Issue
Number 304
April 1, 2002
CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE
- Questions about vaccine shortages? CDC and IAC websites
offer answers
- Revisions: Three important IAC print pieces are newly
modified
- States add new vaccination requirements for children:
Three for varicella and one for hepatitis
A
- Happy first anniversary to the "hepprograms" website!
- CDC publishes article on successes and challenges in
year 2001 effort to eradicate
poliomyelitis worldwide
- VIS software combines audio and text in four languages
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April 1, 2002
QUESTIONS ABOUT VACCINE SHORTAGES? CDC AND IAC WEBSITES
OFFER ANSWERS
Shortages persist for five important vaccines: DTaP
(diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis), Td (tetanus and
diphtheria), MMR (measles-mumps-rubella), varicella
(chickenpox), and PCV7 (pneumococcal
conjugate). Although shortage information and
instructions come piecemeal from various sources,
it's hard to keep up.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has
created a web page titled "Current Vaccine
Shortages" that will be updated weekly. This page
answers such basic questions as: Which vaccines
are currently in shortage? Why are there
shortages? What should be done in the meantime?
Who can I contact to answer my questions?
General questions can be answered by the CDC immunization
hotline at (800) 232-2522.
The Immunization Action Coalition (IAC) also has posted a
related web page on its site. The "Vaccine
Shortage Information" page provides references and
links to articles and recommendations on
shortages in general and specific vaccine
shortages. It also lists phone numbers of vaccine
companies to call for the most current
information.
To see CDC's Current Vaccine Shortages web page, go to:
http://www.cdc.gov/nip/news/shortages
To see IAC's Vaccine Shortage Information web page, go to:
http://www.immunize.org/vacshortage
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April 1, 2002
REVISIONS: THREE IMPORTANT IAC PRINT PIECES ARE NEWLY
MODIFIED
The Immunization Action Coalition (IAC) has revised one
screening questionnaire, one patient education piece, and
the "Summary of Rules for Childhood Immunization."
"Do I Need Any Vaccinations Today?" (a self-screening
questionnaire for use by adult patients) has
been changed to further clarify indications for pneumococcal
polysaccharide, Haemophilus influenzae type b, and
meningococcal vaccination and to reflect the
discontinuation of Lyme disease vaccine. Now
this questionnaire is an even better adult vaccination
screening and assessment tool.
"What Would Happen If We Stopped Vaccinations?" now shows
the number of reported cases of vaccine-preventable
diseases (VPDs) in the year 2000 and the percent decrease
for each disease since its maximum-reported-case year.
This up-to-date chart makes the case for vaccination in
very simple visual form.
On the "Summary of Rules for Childhood Immunization" we
have included the birth dose of hepatitis B recommendation
and removed the guidelines on the discontinued Lyme
disease vaccine.
To obtain a copy of "Do I Need Any Vaccinations Today?",
go to:
PDF: http://www.immunize.org/catg.d/4036need.pdf
HTML: http://www.immunize.org/catg.d/4036need.htm
To obtain a copy of "What Would Happen If We Stopped
Vaccinations?", go to:
PDF: http://www.immunize.org/catg.d/4037stop.pdf
HTML: http://www.immunize.org/catg.d/4037stop.htm
To obtain a copy of "Summary of Rules for Childhood
Immunization," go to:
PDF: http://www.immunize.org/catg.d/rules1.pdf
HTML: http://www.immunize.org/nslt.d/n17/rules1.htm
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April 1, 2002
STATES ADD NEW VACCINATION REQUIREMENTS FOR CHILDREN:
THREE FOR VARICELLA AND ONE FOR HEPATITIS A
The states of North Carolina, Tennessee, and Utah have all
enacted a requirement for varicella vaccination or
immunity before kindergarten entrance. In Tennessee and
Utah, the effective date is July 1, 2002. In North
Carolina, the effective date was today, April 1, 2002 for
children 12-19 months of age (born on or after April 1,
2001), a requirement that may be enforced for these
children upon daycare entrance or, at the latest,
elementary-school entrance beginning in the year 2006.
Utah has also passed a hepatitis A vaccination requirement
for entering kindergartners effective this July.
To see IAC's Varicella Mandates web page, newly updated to
reflect these new requirements, go to:
http://www.immunize.org/laws/varicel.htm
IAC tracks this and other state-by-state mandates regarding immunization on our website at:
http://www.immunize.org/laws/
We plan to add a Hepatitis A Mandates web page in the
summer.
Please be sure to let us know of any new immunization laws
in your state. Although we follow state activities, we
also rely on readers to keep us informed. Send emails with
your updates to
admin@immunize.org
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April 1, 2002
HAPPY FIRST ANNIVERSARY TO THE "HEPPROGRAMS" WEBSITE!
On March 30, 2001, the Immunization Action Coalition (IAC)
launched a new website for and about hepatitis prevention
programs as part of a cooperative agreement with the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Division
of Viral Hepatitis. This site is an online forum for
health and social service professionals to share
information about ways to successfully prevent viral
hepatitis in populations at risk, a kind of "virtual
poster session." As of this past February, the site was
hosting an average of 192 visitors per day.
The "hepprograms" website highlights programs in the
following categories: programs for men who have
sex with men, STD clinics, family planning clinics, drug treatment
and needle exchange programs, juvenile and adult
corrections facilities, school-based programs for
adolescents, programs for Asian Pacific Islander
Americans, and programs for other populations at risk.
When it started, this site featured 32 programs in 7
categories. Just one year later, the number of
featured programs has more than doubled--you can now read about 65
programs on the site. Also included are 78 links to
recommendations and articles and 46 links to related
organizations.
The following six programs were recently added to the
site:
Harold & Esther Chester Immunology Center, Miriam Hospital
http://www.hepprograms.org/adult/adult6.asp
B-Wise Project, NICOS Chinese Health Coalition
http://www.hepprograms.org/apia/apia4.asp
Indiana Women's Prison Hepatitis and Childhood Immunization Education Program
http://www.hepprograms.org/adult/adult7.asp
Washington State Asian Pacific Islander Task Force: Focus
on Hepatitis B Immunization
http://www.hepprograms.org/apia/apia3.asp
Minnesota Viral Hepatitis Integration Project
http://www.hepprograms.org/drug/drug8.asp
The Mommy Van
http://www.hepprograms.org/apia/apia5.asp
To visit the "Hepatitis Prevention Programs" website's
home page, go to:
http://www.hepprograms.org
We are always looking for new programs to add to the site!
If you have information you would like to share with your
colleagues, go to the "Tell us about your program" page at
http://www.hepprograms.org/tellus.htm
You can also email us at
evaluation@immunize.org
Thanks for all your help in making this a happy first
anniversary for IAC's "Hepatitis Prevention
Programs" website!
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April 1, 2002
CDC PUBLISHES ARTICLE ON SUCCESSES AND CHALLENGES IN YEAR
2001 EFFORT TO ERADICATE POLIOMYELITIS WORLDWIDE
On March 29, 2002, the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) published "Progress Toward Global
Eradication of Poliomyelitis, 2001" in the Morbidity and
Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).
The article states that from 1988 through 2001, "the
number of countries where polio is endemic decreased from
125 to 10, and the number of reported polio cases
decreased by >99% from an estimated 350,000 to <1,000. . . .
Current challenges to global polio eradication efforts
include ongoing intense transmission in northern India,
continued importations of wild poliovirus into polio-free
areas, and the detection of circulating vaccine-derived
poliovirus (cVDPV)."
To obtain the complete text of the article online, go to:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5112a1.htm
To obtain a camera-ready (PDF format) copy of this issue
of MMWR, go to:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/wk/mm5112.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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March 25, 2002
VIS SOFTWARE COMBINES AUDIO AND TEXT IN FOUR LANGUAGES
Healthway Software offers CD-ROM versions of current
Vaccine Information Statements (VISs) in English, Spanish,
Bosnian, and Vietnamese. These software VISs use both
audio narration and on-screen text to provide information
contained in VISs produced by the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC). These easy-to-use VISs offer
an alternative way to present essential vaccine
information to patients, especially those for whom English
is a second language and English-speakers who do not read.
The cost of the "Vaccine Information" software is $25 per
language, with a 10% handling fee.
Some of the Healthway Software VIS programs are available
for free on the website of Healthy Communities Without
Borders (HCWB), a community project of Cass County,
Wisconsin, and Clay County, Minnesota. Currently available
are Hepatitis A in English, Bosnian, Spanish, and
Vietnamese; and influenza, meningococcal, and pneumococcal
polysaccharide in English.
To view the Healthway Software website, go to:
http://www.healthwaysoftware.com/index.htm
To order Healthway Software VIS software on CD-ROM, go to:
http://www.healthwaysoftware.com/Order.htm
To view the HCWB immunization information web page, go to:
http://www.hcwb.org/healthresources/immunization/immunization.htm
For more information, contact Healthway Software by email
at contact@healthwaysoftware.com
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