CDC published "Invasive Haemophilus influenzae Type B Disease in Five Young Children--Minnesota, 2008" in the January 30 MMWR. Previously, this information was available in electronic format as an MMWR Early Release and was covered in the January 26 edition of IAC Express.

To access a web-text (HTML) version of the complete article, go to: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5803a4.htm

To access a ready-to-print (PDF) version of this issue of MMWR, go to: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/wk/mm5803.pdf

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

On January 27, Every Child By Two (ECBT) issued a press release in response to the report of five Hib cases, including one death, in Minnesota. The press release follows in its entirety.

Every Child By Two, the Rosalynn Carter/Betty Bumpers Organization for Early Childhood Immunization, works to ensure that all children receive timely immunizations and continues to seek methods to institutionalize vaccine delivery and ensure access to vaccines for all children. For more information, visit http://www.ecbt.org and http://www.vaccinateyourbaby.org

In IAC's Video of the Week, FDA urges healthcare facilities to ensure that influenza vaccination programs are available for their personnel.

Vaccinating healthcare workers will decrease the likelihood that they will contract influenza, and also decrease the chance that they will infect others. This is especially important because these personnel often provide care to patients at high risk of serious and even fatal complications if they contract influenza. Of course another benefit of vaccinating staff is that it also protects their families from getting the disease.

Persons who should be immunized include physicians, nursing staff, pharmacists, technicians, emergency personnel, dental personnel, and students. The list also includes those who are not directly involved in patient care, such as clerical, dietary, housekeeping, and security staff.

CDC estimates that only 40% of healthcare workers get the flu vaccine each year. Yet studies have shown that low vaccination rates among health care personnel contribute to influenza outbreaks in healthcare facilities, and this needlessly puts patients at risk. It has also been shown that there is a lower incidence of nosocomial influenza cases in those facilities where staff vaccination rates are higher.

The 2-minute video will be available on the home page of IAC's website through February 8. To access it, go to: http://www.immunize.org and click on the image under the words Video of the Week, which you'll find toward the top of the page. It may take a few moments for the video to begin playing; please be patient!

Remember to bookmark IAC's home page to view a new video every Monday. While you're at our home page, we encourage you to browse around--you're sure to find resources and information that will enhance your practice's immunization delivery.

To view IAC's video collection, go to:
http://www.vaccineinformation.org/video

An article titled "Vaccines and Autism: A Tale of Shifting Hypotheses" by Drs. Paul Offit and Jeffrey Gerber is currently available online, courtesy of Clinical Infectious Diseases. The authors discuss the three hypotheses that have been proposed by those claiming a link between vaccines and autism and review the relevant epidemiological evidence.

To access this article in PDF format, go to:
http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdf/10.1086/596476

The article will be published in the February 15 print issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases.

On February 2, the Spanish-language versions of the 2009 recommended child, adolescent, and catch-up immunization schedules were added to the CDC website at http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/recs/schedules/child-schedule.htm#sp

The Spanish-language version of the 2009 recommended adult immunization schedule was posted to the CDC website on January 14 and can be accessed directly at http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/recs/schedules/downloads/adult/2009/adult-schedule-sp.pdf

To access CDC's web page featuring both the child and adult schedules in different formats, go to: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/recs/schedules

IAC recently revised two resources about vaccination contraindications and precautions.

"Guide to Contraindications and Precautions to Commonly Used Vaccines" was updated with changes in wording to TIV and LAIV precautions, changes in abbreviations for PPSV and MCV, a change in wording for zoster vaccine contraindications, and a change in a hepatitis B footnote.

To access the updated piece, go to:
http://www.immunize.org/catg.d/p3072a.pdf

"Guide to Contraindications and Precautions to Commonly Used Vaccines in Adults" was updated with information about arthus in the Tdap section, changes in abbreviations for PPSV and MCV, and a change in wording for zoster vaccine contraindications.

To access the updated piece, go to:
http://www.immunize.org/catg.d/p3072.pdf

IAC's Print Materials web section offers healthcare professionals and the public approximately 250 FREE English-language materials (many also available in translation), which we encourage website users to print out, copy, and distribute widely. To access all of IAC's free print materials, go to: http://www.immunize.org/printmaterials

Influenza activity is increasing, and yearly vaccination is the first and most important step in protecting against influenza and its complications. It is important to continue vaccinating into the spring months. The supply of influenza vaccine is robust; if you run out of vaccine in your work setting, please place another order.

For abundant information about influenza vaccination, visit the following two websites often. They are continually updated with the latest resources:

The National Influenza Vaccine Summit website at http://www.preventinfluenza.org

CDC's Seasonal Flu web section at http://www.cdc.gov/flu

The Immunization Coalitions Technical Assistance Network (IZTA) February 10 conference call will feature representatives from CDC describing plans for the 2009 National Infant Immunization Week (NIIW). Speakers will introduce new educational materials and present tips from successful NIIW programs.

This year is the 15th anniversary of NIIW. Each year NIIW highlights the importance of protecting infants from vaccine-preventable diseases and honors the achievements of immunization programs and their partners in promoting healthy communities. This year NIIW will be held April 25-May 2.

The call will be held at 1PM, ET. To register, send an email to izta@aed.org Include this message: "Sign me up for the NIIW call."

To access earlier programs, go to:
http://www.izta.org/confcall.cfm

IZTA is a program of the Center for Health Communication, Academy for Educational Development.

In October 2008, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) hosted the first Consensus Conference on the Management of Hepatitis B, which brought together an independent panel to weigh the available evidence, make general recommendations, and identify future research needs. The panel's written statement is based on a systematic literature review, expert presentations, and audience commentary. The final consensus statement is now available online and in print form.

To download the report online, go to:
http://consensus.nih.gov/2008/2008HepatitisBCDC120main.htm

To order a print copy of the report, go to:
http://www.meetinglink.org/OMAR/hepb/orderfinal.aspx

PKIDS (Parents of Kids with Infectious Diseases) recently created a new website called Pirls, intended for girls ages 11-15. On the site, visitors can listen to music, play games, and ask questions about diseases that can affect them. Information about vaccine-preventable diseases is sprinkled throughout the site, including the games. The goal is to keep the site 90 percent fun and 10 percent educational, with the hope that girls will return often for fun and accidental learning.

To access Pirls, go to: http://www.pirls.pkids.org

PKIDS supports those whose children have been affected by viral hepatitis, HIV/AIDS and other chronic, viral infectious diseases and by educating the public about effective disease prevention practices. To visit their website, go to: http://www.pkids.org

This year's National Immunization Conference will take place in Dallas on March 30-April 2, 2009. The current standard registration fee of $250 is good until March 14. For more information, including the draft agenda and registration information, go to: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/events/nic

For additional information, contact the NIC conference planning team at (404) 639-8225 or nipnic@cdc.gov

The National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, in collaboration with CDC and 11 other national and international agencies and organizations, is sponsoring the Twelfth Annual Conference on Vaccine Research, April 27-29, 2009, at the Marriott Waterfront Hotel, Baltimore, Maryland. The conference is the largest scientific forum devoted exclusively to the research and development of all vaccines and related technologies for prevention and treatment of disease through immunization.

Additional information about the preliminary program, travel grants, abstract submission, registration, hotel accommodation, and exhibition space is available at http://www.nfid.org/conferences/vaccine09, by email (vaccine@nfid.org), by fax (301) 907-0878, by telephone (301) 656-0003, ext 19, and by mail (NFID, Suite 750, 4733 Bethesda Avenue, Bethesda, MD 20814-5278).

On January 30, the WHO publication Weekly Epidemiological Record (WER) published "Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety [GACVS], 17-18, December 2008." An expert clinical and scientific advisory body, GACVS deals independently and with scientific rigor with vaccine safety issues of potential global importance.

At the December meeting the committee reviewed the safety profiles of rotavirus vaccines and human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines, discussed several vaccine safety alerts in immunization programs supported by WHO, and reviewed the progress of its subgroups.

To access a ready-to-print (PDF) version of the January 30 issue, go to: http://www.who.int/wer/2009/wer8405.pdf