Issue 1122: May 27, 2014

Ask the Experts–Question of the Week: If a woman's rubella test result shows she is "not immune" during a prenatal visit… read more


TOP STORIES
IAC HANDOUTS
FEATURED RESOURCES
JOURNAL ARTICLES AND NEWSLETTERS
CONFERENCES AND MEETINGS  
TOP STORIES
IAC Spotlight! Redesigned "Ask the Experts" web section is user friendly and now includes two new features: "Question of the Week" and "What's New"

IAC's Ask the Experts web section is one of the most popular features on immunize.org, with more than 2 million page views last year. Now, the section's main page has been redesigned to improve its usability and to accommodate two new features: Question of the Week and What's New. Read on for more details.

The first thing you'll see is the organizing heart of the page, a large box with three tabs running horizontally across the top of it. Click on the following tabs to access the archive of hundreds of "Ask the Experts" Q&As by vaccine and vaccination topic area.

1. Vaccine Index: Access direct links to Q&As on 16 vaccines/vaccine-preventable diseases, including combination vaccines.

2. Topic Index: Access direct links to Q&As covering eight general vaccination topic areas:  3. A–Z: Access links to an alphabetical listing of all of the vaccine and topic areas contained in the Ask the Experts web section.

New! "Ask the Experts—What's New"
The Ask the Experts web section now features What's New, which is a compendium of the past year's Q&As listed on one web page. The listing is organized by vaccine and vaccination topic area.

New! "Ask the Experts—Question of the Week"
This week's issue of IAC Express includes a new feature called "Question of the Week" (see related article). Each week, IAC Express will highlight a new, topical, or important-to-reiterate Q&A. IAC works with CDC to select new "Ask the Experts" Q&As for our Question of the Week based on commonly asked questions. In addition to being featured in IAC's weekly newsletter, the Question of the Week will be posted on the immunize.org home page, the Ask the Experts main page, and the Question of the Week Archive.

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CDC releases free iTunes app to help healthcare providers easily access the recommended immunization schedules

CDC recently released an updated app to help clinicians and other healthcare professionals quickly access CDC's latest recommended immunization schedules. The free CDC Vaccine Schedules app includes childhood, adolescent, adult, and catch-up vaccine schedules and footnotes. It is available for iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch devices; an Android version will be available in a few months.

Download the CDC Vaccine Schedules app from the iTunes App Store.

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NFID releases report on addressing serogroup B meningococcal disease outbreaks on campuses

On May 22, the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) released a new report titled Addressing the Challenges of Serogroup B Meningococcal Disease Outbreaks on Campuses.

The report provides an overview of serogroup B invasive meningococcal disease on U.S. college campuses, and examines the public health response to recent outbreaks as well as strategies for appropriate and streamlined public health responses to future outbreaks.

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IAC HANDOUTS
IAC posts new Spanish translations of patient-friendly schedules for high-risk adult patients

IAC recently posted new Spanish translations of two of its patient-friendly immunization schedules for high-risk adult patients.
  1. NEW: Vacunas para adultos con enfermedad cardiaca (Spanish version);  Vaccinations for Adults with Heart Disease (English).
  2. NEW: Vacunas para adultos con enfermedad pulmonar (Spanish version);  Vaccinations for Adults with Lung Disease (English).
Access all of IAC's patient-friendly schedules

IAC's Handouts for Patients & Staff web section offers healthcare professionals and the public more than 300 FREE handouts (including translations), which we encourage website users to print out, copy, and distribute widely.

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Two of IAC's screening questionnaires for adults are now available in Spanish: "Should You Be Vaccinated Against Hepatitis A?" and "Should You Be Vaccinated Against Hepatitis B?" 

In 2012, IAC updated its patient screening questionnaires titled: Should You Be Vaccinated Against Hepatitis A? and Should You Be Vaccinated Against Hepatitis B?The Spanish translations have now been updated to match the English versions.

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IAC posts Spanish translation of "Protect Yourself Against Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B... A Guide for Gay and Bisexual Men"

In March 2014, IAC updated and redesigned Protect Yourself Against Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B... A Guide for Gay and Bisexual Men with updated statistics and a new look. The Spanish translation has now been updated to match the English version.

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IAC updates child and adult screening checklists for contraindications and precautions

IAC recently updated Screening Checklist for Contraindications to Vaccines for Children and Teens and Screening Checklist for Contraindications to Vaccines for Adults. Changes are only on page 2 and include updates related to new influenza vaccine products such as the recombinant influenza vaccine, and changing the terminology from trivalent influenza vaccine (TIV) to inactivated influenza vaccine (IIV).

Access all of IAC's screening questionnaires.

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FEATURED RESOURCES
IAC's sturdy laminated versions of the 2014 U.S. child/teen immunization schedule and the 2014 U.S. adult immunization schedule—order a supply for your healthcare setting today!

IAC's laminated versions of the 2014 U.S. child/teen immunization schedule and the 2014 U.S. adult immunization schedule are covered with a tough, washable coating; they will stand up to a year's worth of use in every area of your healthcare setting where immunizations are given.

The child and adolescent schedule has eight pages (i.e., four double-sided pages) and is folded to measure 8.5" x 11". The adult immunization schedule has six pages (i.e., three double-sided pages) and is folded to measure 8.5" x 11".
IAC's Laminated Child and Teen Immunization SchedulesIAC's Laminated Adult Immunization Schedules
Laminated schedules are printed in color for easy reading, come complete with essential tables and footnotes, and include contraindications and precautions—a feature that will help you make an on-the-spot determination about the safety of vaccinating patients of any age.

PRICING
1–4 copies: $7.50 each
5–19 copies: $5.50 each
20–99 copies: $4.50 each
100–499 copies: $4.00 each
500–999 copies: $3.50 each

For quotes on customizing or placing orders for 1,000 copies or more, call (651) 647-9009 or emailadmininfo@immunize.org.

You can access specific information on both schedules, view images of both, order online, or download an order form at the Shop IAC: Laminated Schedules web page.

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JOURNAL ARTICLES AND NEWSLETTERS
New study reconfirms that it is best for children to receive the first dose of MMR or MMRV at age 12–15 months

A study published online on May 19 in Pediatrics, titled Timely Versus Delayed Early Childhood Vaccination and Seizures, reconfirms that vaccinating children with their first measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) or measles-mumps-rubella-varicella (MMRV) dose at the recommended 12–15 months of age not only best protects them from disease, but also reduces their risk of experiencing a febrile seizure. A May 22 bulletin from CDC is reprinted below.

A new article in Pediatrics, titled “Timely Versus Delayed Early Childhood Vaccination and Seizures”, reconfirms that in order to best protect children from disease—and to avoid a higher risk of febrile seizureschildren should be vaccinated with their first measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) or measles-mumps-rubella-varicella (MMRV) dose at the recommended 12–15 months of age. Previous studies have shown that measles-containing vaccines (MMR and MMRV) occasionally may cause febrile seizures.  This study demonstrates that delaying vaccination with MMR or MMRV in the second year of life (past the recommended ages of 12–15 months) could put some children at greater increased risk for febrile seizures when they receive these vaccines. In the first year of life, there is no relationship between the recommended vaccine schedule and seizures.

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CDC publishes article about rabies death in Texas

CDC published Rabies Death Attributed to Exposure in Central America with Symptom Onset in a U.S. Detention Facility—Texas, 2013 in the May 23 issue of MMWR (pages 446–449). The first paragraph is reprinted below.

On June 7, 2013, a man was diagnosed in a Texas hospital with rabies. He had been detained in a U.S. detention facility during his infectious period. To identify persons exposed to rabies who might require rabies postexposure prophylaxis (PEP), CDC and the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) conducted investigations at four detention facilities, one medical clinic, and two hospitals. In all, 25 of 742 persons assessed for rabies exposure were advised to receive PEP. Early diagnosis of rabies is essential for implementation of appropriate hospital infection control measures and for rapid assessment of potential contacts for PEP recommendations.

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CONFERENCES AND MEETINGS
Agenda for June ACIP meeting available; follow the meeting online if you are unable to attend in person

CDC has released a draft agenda for the next Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) meeting, which will be held June 25–26 at CDC's Clifton Road campus in Atlanta. To attend the meeting, ACIP attendees (participants and visitors) must register online. The registration deadline for non-citizens is June 2; it's June 9 for citizens.

Meetings are open to the public and available online via live webcast. During committee meetings, members present findings and discuss vaccine research and scientific data related to vaccine effectiveness and safety, clinical trial results, and manufacturer's labeling or package insert information. Outbreaks of vaccine-preventable disease or changes in vaccine supply also are reviewed during these meetings. Registration is not required to watch the live webcast of the meeting; the call-in information is located on the registration page. The live meeting recording and presenter slides are always made available online after the meeting as well.

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 Ask the Experts

Question of the Week

If a woman's rubella test result shows she is "not immune" during a prenatal visit but she has 2 documented doses of MMR vaccine, does she need a third dose of MMR vaccine postpartum? 

Answer: In 2013 ACIP changed its recommendation for this situation. It is now recommended that women of childbearing age who have received 1 or 2 doses of rubella-containing vaccine and have rubella serum IgG levels that are not clearly positive should be administered 1 additional dose of MMR vaccine (maximum of 3 doses) and do not need to be retested for serologic evidence of rubella immunity. This is the only situation where ACIP recommends a third dose of MMR vaccine. MMR should not be administered to a pregnant woman.

About IAC's Question of the Week

This week's issue of IAC Express includes a new feature called "Question of the Week." Each week, IAC Express will highlight a new, topical, or important-to-reiterate Q&A. This new feature is a cooperative venture between IAC and CDC. William L. Atkinson, MD, MPH, IAC's associate director for immunization education, will select a new Q&A every week based on common or especially intriguing questions that come to CDC.
 
We hope you enjoy this new feature and find it helpful when dealing with difficult real-life scenarios in your vaccination practice. Please encourage your healthcare professional colleagues to sign up to receive IAC Express at www.immunize.org/subscribe.

If you have a question for the CDC immunization experts, you can email them directly at nipinfo@cdc.gov. There is no charge for this service.

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About IZ Express

IZ Express is supported in part by Grant No. 1NH23IP922654 from CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. Its contents are solely the responsibility of Immunize.org and do not necessarily represent the official views of CDC.

IZ Express Disclaimer
ISSN 2771-8085

Editorial Information

  • Editor-in-Chief
    Kelly L. Moore, MD, MPH
  • Managing Editor
    John D. Grabenstein, RPh, PhD
  • Associate Editor
    Sharon G. Humiston, MD, MPH
  • Writer/Publication Coordinator
    Taryn Chapman, MS
    Courtnay Londo, MA
  • Style and Copy Editor
    Marian Deegan, JD
  • Web Edition Managers
    Arkady Shakhnovich
    Jermaine Royes
  • Contributing Writer
    Laurel H. Wood, MPA
  • Technical Reviewer
    Kayla Ohlde

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