Corrections Page

All of us at the Immunization Action Coalition (IAC) work tirelessly to ensure the accuracy of the information we make available.  As part of this effort, we have created this "Corrections Page" to serve as the central location for all important changes to items we have published in our two print publications, Needle Tips and the Hepatitis B Coalition News and Vaccinate Adults!, as well as in IAC Express, our Internet news and announcement service, and on this website, www.immunize.org

Our procedure will be to publish in IAC Express notices of corrections to our publications and to present them chronologically on the "Corrections Page."

We welcome your "eagle-eyed" oversight of the content of our publications.  If you believe you have found an error, please notify us as soon as possible so that we may evaluate the item immediately and determine the need for a formal "correction."

On this "Corrections Page" you will find only "serious" corrections, for example, those that misrepresent fact and/or could result in clinical errors. Though we are also concerned about correcting administrative information such as contact names and phone numbers presented in our publications, these types of revisions will probably not appear on the "Corrections Page." Whether an error is big or small, we always want to know whenever you spot one.

To ensure that everyone receives the most up-to-date information, we ask that you encourage your colleagues and anyone else who might receive IAC publications to sign up for IAC Express. Once they have subscribed, they will begin to receive any notices of corrections to Coalition publications as soon as these changes are made available. To subscribe, go to www.immunize.org/subscribe

With your help, we will continue to provide you with the most accurate information possible.

Deborah L. Wexler, MD
Executive Director

The March 2008 issue of the IAC periodical Needle Tips included an Ask the Experts Q&A concerning a dosing error in which an adult patient was mistakenly given a pediatric dose of hepatitis A vaccine. IAC has received some questions asking for clarification of the answer. Here is the corrected Q&A:

THE QUESTION READS:
Q: One of our staff gave a dose of pediatric hepatitis A vaccine to an adult patient by mistake. How do we remedy this error?

THE REVISED ANSWER:
A: If less than a full age-appropriate dose of any vaccine is given, the dose should not be counted. The person should be revaccinated with the appropriate dose as soon as possible.

To access a ready-to-print (pdf) version of the corrected "Ask the Experts" article in the March 2008 issue of Needle Tips, go to: www.immunize.org/nslt.d/n38/experts38.pdf

To access it in the March 2008 issue of Needle Tips, go to: www.immunize.org/nslt.d/n38/n38.pdf

The October 2007 issue of the IAC periodical Needle Tips included an Ask the Experts Q&A, written by CDC's Dr. William Atkinson and Dr. Andrew Kroger, about which children need two doses of influenza vaccine the first year they receive the vaccine. IAC has received some questions asking for clarification of the answer. Here is the corrected Q&A:

THE QUESTION READS:
Q: Which children need two doses of influenza vaccine this season?

THE REVISED ANSWER:
A: Children age eight years and younger who are receiving influenza vaccine (TIV or LAIV) for the first time should receive two vaccine doses given with a minimum interval of four weeks. If the child fails to get the second dose during that season, he should be given two doses in the next influenza vaccination season. If he fails to receive those two doses, he should only get one dose per year from that point on.

IAC regrets the confusion the initial Q&A may have caused Needle Tips readers.

In the May 2005 issues of the IAC print publications Needle Tips and Vaccinate Adults, IAC inadvertently passed along misinformation about the amount the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) reimburses physicians for administering influenza vaccinations. In the article "Vaccine Highlights," we stated the following: "For example, payments for administering injectable influenza vaccine increased from $8 to $18."

This information, which we picked up from a CMS press release dated November 3, 2004, is somewhat misleading. The correct information is that the AVERAGE payment for administering injectable influenza vaccine increased from $8 to $18. We have corrected the online version of the "Vaccine Highlights" article. The sentence now reads, "For example, the average payment for administering injectable influenza vaccine increased from $8 to $18."

To access a ready-to-print (pdf) version of the corrected "Vaccine Highlights" article in the May 2005 issue of Needle Tips, go to: www.immunize.org/nslt.d/n32/n32.pdf

To access it in the May 2005 issue of Vaccinate Adults, go to: www.immunize.org/va/va15.pdf

To obtain the complete text of the corrected version of "Vaccines and Autism," go to: www.immunize.org/catg.d/p2065.htm

For a camera-ready (PDF format) copy of the corrected version of "Vaccines and Autism," go to: www.immunize.org/catg.d/p2065.pdf
  

"ASK THE EXPERTS" CORRECTION

In the fall/winter 1999-2000 issue of Needle Tips and the Hepatitis B Coalition News, there is incorrect information in the answer to an "Ask the Experts" question appearing under "General Questions" on page 15. The answer provided by Dr. William Atkinson, medical epidemiologist at the National Immunization Program, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was incorrect about the components of the pentavalent vaccine for infants in use in Canada. Dr. Atkinson reported that the combination vaccine used in Canada contains whole cell pertussis vaccine when, in fact, it does not. The revised answer which follows should be substituted for the original answer that appeared in Needle Tips.

THE QUESTION READS:
"I've heard there is a pentavalent vaccine for infants in use in Canada. When will a pentavalent vaccine be available in the U.S.?"

THE REVISED ANSWER:
"The Canadian vaccine (PENTACEL distributed by Pasteur Mérieux Connaught, Canada) is a combination of acellular pertussis, diphtheria, and tetanus toxoids, Hib and inactivated polio vaccines. In the United States, trials of new combination vaccines are in progress and some of these may be licensed in the future. SmithKline Beecham has recently applied to the Food and Drug Administration for approval of a new DTaP-IPV-Hep B combination vaccine."

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:
The current pentavalent vaccine used for primary immunization of infants in all Canadian provinces and territories is a combination of acellular pertussis, diphtheria and tetanus toxoids, and Hib and inactivated polio vaccines (PENTACEL distributed by Pasteur Mérieux Connaught, Canada). PENTACEL was licensed in May 1997 and first introduced into the infant vaccination schedule by some jurisdictions in July 1997, and fully incorporated into the infant schedule by all provinces and territories by April 1998. The pentavalent vaccine which contained whole cell pertussis vaccine is no longer distributed in Canada.

To obtain the Web version of "Ask the Experts" that appeared in the fall/winter 1999-2000 issue of Needle Tips, go to: www.immunize.org/nslt.d/backissu.htm