Issue Number
296
February 18, 2002
CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE
-
Revised! "Vaccinations for Adults: You're
Never Too Old to Get Shots!"
-
Updated! "Summary of Rules for Childhood
Immunization"
-
For low-literacy patients: Vaccine
Information Statements are available on video in
English and Spanish
-
CDC publishes article on U.S. measles cases
-
12th North American Syringe Exchange
Convention is set for April 24-27 in Albuquerque
-
First International Symposium on the
Evaluation of Safety of Human Vaccines Convenes
in May in Rome, Italy
----------------------------------------------------------
Back to Top
(1 of 6)
February 18, 2002
REVISED! "VACCINATIONS FOR ADULTS: YOU'RE NEVER TOO OLD TO
GET SHOTS!"
This patient handout is one of IAC's Top 15 educational
pieces (see IAC EXPRESS #295), and we have
just improved it. The old version of the chart
gave basic information for each of eight adult
vaccines--influenza, pneumococcal, Td,
hepatitis A, hepatitis B, MMR, varicella, and Lyme
disease--visually depicting the number of doses needed and
when.
We have now added meningococcal vaccine information to this
handout. Be sure to give copies of this
most complete, up-to-date version of "Vaccinations
for Adults: You're Never Too Old to Get Shots!" to
your patients.
To obtain "Vaccinations for Adults: You're Never Too Old to Get
Shots," go to:
HTML:
http://www.immunize.org/nslt.d/n18/p4030new.htm
PDF:
http://www.immunize.org/catg.d/p4030a.pdf
-----------------------------------------------------------
Back to Top
(2 of 6)
February 18, 2002
UPDATED! "SUMMARY OF RULES FOR CHILDHOOD IMMUNIZATION"
IAC has just published an interim update of this two-sided
table summarizing current rules for routine
vaccines of childhood. The interim update reflects
the recent change regarding the waiting period
between MMR (measles-mumps-rubella) or
rubella vaccine and pregnancy (see IAC EXPRESS #286).
Women now should be advised by their health care providers not
to become pregnant within 4 weeks following
an MMR or rubella vaccine injection. Previously,
women were advised to wait significantly
longer--3 months--to become pregnant following MMR
or rubella-only vaccination.
The "Summary of Rules for Childhood Immunization" will be
updated again in April.
To obtain a copy of the "Summary of Rules for Childhood
Immunization," go to:
HTML:
http://www.immunize.org/childrules
PDF: http://www.immunize.org/catg.d/rules1.pdf
To read "CDC publishes Notice: ACIP approves shorter
pregnancy wait after receipt of rubella-containing
vaccine" in IAC EXPRESS #286, go to:
http://www.immunize.org/genr.d/issue286.htm#n1
-----------------------------------------------------------
Back to Top
(3 of 6)
February 18, 2002
FOR LOW-LITERACY PATIENTS: VACCINE INFORMATION STATEMENTS
ARE AVAILABLE ON VIDEO IN ENGLISH AND
SPANISH
If you work with recent immigrants or other sometimes low-literacy
populations, you may find it frustrating to
provide vaccinees with copies of Vaccine Information
Statements (VISs) that they probably will
not be able to read.
Michigan State University now offers sets of videotapes
with narrations of VISs in either English or
Spanish so that people who do not read well
can learn about the vaccines they are receiving.
They can still take home a printed VIS.
When you are not sure if someone can read, it's nice to be
able to offer a choice of VIS medium. You
can say, for instance, "Some people prefer to get
information by listening to it rather than reading
it. If you want to
hear and watch someone present this VIS information, we also
have it on videotape."
The Spanish VIS videos include VISs for hepatitis B, DTaP,
Hib, PCV, IPV, MMR, and varicella vaccines.
The English set includes all of those plus Td
vaccine. There is one VIS per tape, and the
running time per VIS is generally 5 to 8
minutes.
The English and Spanish VIS videotape sets (8 and 7 tapes,
respectively) cost $25 each, including
shipping and handling. Allow up to 4 weeks for
delivery.
To order, send your check or money order payable to
Michigan State University, along with a note
indicating which language set you want, to
the address below:
Immunization Program
Michigan State University
B127 West Fee Hall
East Lansing, MI 48824
For more information, contact the Physician Peer Education
Project on Immunization office by phone at (517) 353-2596.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Back to Top
(4 of 6)
February 18, 2002
CDC PUBLISHES ARTICLE ON U.S. MEASLES CASES
On February 15, 2002, the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) published "Measles--United States, 2000"
in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). The
article discusses the record low number of cases of
measles in the United States in the year 2000 and analyzes
the nature and origin of those cases,
concluding in an article synopsis that "sustaining
high levels of immunization is key
to limiting spread of measles from imported cases and preventing
measles from becoming reestablished as an endemic
disease in the United States." In short, we need to keep
up the good routine vaccination work we are
doing here.
In 2000, according to the article, ten outbreaks (three or
more confirmed cases) of measles in nine
states accounted for 48 of the year's total of 86
cases of measles. A total of 20 states reported
cases. For half of the ten
outbreaks, an epidemiological link to an imported case was
found; 26 cases were internationally
imported, with 14 cases occurring in U.S.
residents who had traveled abroad and 12 in
visitors to the United States. Most of the
imported cases reported came from Japan, Korea, and
Ethiopia.
The Editorial Note to the article reads in part as
follows, excluding footnote references:
*******************************
Measles is still endemic in many countries and results in
approximately 800,000 deaths per year.
However, the reported incidence of measles in the
United States has been <1 case per million for the
past 4 years. The high percentage of cases
resulting from importations and very limited
indigenous spread from these imported cases also
has continued over the same period. . . .
Imported measles cases consistently test the level of
population immunity to measles in the United
States. The average of less than one
import-linked case following an international
importation suggests that the level of
population immunity is high, probably as a result of
successful vaccination efforts in the
United States. First-dose vaccination coverage
among pre-school children has been greater than or
equal to 90% for the past 4 years. Two
doses of measles vaccine are required for
school-aged children in 49 states.
*******************************
To obtain the complete text of the article online, go to:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5106a2.htm
To obtain a camera-ready (PDF format) copy of this issue
of MMWR, go to:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/wk/mm5106.pdf
HOW TO OBTAIN A FREE ELECTRONIC SUBSCRIPTION TO THE MMWR:
To obtain a free electronic subscription to the "Morbidity
and Mortality Weekly Report" (MMWR), visit
CDC's MMWR website at:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr
Select "Free MMWR Subscription" from the
menu at the left of the screen. Once you
have submitted the required information, weekly
issues of the MMWR and all new ACIP statements
(published as MMWR's "Recommendations and
Reports") will arrive
automatically by email.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Back to Top
(5 of 6)
February 18, 2002
12TH NORTH AMERICAN SYRINGE EXCHANGE CONVENTION IS SET FOR
APRIL 24-27 IN ALBUQUERQUE
The North American Syringe Exchange Network (NASEN)
presents the 12th North American Syringe
Exchange Convention on April 24-27 at the Sheraton
Albuquerque Uptown Hotel in Albuquerque, New
Mexico.
The theme of the convention is "Public Health for All Is
Justice Served." Throughout the three-day
event, information will be available on building a
syringe exchange program from scratch, recent
research data, and more. Paper
presentations and interactive sessions will take
place.
For hotel reservations, contact the Sheraton Uptown at
(505) 881-0000 by March 22. You can receive
a special room rate by referencing NASEN ($65 +
tax for a single, $85 + tax for a double room).
The convention fee is $150 before March 27 and $200
thereafter. Checks, money orders, or
governmental purchase orders should be made
payable to PDAP/NASEN. NASEN does not accept
credit card payments.
For more information about the convention or to request a
registration form, please contact NASEN by
phone at (253) 272-4857, fax at (253) 272-8415, or
email at
nasen@seanet.com
You can also visit http://www.nasen.org
or
http://www.harmreduction.org
To print an online registration form, go to:
http://www.nasen.org/nasecxii/nasnxii.htm
Send your registration form and payment to:
The North American Syringe Exchange Network
535 Dock Street #12
Tacoma, WA 98402
-----------------------------------------------------------
Back to Top
(6 of 6)
February 18, 2002
FIRST INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON THE EVALUATION OF SAFETY
OF HUMAN VACCINES CONVENES
IN MAY IN ROME,
ITALY
The First International Symposium on the Evaluation of
Safety of Human Vaccines will be held at the
Istituto Superiore di Sanita, Rome, Italy,
on May 22 and 23. The aim of the symposium is "to
examine and discuss
methodological problems in the assessment of the safety
profile of human vaccines."
The program will include presentations and discussions on
the rationale and state of the art of vaccine
safety assessment, the contribution and
methodological shortcomings of different study
designs such as trials,
post-marketing surveillance, case crossover, and
systematic reviews. Additional sessions will cover
ethical aspects, the role of editorial peer
review, and ongoing studies and initiatives in the
field of vaccine safety
evaluation.
Registration is free, but space is limited, so register
early in the "first-come, first-served" allotment.
For further information about the Symposium, contact Dr.
Daniela Pino by phone at +011-39-06-4990-2273, fax at
+39-06-4938-7292, or email at dpino@iss.it
|
