Issue Number
298
February 25, 2002
CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE
- JAMA publishes
5-year study of impact of varicella vaccine
- CDC reports on cases
of laboratory-acquired meningococcal disease
- Earn continuing
education credit for reading new article on
VAERS online
- Revised translation!
"Immunization for Babies" in Spanish
- Immunization in
long-term care facilities: New report covers
state-by-state rules
- CDC publishes Notice
to Readers on evaluation of anthrax vaccination
of pregnant women
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February 25, 2002
JAMA PUBLISHES 5-YEAR STUDY OF IMPACT OF VARICELLA VACCINE
"Varicella Disease After Introduction of Varicella Vaccine
in the United States, 1995-2000" was
published in the February 6, 2002, issue of JAMA
(Journal of the American Medical Association; vol.
287, no. 5). The report summarizes results
of active surveillance in three communities from
January 1, 1995 through December 31, 2000
and examines the relationship between varicella disease in
children, adolescents, and adults and
varicella vaccine uptake in children aged 19-35
months. According to the article, national
varicella vaccine coverage among young children in
2000 reached 67.8 percent; the goal of 90
percent is supported by this study's finding that higher
vaccine coverage rates appear to be linked
to lower disease rates in communities.
The Comment section begins: "Four years after
implementation of the varicella vaccination program in
the United States, data from active
surveillance areas showed dramatic evidence of
vaccine impact with a marked decline
in reported cases in all age groups. The decline in
disease was greatest among preschool
children; however, declines occurred in every age
group including infants and adults,
indicating reduced transmission of varicella
zoster virus in these communities." A decline in "severe
consequences of varicella," including hospitalizations, is
also noted.
The authors of the article are Jane F. Seward, M.B.B.S.,
M.P.H., Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention; Barbara M. Watson, M.B.Ch.B.,
Philadelphia Department of Public Health; Carol L.
Peterson, M.D., M.P.H., and Laurene Mascola,
M.D., M.P.H., Los Angeles County Department of
Health Services; Jan W. Pelosi, M.P.H.,
Texas Department of Health; and seven others. Surveillance
areas were Antelope Valley, California; Travis County,
Texas; and West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
To see the Abstract of this article, go to:
http://jama.ama-assn.org/issues/v287n5/abs/joc10385.html
The entire article is available online at no charge only
to registered users or subscribers to JAMA. To
order the article online on a Pay Per View
basis ($9.00 fee), go to:
https://secure.edoc.com/PPV2.html
To order individual reprints, call the JAMA reprint
department at (312) 464-4594 or contact one of the
independent reprint vendors listed at:
http://pubs.ama-assn.org/docdelivery.html
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February 25, 2002
CDC REPORTS ON CASES OF LABORATORY-ACQUIRED MENINGOCOCCAL
DISEASE
On February 22, 2002, the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) published "Laboratory-
cquired Meningococcal Disease--United States,
2000" in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report
(MMWR). Sixteen cases of probable
laboratory-acquired meningococcal disease were
detected. In 15 of the 16 cases, according
to the report, "the laboratory reportedly did not
perform procedures within a
biosafety cabinet."
The Editorial Note to the article reads in part as follows
(footnotes excluded):
********************************
Although the risk for disease remains low, laboratory-acquired meningococcal
disease represents an occupational
hazard to microbiologists. . . . Each year in the United
States, approximately 3,000 isolates of
invasive N. menigitidis are cultured; on the basis
of standard practices used for isolation and
identification of N. meningitidis, each of
the clinical samples and isolates is handled by an
average of three microbiologists during the
course of a laboratory investigation, resulting in an
estimated 9,000 microbiologists
exposed per year. . . .Research and industrial laboratory scientists who are
exposed routinely to N. meningitidis in
solutions that might be aerosolized also should
consider vaccination. In addition, vaccination
might be used as an adjunctive measure by
microbiologists in clinical laboratories.
********************************
To obtain the complete text of the article online, go to:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5107a1.htm
To obtain a camera-ready (PDF format) copy of this issue
of MMWR, go to:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/wk/mm5107.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.
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February 25, 2002
EARN CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDIT FOR READING NEW ARTICLE
ON VAERS ONLINE
You can read the new article "Vaccine Post-Marketing
Surveillance: The Vaccine Adverse Event
Reporting System" for free credit: 1.25 hours of
Continuing Medical Education (CME), 1.3 hours of
Continuing Nursing Education (CNE), or .1
hour of Continuing Education (CE) credit. Whether
you read it for formal credit or for your own
professional enhancement, the article provides a current
overview of vaccine safety surveillance and issues related
to VAERS.
The 16-page article, recently made available by the
National Immunization Program (NIP) within the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC), can be read online, downloaded and printed,
or ordered in hard-copy form from
VAERS. Educational credit can be obtained only online by
completing the "educational activity" on
CDC's website--instructions follow the text of the article.
To obtain a camera-ready (PDF format) copy of the article
online, go to:
http://www.vaers.org/pdf/vaers_ce_new.pdf
To request a mailed hard copy of the article, contact
VAERS by phone at (800) 822-7967 or email at
info@vaers.org
To access information about and links to the continuing
education activity, go to:
http://www.vaers.org/ce.htm
For assistance or further information, contact the CDC
Continuing Education Unit by phone at (800)
418-7246 or email at
ce@cdc.gov
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February 25, 2002
REVISED TRANSLATION! "IMMUNIZATION FOR BABIES" IN SPANISH
This chart is an easy visual planner and reminder for
parents of infants. We updated the English
version in January to reflect the new
Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)
recommendations on the birth dose of
hepatitis B vaccine (see IAC EXPRESS #279).
Now we have revised the Spanish translation, "Inmunizaciones
para Bebes," as well.
To obtain a copy of "Inmunizaciones para Bebes," go to:
HTML: http://www.immunize.org/catg.d/p4010-01.htm
PDF: http://www.immunize.org/catg.d/p4010-01.pdf
To obtain a copy of the English "Immunizations for
Babies," go to:
HTML: http://www.immunize.org/catg.d/p4010.htm
PDF:
http://www.immunize.org/catg.d/p4010imm.pdf
For information on the new birth dose recommendation, read
"ACIP votes on birth dose of hepatitis B
vaccine" at:
http://www.immunize.org/genr.d/issue279.htm
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February 25, 2002
IMMUNIZATION IN LONG-TERM CARE FACILITIES: NEW REPORT
COVERS STATE-BY-STATE RULES
The Health Policy Tracking Service (HPTS) of the National
Conference of State Legislatures has
published a report titled "State Policies, Laws,
and Regulations Governing Immunizations in
Long-Term Care Facilities" (November
2001). The report was prepared for the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC), which helped
develop the survey on which the report is based.
The 138-page report (not including appendixes)
specifically compares state mandates for influenza
and pneumococcal vaccination and state rules for
the use of standing orders to promote vaccination.
For each state, presented in alphabetical
order, information is provided on nursing homes,
intermediate-care facilities, and/or
assisted living facilities and the "immunization
standards" that apply to each.
According to the Executive Summary, as of October 2001
only 18 states had immunization policies for
residents of long-term care facilities, and
of those, only 6 states required that flu and/or
pneumococcal vaccines be
administered. Influenza and pneumococcal illness are
leading causes of death in people aged 65
and older.
To obtain a camera-ready (PDF format) copy of the report
online, go to:
http://www.hpts.org/info/info.nsf?OpenDatabase
For more information about the report, contact HPTS by
phone at (202) 624-3567 or email at
info@hpts.org
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February 25, 2002
CDC PUBLISHES NOTICE TO READERS ON EVALUATION OF ANTHRAX
VACCINATION OF PREGNANT WOMEN
On February 15, 2002, the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) published "Notice to
Readers: Status of U.S. Department of Defense
Preliminary Evaluation of the Association of
Anthrax Vaccination and Congenital
Anomalies" in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report
(MMWR).
The second paragraph of the two-paragraph Notice to Readers
reads in part as follows:
*******************************
Although the Food and Drug Administration-licensed vaccine
has not been suspected to be a hazard to
reproductive health, . . . the vaccine is neither
recommended nor licensed for use during pregnancy.
DoD [U.S. Department of Defense] continues
to maintain a policy of avoiding anthrax
vaccination of pregnant women. . . . [B]oth
military and civilian health-care providers should
continue to ask women if they are pregnant
or intend to become pregnant and should not
vaccinate women who state that they are pregnant.
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To obtain the complete text of the Notice online, go to:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5106a5.htm
To obtain a camera-ready (PDF format) copy of the February
15 issue of MMWR, go to:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/wk/mm5106.pdf
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