News and Media Resources:
Immunization Works! June 2005 issue
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Immunization Works Monthly Update is provided to national health care provider and consumer groups for distribution to their members and constituencies. The immunization information provided is non-proprietary and is encouraged to be widely disseminated and shared.
CDC Recommends Meningococcal Vaccine for Adolescents and College Freshmen
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now recommends routine vaccination of children 11-12 years old, previously unvaccinated adolescents at high school entry, and college freshmen living in dormitories with the newly licensed meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MCV4). The new recommendation is designed to help achieve vaccination among those at highest risk for meningococcal disease. As the vaccine supply increases, CDC hopes, within three years, to recommend routine vaccination of all adolescents beginning at 11 years of age.
Meningococcal disease strikes up to 3,000 Americans, killing 300 people every year. Ten to 12 percent of people with meningococcal disease die, and among survivors, up to 15 percent may suffer long-term permanent disabilities including hearing loss, limb amputation or brain damage. The disease often begins with symptoms that can be mistaken for common illnesses, such as the flu. However, meningococcal disease is particularly dangerous because it progresses rapidly and can kill within hours.
This new vaccine should offer longer protection than previous vaccines, is a single shot, and the most common reaction is a sore arm. However, it does not protect people against meningococcal disease caused by serogroup B bacteria. This serogroup of bacteria causes one-third of meningococcal cases in the United States. More than half of the cases among infants under the age of 1 year are caused by type B, for which no vaccine is licensed or available in the United States.
The new meningococcal vaccine was licensed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on January 14, 2005 for use in people 11-55 years of age. It is manufactured by Sanofi Pasteur and is marketed as Menactra™. For more information on meningococcal disease, visit www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/meningococcal_g.htm
Other Immunization News
FDA Approves a New Combination Vaccine to Help Protect Adolescents and Adults against Whooping Cough
On June 10th, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a new vaccine for a single booster immunization against pertussis (whooping cough), in combination with tetanus and diphtheria, for adolescents and adults 11-64 years of age. The vaccine will be marketed as Adacel by Aventis Pasteur Limited located in Toronto, Canada. Adacel is the first vaccine approved as a pertussis booster for adults. Vaccines for prevention of tetanus and diphtheria (Td vaccine) in adolescents and adults have been available for many years. Recently, FDA approved a similar vaccine called Boostrix, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline, for use in adolescents 10-18 years of age. Since 1980, the rates of reported pertussis cases have been increasing in adolescents and adults, as well as in young infants. Adolescents and adults have been implicated as the source of pertussis infection for susceptible young infants, and other family members. To view the FDA’s press release, visit www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/ANSWERS/2005/ANS01361.html
Meetings, Conferences, and Resources
Track Status of New Vaccines
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recently announced the development of a new resource for tracking the status of licensure and recommendations of new vaccines. “Red Book® Online Table – NEW
Status of Licensure and Recommendations for New Vaccines” is part of AAP’s Red Book Online, a compendium of information on childhood infectious diseases. To access this web page, which will be updated as changes occur, visit
http://aapredbook.aappublications.org/news/vaccstatus.shtml
Promote Healthcare Workers Vaccination
Two free new resources are now available on CDC’s website to promote the vaccination of healthcare workers: an 8 ½ by 11 in. flyer and a 16 by 24 in. poster. Both pieces were developed with the input from sixty-five healthcare workers across the country. They can be printed in black and white, or color, and can be found at www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/default.htm#healthcare
Buy “Yellow Book” Everywhere
For the first time ever, CDC’s newest edition of its travel health book, known as the “Yellow Book”, is available at bookstores nationwide and through online booksellers. The “Yellow Book” is named for its traditionally yellow cover and is officially titled Health Information for International Travel. Intended for medical professionals and travelers, the 2005-2006 edition is now available at bookstores, through Internet book sellers or by contacting Elsevier Book Order Fulfillment at 1-800-545-2522 or online at www.us.elsevierhealth.com. A companion web site that lets travelers look up specific information by travel destination and view or print custom reports based on individual travel plans is also available at wwwn.cdc.gov/travel/contentYellowBook.aspx
ACIP Meeting to be Held June 29-30th
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) will hold its next meeting June 29-30, 2005 at the Marriott Century Center Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia. Agenda topics include informational updates and discussion on a variety of topics including vaccine recommendations for Tdap, hepatitis A and B, varicella, human papillomavirus (HPV), influenza and rotavirus. Votes will be taken on new ACIP recommendations. The meeting is open to the general public. For more information please visit www.cdc.gov/vaccines/recs/acip/
Lunch NetConference on July 14th
NIP will host the next lunch netconference, Current Issues in Immunization on July 14, 2005. Quarterly netconferences are live, 1-hour presentations combining an online visual presentation with simultaneous audio via telephone conference call. Participants can interact with the presenters through a live question and answer segment at the end of the program. Each netconference focuses on one or two late-breaking issues in immunization. The next installment will include a discussion of new varicella vaccine recommendations and the new acellular pertussis vaccine. To learn more and reserve a space, visit www.cdc.gov/vaccines/ed/netconferences.htm
New Satellite Broadcast on July 28th
Please mark your calendar for NIP’s new satellite broadcast, Immunization Update 2005, to be held on July 28, 2005. The broadcast will cover new recommendations for influenza vaccine and an update of the influenza vaccine supply, meningococcal conjugate vaccine, acellular pertussis vaccine for adolescents, and revised varicella vaccine recommendations. The 2.5-hour broadcast will occur live on July 28th from 9:00 am to 11:30 am and will be re-broadcast that day from 12:00 noon to 2:30 pm. Both broadcasts will feature a live question-and-answer session in which participants nationwide can interact with the course instructors via toll-free telephone lines. The program will also be available as a live webcast which can be accessed through the internet. For more information, visit www.phppo.cdc.gov/phtn/immup2005/default.asp
South Carolina and California to Host Upcoming Training
Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases training. The training will be offered in Charleston on August 17-18, 2005; in Sacramento on November 14-15, 2005; and in Torrance on November 17-18, 2005. For more information about the South Carolina training, please contact Susan A. Smith at (803) 898-0869 or smithsl@dhec.sc.gov. For more information about the California trainings, please contact Myan Nguyen at (510) 540-2065 or mnguyen2@dhs.ca.gov.
Job Openings within the National Immunization Program
NIP is committed to recruiting and hiring qualified candidates for a wide range of positions. Researchers, Medical Officers and Epidemiologists as well as other specialties are often needed to fill positions within NIP. Interested parties are encouraged to apply for these positions. For a current listing of positions available at NIP, please visit www.cdc.gov/hrmo/hrmo.htm
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Content last reviewed on May 20, 2005
Content Source: National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases
