Issue 1280: December 14, 2016

Ask the Experts
Ask the Experts—Question of the Week: My healthy 29-year-old son recently had a mild episode of herpes zoster. He has no…read more


TOP STORIES


IAC HANDOUTS


FEATURED RESOURCES


JOURNAL ARTICLES AND NEWSLETTERS


EDUCATION AND TRAINING



TOP STORIES


New! December 2016 issue of Needle Tips is now available online

The December 2016 issue of Needle Tips is now online.

Click on the image below to download the entire December issue of Needle Tips (22-page, 8.47 MB PDF).

Access the Table of Contents (HTML) to download individual sections or pages.

Download the November issue of Vaccinate Adults

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If you would like to receive immediate email notification whenever new issues of Needle Tips or Vaccinate Adults are released, visit our Subscribe to IAC page to sign up.

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IAC offers 25% discount on record cards, DVDs, and books on Shop IAC through the end of the year!

As announced in the December 6 Special Edition of IAC Express, through the end of 2016, all items in Shop IAC are 25% off! All you need to do to get the 25% discount on your entire order is to enter the coupon code “IAC25” into the Coupon Code box on the Cart Contents page.

Check out Shop IAC to order record cards, handbooks, and more before 2016 ends!

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Influenza vaccination rates remain low, CDC reports

CDC has noted low influenza vaccination rates. A selection from CDC's press release, Flu vaccine coverage remains low this year, is reprinted below.

As of early November, only about 2 out of 5 people in the United States reported having gotten this season’s flu vaccine, yet flu vaccine offered substantial benefit last season by preventing an estimated 5 million flu illnesses and 71,000 flu hospitalizations...

Flu vaccine coverage estimates based on survey data collected through early November 2016 show vaccination levels similar to this time last season. Forty percent of people overall reported having received a flu vaccine, including 37 percent of children ages 6 months to 17 years and 41 percent of adults ages 18 years and older.

Although flu vaccination estimates among adults and children are similar to early estimates from last season for all age groups, CDC is looking carefully at vaccination rates for children and for adults ages 50 years and older.


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CDC reports on influenza vaccination coverage during pregnancy

CDC published Influenza Vaccination Coverage During Pregnancy—Selected Sites, United States, 2005–06 Through 2013–14 Influenza Vaccine Seasons in the December 9 issue of MMWR (pages 1370–73). A summary made available to the press is reprinted below.

Since 2004, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has recommended seasonal influenza vaccination for women who will be pregnant during influenza season. From 2005–06 to 2013–14, influenza vaccination in pregnant women in the Birth Defects Study of the Slone Epidemiology Center at Boston University increased from approximately 20% to 41%. Although 20% of vaccinations were administered in non-traditional health care settings, the majority of doses are given in physician offices. Routine management of pregnant women should incorporate flu vaccine counseling and administration to prevent influenza-associated morbidity and mortality among women and their infants.

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New CDC HPV toolkit available for partners, awardees, and state programs

CDC recently released HPV Vaccination Partner Toolkit. This toolkit provides resources for state and local organizations interested in enhancing HPV vaccination efforts at the clinician, patient, and partnership level. It includes a wide range of resources for all potential audiences.

Related Links

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CDC launches new website for immunization partners

CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases launched a new resource website for immunization partners. The site includes childhood, adolescent, maternal, adult, and influenza immunization resources.

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Tenivac vaccine (Tetanus and Diphtheria Toxoids Adsorbed) is temporarily unavailable

On November 28, CDC posted the following note on its website about the current Tenivac shortage:

Tenivac vaccine (Tetanus and Diphtheria Toxoids Adsorbed) is temporarily unavailable. It is anticipated that the product will become available in the second half of 2017. Grifols, who markets and distributes another U.S.-licensed Td vaccine manufactured by MassBiologics and with labeled indications for the same use as Tenivac, has indicated that they have sufficient supply available to address the historical demand for Td vaccine during this time period.

Related Link

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IAC HANDOUTS


IAC updates its staff education materials: "Current Dates of Vaccine Information Statements" and "It's Federal Law! You must give your patients current Vaccine Information Statements"

IAC recently revised Current Dates of Vaccine Information Statements as well as It's Federal Law! You must give your patients current Vaccine Information Statements to reflect the 12/2/2016 date of the new HPV VIS.

Related Links

IAC's Handouts for Patients & Staff web section offers healthcare professionals and the public more than 250 FREE English-language handouts (many also available in translation), which we encourage website users to print out, copy, and distribute widely.

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FEATURED RESOURCES


CDC's vaccination coverage information is easily accessible on its VaxView websites

CDC's VaxView websites provide vaccination coverage data for several age groups. Local, state, and federal health departments use surveys and other data sources to estimate vaccination coverage and identify where additional efforts are needed to increase vaccination coverage. Data is available in five categories:

Influenza is spreading and serious; please keep vaccinating your patients

Influenza vaccination is recommended for everyone six months of age and older. If you don't provide influenza vaccination in your clinic, please recommend vaccination to your patients and refer them to a clinic or pharmacy that provides vaccines or to the HealthMap Vaccine Finder to locate sites near their workplaces or homes that offer influenza vaccination services.

Following is a list of resources related to influenza disease and vaccination for healthcare professionals and the public:

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JOURNAL ARTICLES AND NEWSLETTERS


November issue of CDC's Immunization Works newsletter now available

CDC recently released the November issue of its monthly newsletter Immunization Works. The newsletter offers the immunization community information about current topics. The information is in the public domain and can be reproduced and circulated widely.

Related Links

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EDUCATION AND TRAINING


Two HepB United webinars on hepatitis B treatment are archived online
Two recent HepB United webinars, "Current and Future HBV Treatment and Research Towards Finding a Cure" and "Why Clinical Trials for Hepatitis B Therapies Are So Important," have been archived and are now available for viewing online.

HepB United is a national coalition to address and eliminate hepatitis B, a serious liver infection that is the leading cause of liver cancer.

Related Link

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ASK THE EXPERTS

Question of the Week

My healthy 29-year-old son recently had a mild episode of herpes zoster. He has no underlying medical problems. He was treated with famcyclovir. Should he now get zoster vaccine?

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) does not recommend zoster vaccine for persons younger than 60 years of age regardless of their history of zoster. The currently available vaccine is licensed for persons 50 years and older. A clinician may choose to give the vaccine to a person younger than 50 years, but such use would be off-label.


About IAC's Question of the Week

Each week, IAC Express highlights a new, topical, or important-to-reiterate Q&A. This feature is a cooperative venture between IAC and CDC. William L. Atkinson, MD, MPH, IAC's associate director for immunization education, chooses a new Q&A to feature every week from a set of Q&As prepared by experts at CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.

We hope you enjoy this 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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