National Infant Immunization Week to be held April 21–28; many resources now available as you plan your events
National Infant Immunization Week (NIIW), which occurs April 21–28, will be the perfect time to highlight the important role vaccines play in protecting children and communities from serious diseases. If you are looking for ways to promote infant immunization this NIIW, you can:
- Access NIIW promotional materials and use the NIIW Digital Toolkit (coming soon)
- Use the hashtag #ivax2protect throughout the week and during the NIIW Twitter Storm (date and time will be announced soon); use #ivax2protect to share why you support immunizations or to call others to action, encouraging others to share why they vaccinated on time
Child care professionals, pediatric office staff, and health care providers all have an important role to play in helping parents choose vaccines for their children. This NIIW, build and support a culture of immunization within your organization or practice. Visit the Provider Resources page for resources, including two customizable slide decks, found when you scroll toward the bottom of the page. Share them with your colleagues, staff, or volunteers.
Please visit CDC's NIIW website to find promotional and educational materials to help you plan your NIIW activities.
CDC would like to hear from organizations planning a 2018 NIIW activity. Please complete the NIIW Activity Form so others can learn what you're doing to educate and inspire parents and providers to protect infants and toddlers from vaccine-preventable diseases. If you're looking for ideas, you can access guidance on CDC's Planning Your NIIW web page.
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CDC to host "Current Issues in Immunization NetConference” on March 21, with updates on the 2018 child/adolescent and adult immunization schedules and herpes zoster vaccines
CDC will present a one-hour Current Issues in Immunization NetConference on March 21 at 12:00 p.m. (ET). The speakers will provide an update on the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommendations for the 2018 immunization schedules and will also discuss herpes zoster vaccines.The NetConference will be moderated by Andrew Kroger, MD, MPH, medical officer, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, CDC.
This is a limited registration event. Registration is required.
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IAC Spotlight! IAC's “Scheduling Vaccines” web page in the Clinic Tools web section contains a wide variety of valuable educational materials, tools, and partner resources for your practice
Recently updated, IAC's Clinic Tools: Scheduling Vaccines web page on immunize.org contains numerous resources from IAC and IAC partners. This web page can be found by selecting the "Clinic Tools" tab (third from the left) in the light gray banner across the top of every immunize.org web page and then selecting "Scheduling Vaccines" in the drop-down menu.
In the left-hand column of the page you will find a wide variety of IAC's educational materials related to scheduling vaccines. Among these resources are handouts for health professionals and their patients, all vaccine recommendation materials, schedules for patients, vaccine information statements, "Ask the Experts" Q&As on scheduling vaccinations, and other helpful IAC tools. In the right-hand column you will find resources from CDC and the Department of Health and Human Services related to scheduling vaccines.
Visit the Clinic Tools: Scheduling Vaccines web page on immunize.org.
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New! IAC posts "Why Adult Immunization Matters" slide set
IAC has recently posted its new slide set, Why Adult Immunization Matters. This 36-slide set provides key information on the following topics: 1) CDC-recommended adult vaccines, 2) the burden of U.S. adult vaccine-preventable disease, 3) vaccine effectiveness in adults, 4) adult immunization coverage rates, and 5) ramifications of failing to vaccinate. With multi-color tables and images as well as links to additional resources, this slide set is a valuable tool for explaining why increasing the adult immunization rate is vital.
This slide set is now available for viewing in PDF format on the PowerPoint Slide Sets web page of immunize.org.
To obtain this PowerPoint slide set, click on "Request the PowerPoint slide set" below the presentation's title and description on the PowerPoint Slide Sets web page, and IAC will email the PowerPoint presentation to you. Once you have the presentation, you can edit and use it as you see fit.
Additional PowerPoint slide sets are also available on the PowerPoint Slide Sets web page.
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IAC's new 142-page book, Vaccinating Adults: A Step-by-Step Guide, describes how to implement adult vaccination services in your healthcare setting and provides a review for staff who already vaccinate adults; IAC Guide available for free download
The Immunization Action Coalition (IAC) recently announced the publication of its new book, Vaccinating Adults: A Step-by-Step Guide (Guide).
This completely updated guide on adult immunization (originally published in 2004) provides easy-to-use, practical information covering important “how-to” activities to help providers enhance their existing adult immunization services or introduce them into any clinical setting, including:
- setting up for vaccination services,
- storing and handling vaccines,
- deciding which people should receive which vaccines,
- administering vaccines,
- documenting vaccinations (including legal issues), and
- understanding financial considerations and billing information.
In addition, the Guide is filled with hundreds of web addresses and references to help providers stay up to date on the latest immunization information, both now and in the future.
The entire Guide is available to download/print free of charge at www.immunize.org/guide. The downloaded version is suitable for double-sided printing. Options are available online to download the entire book or selected chapters. The development of the Guide was supported by the National Vaccine Program Office (NVPO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Expert staff from both agencies also provided early technical review of the content.
The Guide is a uniquely valuable resource to assist providers in increasing adult immunization rates. Be sure to get a copy today!
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IAC HANDOUTS
IAC updates "Guide to Contraindications and Precautions to Commonly Used Vaccines in Adults" and "Guide
to Contraindications and Precautions to Commonly Used Vaccines"
IAC recently revised Guide to Contraindications and Precautions to Commonly Used Vaccines in Adults as well as Guide to Contraindications and Precautions to Commonly Used Vaccines. Changes in both were made to insert 1) a family history of immunodeficiency in first-degree relatives as a contraindication for both MMR and varicella vaccines, 2) a family history of seizures as a precaution for MMRV, and 3) the new recombinant zoster vaccine (RZV) into the guide.
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IAC's Handouts for Patients & Staff web section offers healthcare professionals and the public more than 250 FREE English-language handouts (many also available in translation), which we encourage website users to print out, copy, and distribute widely.
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OFFICIAL RELEASES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
CDC posts travel alert about Brazil during its current yellow fever outbreak
CDC has recently posted a travel alert about Brazil because of the large, ongoing outbreak of yellow fever in multiples states of Brazil. The outbreak, which was reported in early 2017, has led to the death in 2018 of a number of unvaccinated travelers to Brazil who had not been vaccinated.
Find additional information on other vaccines and precautions for travelers to Brazil on CDC's Health Information for Travelers to Brazil, Traveler View web page.
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JOURNAL ARTICLES AND NEWSLETTERS
March issue of Academic Pediatrics features supplement with 19 articles reviewing past ten years of HPV vaccination
The March issue of Academic Pediatrics features a supplement titled Raising Human Papillomavirus Vaccination Rates, with 19 articles reviewing the past ten years of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination and disease in the United States. The articles include an executive summary, several overviews of the topic as a whole, and articles and commentaries from the perspective of parents, providers, and health systems. Every article can be accessed in HTML and PDF formats.
View the table of contents of the March supplement issue of Academic Pediatrics to access all the articles.
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JAMA publishes study finding that a healthcare professional communication intervention led to significant increase in HPV vaccination among adolescent patients
On March 5, JAMA published a study, Effect of a Health Care Professional Communication Training Intervention on Adolescent Human Papillomavirus Vaccination: A Cluster Randomized Clinical Trial, by A.F. Dempsey, MD, PhD, MPH, et al., finding that a five-component healthcare professional communication intervention led to a significant increase in HPV vaccination among adolescent patients. The article's "Key Points" are reprinted below:
Question
Does implementation of an intervention to improve primary care professionals’ human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine communication lead to increases in adolescent human papillomavirus vaccination?
Finding
Among 43,132 patients at 16 practices participating in this cluster randomized clinical trial, a 5-component intervention significantly increased HPV vaccine series initiation, stopped decline of completion, and was effective for both boys and girls. Two specific intervention components, communication training and customized HPV fact sheets, were the most used and useful based on health care professionals’ report.
Meaning
Disseminating this intervention widely among primary care professionals could substantially increase national adolescent HPV vaccination levels, particularly among boys.
View the key points, abstract, and full article.
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EDUCATION AND TRAINING
National AHEC’s HPV Immunization Project offers webinar on HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancer on April 25
The National Area Health Education Center (AHEC) Organization Immunization Project will be offering
a webinar on HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancer on April 25 at 12:00 p.m. (ET). The presenters are Jonas Johnson, MD, professor and chair of the Department of Otolaryngology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and UPMC; Marci Nilsen, PhD, RN, assistant professor, University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing; and Lynne Williams, MD, PhD, executive director of Southwest Pennsylvania Area Health Education Center and physician at Hilltop Community Health Center.
The presenters will discuss the epidemiology, prevalence, and treatment of oropharyngeal cancer; patient-reported outcomes reflecting treatment-related toxicities; and the safety, efficacy, and importance of the HPV vaccine for preventing cancer.
View the event information.
Register for the webinar.
