The April 2010 issue of Needle Tips has just been placed online at http://www.immunize.org/nt This issue features IAC's newly revised "Summary of Recommendations for Childhood and Adolescent Immunization" and "Summary of Recommendations for Adult Immunization."

Here are some of the features included in the issue:

• Ask the Experts
   
• Vaccine Highlights
   
• Summary of Recommendations for Childhood and Adolescent Immunization
   
• Summary of Recommendations for Adult Immunization
   
• Talking with Parents about Vaccines for Infants, a resource from CDC, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Academy of Family Physicians
   
• Reliable Sources of Immunization Information
   
• Standing Orders for Administering HPV Vaccine
   
• Guide to Contraindications and Precautions to Commonly Used Vaccines

On the Needle Tips web page, you will find a link for displaying and printing the entire 24-page PDF of this issue. There is also a table of contents for viewing and printing individual sections.

To access the Needle Tips web page, go to: http://www.immunize.org/nt Back issues are accessible from this page as well.

To download the entire issue right now, go to:
http://www.immunize.org/nslt.d/n44/n44.pdf

IAC recently updated its "Summary of Recommendations for Childhood and Adolescent Immunization" and "Summary of Recommendations for Adult Immunization" to reflect the many recent changes in vaccine licensures and recommendations. Both summaries include the schedules for routine and catch-up vaccination, as well as contraindications and precautions for all routinely recommended vaccines.

These provider resources consistently rank as the two most popular IAC pieces, judging by number of downloads. If you are not familiar with these pieces, check them out and see why healthcare professionals have been relying on them for more than 15 years!

To access the revised "Summary of Recommendations for Childhood and Adolescent Immunization," go to:
http://www.immunize.org/catg.d/p2010.pdf

To access the revised "Summary of Recommendations for Adult Immunization," go to:
http://www.immunize.org/catg.d/p2011.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

On April 16, CDC published a new VIS for pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, specifically PCV13 vaccine. This VIS replaces the PCV VIS dated 12/09/08.

To access the 4/16/10 VIS for PCV13 vaccine from the IAC website, go to:
http://www.immunize.org/vis/vis-pcv.pdf

For information about the use of VISs, and for VISs in more than 35 languages, visit IAC's VIS web section at
http://www.immunize.org/vis

For general information about VISs from CDC's website go to:
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/vis

For CDC's latest news on VISs, go to
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/vis/vis-news.htm

IAC encourages qualifying healthcare organizations to apply for its Honor Roll for Patient Safety. Since March 8 when IAC Express last reported on the Honor Roll for Patient Safety, Moses Cone Health System (Greensboro, NC) has been added to the honor roll. In addition, the "News and Articles" section has been updated with a must-read editorial that presents a strong case for making influenza vaccination mandatory for healthcare workers. The honor roll recognizes medical practices, hospitals, professional organizations, and government entities that have taken a stand for patient safety by strengthening mandatory influenza vaccination policies for healthcare workers.

The "News and Articles" section of the Honor Roll now includes links to the following editorial: "They Should Know Better" (New York Times, April 13, 2010). To read the editorial, go to:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/14/opinion/14wed3.html

To be included in the honor roll, an organization's mandate must require influenza vaccination for employees and must include serious measures to prevent transmission of influenza from unvaccinated workers to patients. Such measures might include a mask requirement, reassignment to non-patient-care duties, or dismissal of the employee.

To find out specific information on the mandates of the enrolled organizations, go to: http://www.immunize.org/laws/influenzahcw.asp This web page also includes information about how to apply to be included on the honor roll.

Remember to bookmark IAC's home page to view a new video every Monday. To view an IAC Video of the Week from the past, go to the video archive at http://www.immunize.org/votw

The Alliance for Immunization in Michigan (AIM) recently announced the availability of its 2010 Providers Immunization Toolkit for Children & Adults. Although some of the included resources are Michigan-specific, most could be useful to any U.S. immunization provider.

For example, AIM has developed a series of fact sheets titled "A Quick Look at. . ." about the new and combination vaccines that often generate confusion. To access the Quick Look guides to rotavirus, DTaP, Td/Tdap, Pediarix, Pentacel, Kinrix, and TIV/LAIV vaccines, visit http://www.aimtoolkit.org/children_providerinfo.htm

To access the Quick Look guide to Twinrix vaccine, visit
http://www.aimtoolkit.org/adult_special.htm

To access the online version of the entire kit, go to: http://www.aimtoolkit.org/adult_immun.htm Click on the colored tab at the top of the page that corresponds to the information you are seeking (e.g. "Children," "Adolescents," and so forth).

Pharmacists are now allowed to administer immunizations in all 50 states, and are playing an increasingly active role in protecting individuals against vaccine-preventable diseases. To aid pharmacists in this work, the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) recently published "APhA's Immunization Handbook."

"APhA's Immunization Handbook" was written by Lauren B. Angelo, PharmD, MBA, who has taught APhA's Pharmacy-Based Immunization Delivery certificate training program to pharmacists across the nation. This spiral-bound book is a concise reference for building a successful immunization practice based on recommended standards of care.

To find out more about this new resource, or to order a copy, go to http://www.pharmacist.com and type in the search term Immunization Handbook.

First released in September 2008, Dr. Paul Offit's book, "Autism's False Prophets: Bad Science, Risky Medicine, and the Search for a Cure," is now available in paperback.

A copy can be purchased from your local bookstore, your favorite online site, or from the publisher at
http://cup.columbia.edu/book/978-0-231-14636-4/autisms-false-prophets

You can read more about this award-winning book by clicking here.

Paul A. Offit, MD, is the chief of Infectious Diseases and the director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, as well as the Maurice R. Hilleman Professor of Vaccinology and professor of pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

Dated 3/1/10, the VISs for the JE-VAX and Ixiaro Japanese encephalitis vaccines are now available in Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Spanish, and Vietnamese. IAC gratefully acknowledges the California Department of Public Health, Immunization Branch, for the translations.

To access the new translations of the VIS for JE-VAX Japanese encephalitis vaccine, as well as this VIS in English, go to:
http://www.immunize.org/vis/vis_japanese_encephalitis_jevax.asp

To access the new translations of the VIS for Ixiaro Japanese encephalitis vaccine, as well as this VIS in English, go to:
http://www.immunize.org/vis/vis_japanese_encephalitis_ixiaro.asp

For information about the use of VISs, and for VISs in more than 35 languages, visit IAC's VIS web section at
http://www.immunize.org/vis

CDC published "Update: Influenza Activity--United States, August 30, 2009-March 27, 2010, and Composition of the 2010-11 Influenza Vaccine" in the April 16 issue of MMWR. The first paragraph is reprinted below.

To access the full article in web-text (HTML) format, go to:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5914a3.htm

Please continue to vaccinate patients against H1N1 and seasonal influenza (as vaccine supplies permit). Remember: 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccine will not protect people against seasonal influenza, and seasonal influenza vaccine will not protect against H1N1 influenza.

Providers who don't have H1N1 vaccine or seasonal influenza vaccine can direct patients to the Google Flu Shot Finder at
http://www.google.com/flushot

PKIDs (Parents of Kids with Infectious Diseases) has scheduled several webinars related to using social media to advance health messages. The webinars are part of Communications Made Easy, a PKIDs' program intended to help immunization educators learn the ropes of social marketing and traditional and social media.

"Communications Made Easy--Creating Social Marketing Messages that Work" is scheduled for May 4 at 9:00AM Pacific Time. Space is limited and pre-registration is recommended. To register, go to: https://cc.readytalk.com/r/5o9axnt1hvjv

"Communications Made Easy--Twitter" is scheduled for May 6 at 9:00AM Pacific Time. Space is limited and pre-registration is recommended. To register, go to: https://cc.readytalk.com/r/pvaln4ta4igm

"Communications Made Easy--Blogs" is scheduled for May 11 at 9:00AM Pacific Time. Space is limited and pre-registration  is recommended. To register, go to: https://cc.readytalk.com/r/1xlf94ovp6oe

"Communications Made Easy--Facebook" is scheduled for May 18 at 9:00AM Pacific Time. Space is limited and pre-registration is recommended. To register, go to: https://cc.readytalk.com/r/gm5uyi9tanbg

For more information on the Communications Made Easy program, go to: http://www.pkids.org/cme

The 9th International Rotavirus Symposium will be held August 2-3 in Johannesburg, South Africa. For more information on the meeting, go to: http://www.rotavirus2010.com