The CDC website can be a big help to members of the public, healthcare community, and media who wish to educate themselves about shingles disease, sequelae, and vaccine.

For example, the CDC website now includes a feature section for the public titled "Protect Yourself Against Shingles: Get Vaccinated." To access it, go to:
http://www.cdc.gov/Features/Shingles

NCIRD resources include extensive information for the public (disease; vaccine; and vaccine safety), healthcare professionals (clinical information; recommendations; references and resources; provider education; and materials for patients), and media professionals (symptoms, treatment, transmission; questions and answers; and visuals). To access, these materials, go to:
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/shingles

The June 2008 issue of Vaccinate Women is now available on the IAC website. Printed copies have been mailed to all members of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), local and state health departments, and thousands of other subscribers.

The June issue includes several notable articles: Ask the Experts, Summary of Recommendations for Adult Immunization, a professional-education piece on hepatitis testing and vaccination, information on accessing standing orders for administering child and adult vaccines, and an adult vaccine administration record form.

You can view selected articles from the table of contents below or download the entire issue from the Web.

To download a ready-to-print (PDF) version, go to:
http://www.immunize.org/vw/vw0608.pdf

The PDF file of the entire issue is large. For tips on downloading and printing PDF files, go to:
http://www.immunize.org/nslt.d/tips.htm

To view the table of contents with links to individual articles, go to:
http://www.immunize.org/vw

IAC updated its "Summary of Recommendations for Childhood and Adolescent Immunization" to reflect a recent change CDC made to the human papillomavirus (HPV) section of its Recommended Immunization Schedule for Persons Aged 0-18 Years. CDC now recommends a minimum 6-month interval between administration of the first and third doses of HPV vaccine.

To access IAC's revised Summary of Recommendations, go to:
http://www.immunize.org/catg.d/p2010.pdf

The May 15 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) includes an editorial titled "Vaccines and Autism Revisited--The Hannah Poling Case." It is written by Paul A. Offit, MD. Dr. Offit is chief of infectious diseases at Children's Hospital Philadelphia and professor of pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

The NEJM table of contents summarizes the editorial as follows: "Hannah Poling was diagnosed with encephalopathy caused by a mitochondrial enzyme deficit. Her parents believed that vaccines had triggered her encephalopathy, and the sued the Department of Health and Human Services for compensation under the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program and won. Dr. Paul Offit writes that the Poling case is best understood in the context of the decision-making process of this unusual vaccine court."

To read the complete editorial, go to:
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/358/20/2089

IAC has recently added a useful new feature to the main page of its online VIS web section. The new feature, a chart titled "Current VIS Dates," provides healthcare professionals with a foolproof way to make sure they are complying with the federal mandate to give patients the most current VIS before administering most vaccines.

The chart presents an alphabetical list of vaccines distributed in the United States. Next to each vaccine is the issue date of the current VIS. To use the chart, healthcare professionals can simply compare the issue date of a VIS in their office supply with the issue date given on the chart. The newest version of the VIS can be downloaded from the VIS web section.

IAC will update the chart whenever CDC revises an existing VIS or develops a new one. To access the chart, go to: http://www.immunize.org/vis

On May 23, CDC published "Human Rabies Prevention--United States, 2008: Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices" as an MMWR Recommendations and Reports. Previously, the recommendations were available only in electronic format as an MMWR Early Release (published May 7).

The PDF version includes a free CDC-sponsored education activity that can be completed online or submitted by fax or U.S. mail for continuing education credit. Simply read the recommendations, answer the questions at the end, and follow instructions for submitting your answers.

To access a ready-to-print (PDF) version of the recommendations, go to: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/rr/rr5703.pdf

To access a web-text (HTML) version of the recommendations, go to: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5703a1.htm

To receive a FREE electronic subscription to MMWR (which includes new ACIP statements), go to:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/mmwrsubscribe.html

The May issue of Immunization Works, a monthly email newsletter published by CDC, is available on the website of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD). The newsletter offers the immunization community information about current topics. The information is in the public domain and can be reproduced and circulated widely.

Some of the information in the May issue has already appeared in previous issues of IAC Express. Following is the text of three articles we have not covered.

