Issue Number 91
June 28, 1999
CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE
- ACIP votes to change recommendation
for routine childhood polio vaccination to an all IPV schedule in January 2000
- MMWR publishes article about polio
eradication efforts in African region
- MMWR makes it easy to earn CME/CNE/CEU
credits online!
- Preliminary report on federal
investments in vaccine purchase and immunization services now available on the Web
- International vaccine conference set
for September 6-9, 1999, in the United Kingdom
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(1)
June 17, 1999
ACIP VOTES TO CHANGE RECOMMENDATION FOR ROUTINE CHILDHOOD POLIO VACCINATION TO AN ALL IPV
SCHEDULE IN JANUARY 2000
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued the following press release on June
17, 1999:
"On June 17, 1999, the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted to
change the recommendation for routine childhood polio vaccination beginning in 2000 to a
schedule using only the inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) to eliminate the occurrence
of vaccine-associated paralytic poliomyelitis (VAPP) in the United States. The committee
vote was 8 in favor of a change to four doses of IPV, with 1 abstaining and 3 absent. The
vote does not become a final recommendation until it is accepted by CDC through
publication in its "Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report"(MMWR) series. If the
recommendation is accepted by CDC, to be protected against polio, all children will need
to get 4 doses of IPV at 2, 4, 6-18 mo, and 4-6 yrs beginning in January 2000. The
committee voted that oral polio vaccine will be acceptable only in special circumstances.
"Since 1979, the only polio disease in the United States has been caused by the oral
poliovirus vaccine (OPV) vaccine, which had been used routinely for childhood vaccination
since 1965. Until recently, because of the risk of polio epidemics in the United States,
the risk from the vaccine, about 1 case for every 2.4 million doses, was outweighed by the
benefit from the vaccine in protecting against epidemics. Although both vaccines protect
children against polio, OPV provides better protection against epidemics. IPV is not known
to cause VAPP.
"Because of the success of the global polio eradication campaign using OPV, by the
mid 1990's, the risk of polio epidemics in the U.S. was much less, and the risk of polio
from the OPV became greater than the risk from the disease in the U.S. For these reasons,
in Jan. 1997, the polio vaccination schedule was changed to a sequential schedule of two
doses of the IPV followed by two doses of OPV. In 1997, CDC confirmed 4 cases of VAPP in
the United States. In 1998, one case of VAPP was confirmed. Prior to the change to a
sequential schedule, there were 8-10 cases of paralytic polio caused by OPV each year.
"In the past two years, the sequential schedule has been well accepted. No declines
in childhood immunization coverage were observed despite the need for additional
injections. Because of this, and the fact that the polio eradication campaign has led to
continued declines in polio cases outside the United States, the ACIP determined that the
recommended childhood polio vaccination schedule should be changed to an exclusive IPV
schedule to completely eliminate the risk of VAPP while still providing protection to
children and adults. Until polio is eradicated, all children still need to be vaccinated
for polio."
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(2)
June 25, 1999
MMWR PUBLISHES ARTICLE ABOUT POLIO ERADICATION EFFORTS IN AFRICAN REGION
An article entitled "Progress Toward Poliomyelitis Eradication - African
Region, 1998 - April 1999," was published in the June 25, 1999, issue of the MMWR.
In 1988, the World Health Assembly resolved to eradicate poliomyelitis globally by 2000.
To achieve this goal, the African Region of the World Health Organization has accelerated
polio eradication strategies, but the region remains one of the two major reservoirs for
wild poliovirus transmission.
To obtain a text copy of the MMWR article, click here:
http://www.cdc.gov/epo/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm4824a2.htm
To access the document in camera-ready (PDF) format, click here:
ftp://ftp.cdc.gov/pub/Publications/mmwr/wk/mm4824.pdf
HOW TO GET A FREE ELECTRONIC SUBSCRIPTION TO THE MMWR
To get a free electronic subscription to the MMWR (delivered weekly), go to the MMWR
website and sign up. When you sign up, you will also automatically begin to receive all
new ACIP statements which are published as MMWR's "Recommendations and Reports."
To get to the MMWR website, click here: http://www2.cdc.gov/mmwr/
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(3)
June 28, 1999
MMWR MAKES IT EASY TO EARN CME/CNE/CEU CREDITS ONLINE!
No more using No. 2 pencils to darken tiny circles! MMWR now makes it easy to take your
CME/CNE/CEU quizzes online. Continuing education subject material covers recent statements
and recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. The credit you
earn for taking the quizzes is transferred immediately. You no longer have to mail the
information to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and wait for them to
mail the results back to you.
To go to the Continuing Education screen on CDC's MMWR website, click here: http://www2.cdc.gov/mmwr/cme/conted.html
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(4)
May 1999
PRELIMINARY REPORT ON FEDERAL INVESTMENTS IN VACCINE PURCHASE AND IMMUNIZATION SERVICES
NOW AVAILABLE ON THE WEB
Source: National Immunization Program, CDC
"The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, has directed the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention to contract with the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to conduct an
evaluation of the recent successes, resource needs, cost structure, and strategies for
immunization efforts in the United States.
"The IOM study, to be completed in May 2000, will review the impact of federal funds
on immunization rates and will eventually recommend an appropriate level of future federal
investment in achieving national immunization goals, especially in the area of
infrastructure support beyond vaccine purchase and delivery. As part of this effort, the
committee has issued an interim report which outlines its observations on selected
immunization issues."
This report is available on the Internet at the following address: http://www.nap.edu/catalog/9593.html
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(5)
June 15, 1999
INTERNATIONAL VACCINE CONFERENCE SET FOR SEPTEMBER 6-9, 1999, IN UNITED KINGDOM
The University of Manchester, UK, has announced a major international vaccine conference
to be held September 6-9, 1999, in Manchester, United Kingdom. The title of the conference
is "Vaccines and Immunisation into the Next Millenium." It is sponsored by the
Manchester University Medical School, Department of Public Health and Health Promotion,
and the School of Epidemiology and Health Sciences.
Topics will have a worldwide perspective and include such issues as new TB vaccines,
vaccination and the Internet, HIV vaccine development, improving vaccine uptake, and much
more. Speakers include experts from around the world.
Information about the conference is available on the web by clicking here: http://www.immunise.man.ac.uk
Further information can also be obtained by contacting:
James Arthur, Complete Congress Services
19 King Edward Street
Macclesfield, Cheshire, SK10 1AQ UK
Telephone: +44 (0) 1625 624060
Fax: +44 (0) 1625 430544
E-mail: james.arthur@cmc.co.uk |
