News and Media Resources:
Immunization Works! July 2008 issue
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) 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.
Front Page News
Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices June Meeting: The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) met in Atlanta, June 25-26. During the meeting, ACIP recommended several new vaccines and heard reports on various immunization issues. Major actions included:
Recommendation of Combination Vaccines: Two new combination vaccines have been recommended for routine use. The two vaccines have the potential to reduce the number of injections a child might receive during the course of the routine immunization series.
Pentacel (sanofi Pasteur) vaccine contains 5 vaccines to protect against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, poliomyelitis, and invasive disease due to Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib). The vaccine is indicated for the first four doses of the components in the vaccine at ages 2, 4 and 6 months and a 15-18 months booster as a primary series. It was licensed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on June 20, 2008.
KINRIX (GSK) vaccine contains 4 vaccines to protect against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis and poliomyelitis. The vaccine is indicated for the booster dose at age 4 through 6 years following a primary series using Pediarix (DtaP-IPV-HepB) or individual component vaccines. It was licensed by the FDA on June 24, 2008,
The ACIP voted to include both of these combination vaccines the Vaccines for Children program.
Recommendation of a second Rotavirus Vaccine: ACIP voted to recommend a second rotavirus vaccine, GSK’s infant rotavirus vaccine (Rotavrix) for use in routine childhood immunization. In February 2006, Merck’s RotaTeq, was recommended for routine use in infants by the ACIP. The two rotavirus vaccines differ in composition and schedule. The ACIP does not express a preference for either vaccine when providers vaccinate their patients. Both rotavirus vaccine series should be initiated in infants between ages 6-14 weeks, and should not be initiated in infants aged 15 weeks or older. The minimum interval between doses is 4 weeks. All doses should be given by age 8 months.
Influenza Update: ACIP members were presented with an update on influenza. It was reported that the 2007-2008 influenza season was a more severe season than had been observed since 2003-2004; there was an unexpected emergence of oseltamivir-resistant influenza A (H1N1) strains; and there was relatively poor match between the vaccine and circulating flu virus strains. However, despite a suboptimal match between two of the three vaccine strains in 2007-2008 vaccine, vaccine effectiveness was 44 percent effective.
There will be an expansion of children recommended for influenza vaccination during the 2008-2009 influenza season. Children five years of age through 18 years of age should be vaccinated, if feasible, against influenza beginning in 2008. Children six months of age to five years of age are already recommended for vaccination.
The six influenza manufacturers project about 150 million doses of vaccine will be available for the 2008-2009 influenza season. There will be an estimated 50 million doses of thimerosal- or preservative-free influenza vaccine available.
Other News & Summaries
Immunization Scheduler Makes it Simple for Parents and Providers to Catch-up on Kids’ Immunizations: To assist parents and providers in the task of deciding the best strategy for getting a child back on track after not getting some or all vaccines at the recommended ages, CDC has released a cutting-edge web-based Catch-up immunization Scheduler. The Scheduler is a downloadable, easy-to-use tool to quickly find out what vaccines are needed and when to give them to bring children up-to-date according to the currently recommended schedule. The Catch-up Immunization Scheduler is now available for download from the CDC website at www.cdc.gov/vaccines/scheduler/catchup.htm.
Once the user has downloaded and entered information such as the child’s birthday and the vaccines the child has already received, the scheduler immediately provides a printable schedule. There are two options. You can select the “routine” schedule option that aims to keep dates for needed vaccinations as close the recommended ages as possible, or you can select the “accelerated” schedule option in which doses are scheduled as soon as possible according to current recommendations.
Meetings, Conferences & Resources
Perinatal Hepatitis B Prevention Training Series: A four-part netconference training series entitled "Essentials of Perinatal Hepatitis B Prevention: A Training Series for Coordinators and Case Managers 2008" was designed for perinatal hepatitis B prevention coordinators and case workers in state and local health departments. The archived versions of these sessions are now available and provide guidance to successfully manager, implement and evaluate a prenatal hepatitis B prevention program. The content is drawn from CDC-developed guidelines and resources, such as ACIP immunization strategy to eliminate hepatitis B virus infection in the United States, the perinatal hepatitis B prevention program manual, and the immunization program operations manual. Continuing Education (CE) credits are available.
Just Released: Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases 2008: This four-part self-study series provides the most current information available in the constantly changing field of immunization. Together, the four sessions offer a comprehensive overview on immunization today. Session ONE discusses principles and general recommendations on vaccination. Sessions TWO, THREE and FOUR discuss specific vaccine-preventable diseases and their respective vaccines. Each of the four sessions is three hours in duration. Continuing Education credits will be provided. This Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases self-study program is offered free of charge in DVD and web-on-demand formats.
Pink Book, New Printing: The second printing of the 10th Edition of CDC’s immunization textbook, Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases, “The Pink Book,” has been completed and is now available online. “The Pink Book” provides comprehensive information about routinely recommended vaccines, vaccine-preventable diseases and much more. A hard copy of the “Pink Book” can be purchased for $35 by contacting www.bookstore.phf.org (exit).
CDC Training Opportunities: Through established programs, CDC offers many unique training opportunities in infectious disease, including international opportunities. For a current listing of CDC training opportunities, please visit the CDC Public Health Training website.
CDC Job Openings: CDC is committed to recruiting and hiring qualified candidates for a wide range of immunization positions. Researchers, Medical Officers and Epidemiologists and other specialties are often needed to fill positions within CDC. For a current listing of positions available at CDC, including international opportunities, please visit the CDC Employment website.
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Content last reviewed on July 21, 2008
Content Source: National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases
