Streamlined and Updated Content

The revised Immunization Recommendations for College Students includes important updates to vaccine schedules and dosing, ensuring alignment with current CDC guidance.

Key changes include:

• Updates to vaccine formularies and dosing timing
• Addition of footnotes and citations for greater clarity and reference
• Integration of the Overview and Guidance sections for health science students into a single, streamlined section (Appendix A)

These updates are designed to help campus health services promote vaccine compliance, improve documentation practices, and better protect students from preventable diseases.

Tuberculosis (TB) Risk Assessment and Management: Expanded Scope and Clarified Approach

The updated Tuberculosis Screening and Targeted Testing of College and University Students, now under a revised title, reflects an expanded scope that goes beyond screening and testing. The new edition is reorganized to provide a logical progression from screening to diagnostic testing, case management, and patient support. It also includes guidance for managing active TB disease, conducting exposure and contact investigations, and enhancing patient education.

While the general information, screening questionnaire, and country list remain unchanged, the guideline now includes a detailed explanation of how the country list was developed. Notably, there were no changes to the country list (Appendices 1 and 2) in this year’s update. This expansion comes as colleges and universities report a rise in TB cases, aligning with a broader national trend of increasing TB incidence.

ACHA also updated its FAQs on TB Risk Assessment and Management, a companion to the TB Guidelines. The April 2025 version of the FAQs mirrors the new organization of the Guideline. This revision also reflects the same terminology of “inactive TB infection” and “active TB disease” now used in the TB Guideline.

Thank you to the members of the ACHA TB Workgroup who provided these updates and revisions.