To access the complete May issue from CDC's Vaccines & Immunizations website, go to:
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/news/newsltrs/imwrks/2008/200805.htm

[The following is cross posted from IAC's Hep Express electronic newsletter, 5/20/08.]

The first ever National Viral Hepatitis Poster Contest was held April–May 2008, sponsored by the CDC's Division of Viral Hepatitis and the National Viral Hepatitis Roundtable. Judges consisted of representatives from state health departments, community organizations, a public relations agency, partner organizations, and CDC. Entries were received from the general public and offered creative approaches to raising awareness about viral hepatitis. [Editor's note: this contest was publicized in Hep Express #68 and IAC Express #718.]

The winning entries can be viewed at
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/hepatitis/PContestWinners.htm

[The following is cross posted from IAC's Hep Express electronic newsletter, 5/20/08.]

CDC is currently featuring a link to viral hepatitis information on the home page of its website, http://www.cdc.gov, in honor of National Hepatitis Awareness Month and World Hepatitis Day. The new page includes facts about hepatitis A, B, and C; statistics about viral hepatitis in the United States; and information on preventing HAV, HBV, and HCV infection and associated liver disease.

To access the hepatitis information page directly, go to:
http://www.cdc.gov/Features/ViralHepatitis

[The following is cross posted from IAC's Hep Express electronic newsletter, 5/20/08.]

In April, CDC provided training to state and local project perinatal hepatitis coordinators via a four-part netconference. This series is now available online to all interested parties. Continuing education credit can be obtained after completing each segment. The segment topics include case identification, case management, assessment and evaluation, and the delivery hospital as safety net. Each session is approximately 75 minutes in length.

The Essentials of Perinatal Hepatitis B Prevention: A Training Series for Coordinators and Cases Managers netconference series can be accessed at http://www2a.cdc.gov/vaccines/ed/hepbtraining

The May 15 and May 20 issues of Hep Express, an electronic newsletter published by IAC, are now available online. Hep Express is intended for health professionals, program planners, and advocates involved in prevention, screening, and treatment of viral hepatitis.

May 15 issue
IAC Express has already covered some of the information presented in the May 15 Hep Express; titles of articles we have not yet covered follow.

• Asian Pacific American Heritage Month is an opportunity to highlight health disparities
• HBF [Hepatitis B Foundation] and AAPCHO [Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations] to present a congressional luncheon briefing on May 20
• Weill Cornell Medical College and the Center for the Study of Hepatitis C will sponsor a World Hepatitis Day event on May 19 in New York City
• Hepatitis B Foundation International to sponsor 2008 Viral Hepatitis Health Leadership Summit on June 20 in Baltimore

To access the May 15 issue, go to:
http://www.hepprograms.org/hepexpress/issue70.asp

May 20 issue
IAC Express has already covered some of the information presented in the May 20 Hep Express; titles of articles we have not yet covered follow.

• Hawai'i's Hepatitis Support Network offers information on the prevention and treatment of hepatitis B and C and opportunities for volunteers to become engaged in prevention efforts
• Journal articles you might have missed

To access the May 20 issue, go to:
http://www.hepprograms.org/hepexpress/issue71.asp

To sign up for a free subscription to Hep Express, go to:
http://www.immunize.org/subscribe

To access previous issues of Hep Express, go to:
http://www.hepprograms.org/hepexpress

[The following is cross posted from IAC's Hep Express electronic newsletter, 5/20/08.]

The National Institute of Health's Consensus Development Conference on the Management of Hepatitis B will be held October 20-22, in Bethesda, MD. This conference is sponsored by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases and the Office of Medical Applications of Research.

Speakers and attendees at this conference will discuss issues related to the benefits and risks of current therapeutic options for HBV infection, including which persons should be treated, what measures are appropriate to monitor therapy and assess outcomes, and what are the greatest needs for future research.

For more information, including the preliminary agenda, go to:
http://consensus.nih.gov/2008/2008HepatitisBCDC120main.htm

On October 1-3, 2007, the World Health Organization (WHO) held a scientific consultation in Geneva, Switzerland, on this subject: "Options for use of human H5N1 influenza vaccines and the WHO H5N1 vaccine stockpile." WHO recently posted the report of the scientific consultations to its website. To access the report, go to:
http://www.who.int/csr/resources/publications/WHO_HSE_EPR_GIP_2008_1d.pdf