Issue
Number 356
December 20, 2002
CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE
- Happy holidays from all of us at IAC
- FDA approves new pediatric combination vaccine
- Representative Henry Waxman writes members of Congress about
childhood immunization and vaccine safety
- Bilingual adult vaccination guide, "Vaccines: We All Need
Them!" now available
- CDC's National Immunization Program seeks applicants for Chief
of Program Operations Branch
- CDC's "Terrorism Preparedness Compendium" has added links to
articles about smallpox management from 1960s to 1980s
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December 20, 2002
HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM ALL OF US AT IAC
All of us at the Immunization Action Coalition wish the readers of "IAC
EXPRESS" a safe, happy, and relaxing holiday season. Drive safely, wear your
seat belt, and get your flu shot, if you haven't already.
This is our last issue for 2002. We're publishing today instead of Monday,
December 23, because many of you will be gone that week. We'll be back in
January 2003.
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December 20, 2002
FDA APPROVES NEW PEDIATRIC COMBINATION VACCINE
According to a notice posted on the website of the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA), on December 16, the FDA approved Pediarix, a
combination vaccine distributed in the United States by GlaxoSmithKline. It
protects infants against five diseases: diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis,
polio, and hepatitis B. Currently, it requires nine injections to immunize
an infant against these diseases. With Pediarix, only three injections are
needed.
The Immunization Action Coalition anticipates more detailed information on
the use of the vaccine will be available in a Notice to Readers in
"Morbidity and Morality Weekly Report" in January 2003.
To access a camera-ready (PDF) version of the 26-page prescribing
information from the FDA website, go to:
http://www.fda.gov/cber/label/dtapsmi121302LB.pdf
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December 20, 2002
REPRESENTATIVE HENRY WAXMAN WRITES MEMBERS OF CONGRESS ABOUT CHILDHOOD
IMMUNIZATION AND VACCINE SAFETY
In a letter dated December 10 and titled "Update on Vaccine Safety," Rep.
Henry A. Waxman (D-CA) informed his House and Senate colleagues about what
he termed "an issue of vital public health significance: childhood
immunization."
Citing the existence of "serious confusion and misinformation about vaccine
safety, the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP), and the vaccine
preservative thimerosal," Mr. Waxman stated that the letter's goal was to
give House and Senate members "correct information about these topics in
order to prepare for future legislative efforts in this area and to respond
to constituents' concerns."
At the letter's conclusion, Mr. Waxman wrote: "The available evidence does
not support the allegation that vaccines can cause autism. . . . The issues
surrounding thimerosal, vaccine safety, and the VICP are complicated and
deserve deliberate, well-informed debate." In the letter, he also referred
his colleagues to four websites for information on vaccine safety and the
alleged connection between vaccines and autism.
To access a camera-ready (PDF) version of Rep. Waxman's letter on the
website of the Immunization Action Coalition (IAC), go to:
http://www.immunize.org/news.d/waxman.pdf
To view the four websites Mr. Waxman referred his colleagues to, go to:
-
http://www.immunizationinfo.org
(the website of the National Network for Immunization Information)
-
http://www.cdc.gov/nip
(the website of the National Immunization Program of the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention)
-
http://www.aap.org
(the website of the American Academy of Pediatrics)
-
http://www.naar.org
(the website of the National
Alliance for Autism Research)
For an array of additional information on
vaccines and
autism, go to IAC's "Vaccine Safety" web pages at
http://www.immunize.org/safety
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December 20, 2002
BILINGUAL ADULT VACCINATION GUIDE, "VACCINES: WE ALL NEED
THEM!" NOW AVAILABLE
Available in English and Spanish, "Vaccines: We All Need
Them! What Every Adult Should Know," was released earlier
this month by the National Alliance for Hispanic Health.
The guide is intended to raise English-speaking and
Spanish-speaking adults' awareness of the importance of
immunization in preventing disease throughout life. It
contains a copy of the Adult Recommended Immunization
Schedule, general information about adolescent and adult
immunization, an overview of seven vaccine-preventable
diseases and their vaccines, an adult immunization record
card, and additional resources including toll-free
hotlines and websites.
To access a camera-ready (PDF) version of the bilingual
guide from the Alliance's website, go to:
http://www.hispanichealth.org/adult_vacunas.pdf
For a print copy of the bilingual guide or for a referral
to no-cost or low-cost vaccination services in your
community, call the Alliance's bilingual help line at
(866) 783-2645.
For additional information, visit the Alliance's website
at http://www.hispanichealth.org
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December 20, 2002
CDC'S NATIONAL IMMUNIZATION PROGRAM SEEKS APPLICANTS FOR
CHIEF OF PROGRAM OPERATIONS BRANCH
The National Immunization Program (NIP) of the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Immunization
Services Division is accepting applications for the Chief
of its Program Operations Branch in Atlanta. This is a
GS-15-level position and is open through December 31.
The Immunization Action Coalition is making the
information available as a service to "IAC EXPRESS"
readers. Following are excerpts from a recruiting letter
written by Tamara J. Kicera, Chair of the Search
Committee.
*********************
NIP's mission is to prevent disease, disability and death
in children and adults through vaccination--to this end,
immunization efforts have been among THE most successful
public health efforts in history, ranging from the
elimination and near-elimination of smallpox and polio,
respectively, to drastically reduced morbidity and
mortality from vaccine-preventable diseases for persons of
all ages.
But significant challenges remain (for example, large
racial and ethnic disparities in vaccination coverage
levels among adults), and other challenges may be
re-emerging with the potential threat of bioterrorism. We
believe that this position--which will oversee more than
$1 billion in fiscal and technical assistance to 64
grantees to purchase vaccine and implement evidence-based
immunization strategies, with emphasis on populations at
highest risk for under-immunization--is among the most
exciting at CDC, and demands an individual with excellent
management, leadership, and program implementation skills. . . .
Persons interested in applying for this position should
follow the procedures outlined in the [official]
announcement, which has been posted both internally and
externally . . . .
[I]f you need additional information regarding this
position, please contact me [Tamara J. Kicera] directly at
(404) 639-1860.
*********************
To access a copy of the official job announcement, which
includes information about application procedures, go to
CDC's website at
http://www2.cdc.gov/hrmo/viewdetail.asp?AnnouncementNumber=1-03-135
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December 20, 2002
CDC'S "TERRORISM PREPAREDNESS COMPENDIUM" HAS ADDED LINKS
TO ARTICLES ABOUT SMALLPOX MANAGEMENT FROM 1960S TO 1980S
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
published a Notice to Readers, "Additions to Terrorism
Preparedness Compendium," in the December 20 issue of
"Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report" (MMWR). The
additions comprise eleven articles published in MMWR from
1963 to 1985. According to the notice, the articles
"describe the last cases of naturally occurring smallpox,
previous recommendations regarding smallpox vaccination,
and adverse events related to the smallpox vaccine."
The complete compendium is divided into three topic areas:
smallpox, anthrax, and other terrorism related reports and
recommendations. It contains 45 articles culled from 35
previous MMWR issues, most published in the last two
years.
To access the complete compendium from the MMWR website,
go to:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/indexbt.html
To obtain the complete text of the article online, go to:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5150a4.htm
To obtain a camera-ready (PDF format) copy of this issue
of MMWR, go to:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/wk/mm5150.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
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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