IAC Express 2007
Issue number 676: July 30, 2007
 
Contents of this Issue
Select a title to jump to the article.
  1. VIS news: CDC releases interim VIS for hepatitis B vaccine
  2. Important: CDC releases updated information on the 7/16/07 edition of the VIS for intranasal influenza vaccine
  3. IAC updates print piece that answers patients' questions about pertussis
  4. CDC website posts updated information on HPV brochure and poster and HPV Q&As for public and professionals
  5. CDC website posts presentation slides from the June ACIP meeting
  6. VIS translations: VIS for injectable influenza vaccine in Turkish; VISs for polio and MMR vaccines in Amharic
  7. WHO publishes the June 2007 meeting report of the Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety
  8. July issue of the Pandemic Influenza Update now on the IAC website
  9. Museum in Virginia opens a permanent exhibit commemorating the most severe polio outbreak of 1950
  10. Vacancy announcement: NVPO seeks senior public health advisor; application deadline extended to August 17
  11. MMWR notifies readers that September 15 is the deadline for applying for the Epidemic Intelligence Service
  12. Minnesota Department of Health schedules its 2007 immunization conference for October 11-12
  13. Hib Initiative offers a free quarterly email newsletter
 
Abbreviations
AAFP, American Academy of Family Physicians; AAP, American Academy of Pediatrics; ACIP, Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices; AMA, American Medical Association; CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; FDA, Food and Drug Administration; IAC, Immunization Action Coalition; MMWR, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report; NCIRD, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases; NIVS, National Influenza Vaccine Summit; VIS, Vaccine Information Statement; VPD, vaccine-preventable disease; WHO, World Health Organization.
  
Issue 676: July 30, 2007
1.  VIS news: CDC releases interim VIS for hepatitis B vaccine

On July 18, CDC released an interim edition of the VIS for the hepatitis B vaccine; it replaces the 7/11/01 edition. The primary reason for issuing the interim edition is to stress that the birth dose of the vaccine is now recommended for ALL newborns before hospital discharge. Other changes were made throughout the interim VIS.

Existing stocks of the previous (7/11/01) edition may be used, but use of the interim edition is encouraged. A final edition is expected in 2008.

To access the interim VIS for hepatitis B vaccine from the CDC website, go to:
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/vis/downloads/vis-hep-b.pdf

To access it from the IAC website, go to:
http://www.immunize.org/vis/hepb01.pdf

For information about the use of VISs, and for VISs in more than 30 languages, visit IAC's VIS web section at http://www.immunize.org/vis

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2 Important: CDC releases updated information on the 7/16/07 edition of the VIS for intranasal influenza vaccine

On July 27, CDC posted an announcement on the portion of its website titled "News about Vaccine Information Statements." It concerns the 7/16/07 edition of the VIS for live, attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV, intranasal). The announcement cautions providers against printing large quantities of the VIS as FDA may approve vaccine licensing changes in the near future. The announcement is reprinted below in its entirety.


Important Notice about the 2007-2008 LAIV VIS. It is very possible that FDA will approve updated licensing for FluMist during this flu season--possibly before any vaccine has shipped. If this happens, a new, interim VIS for LAIV will be published. The available 2007-08 VIS reflects the current licensing. It might be prudent for providers to delay printing large quantities of the LAIV VIS until it is known whether this version will be used. (7/27/07)

To access the announcement, go to:
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/vis/vis-news.htm#flu

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3 IAC updates print piece that answers patients' questions about pertussis

IAC recently revised its ready-to-print Q&A patient-education piece "Pertussis: Questions and Answers." Specifically, the answer to the question titled "Can you get pertussis more than once?" was updated.

To obtain a ready-to-print (PDF) version of the revised piece, go to: http://www.immunize.org/catg.d/p4212.pdf

In the past several weeks, IAC Express announced the availability of ready-to-print Q&As on many vaccine-preventable diseases and vaccines. These pieces can be printed and handed out to patients to help educate them about the seriousness of VPDs and the importance of vaccination. For more information, please see article #4 in the July 2, 2007, issue of IAC Express, which is located at http://www.immunize.org/express/issue672.asp#n4

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4 CDC website posts updated information on HPV brochure and poster and HPV Q&As for public and professionals

CDC recently posted updated information about some of its educational materials on human papillomavirus (HPV). Details follow:

The English-language versions of the patient-education brochure and poster titled "HPV: Common Infection, Common Reality" are once again available for online ordering. The brochure product code is 99-8362; the poster product code is 99-8363.

To order, go to: https://www2a.cdc.gov/nchstp_od/piweb/stdorderform.asp Scroll down until you find the pertinent product code(s).

The brochure and poster are also available for downloading at
http://www.cdc.gov/std/hpv/common-downloads.htm

Following concerns that have recently emerged in the media about the HPV vaccine, CDC developed educational materials for the general public and professionals.

"HPV Vaccine--Questions and Answers for the Public" is available at
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/hpv/hpv-vacsafe-effic.htm

The professional-education piece "CDC Questions and Answers Concerning the Safety and Efficacy of Gardasil" is available at
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/hpv/downloads/vac-faqs-vacsafe-efficacy.pdf

CDC offers two sources of extensive and comprehensive HPV information:

(1) For information from the HPV topic page of the Sexually Transmitted Diseases web section, go to: http://www.cdc.gov/std/hpv

(2) For information from the HPV topic page of CDC's Vaccines & Immunizations web section, go to: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/hpv

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5 CDC website posts presentation slides from the June ACIP meeting

The CDC website recently posted the PowerPoint slides presented at the June 27-28 ACIP meeting. Slides are available on the following topics:

  • Hepatitis A vaccine
  • Vaccine financing
  • Adult Immunization Schedule
  • Childhood/Adolescent Immunization Schedule
  • Immunization Safety Office
  • Herpes zoster vaccine
  • Combination vaccines
  • Meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MCV4)
  • Economic analyses of vaccine
  • Vaccines supply
  • Pneumococcal vaccines
  • Vaccines during Pregnancy
  • Influenza
  • Vaccines in persons with HIV/AIDS
  • Rotavirus vaccines
  • Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines
  • Varicella
  • Agency update

To access the slides, go to:
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/recs/acip/slides-jun07.htm

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6 VIS translations: VIS for injectable influenza vaccine in Turkish; VISs for polio and MMR vaccines in Amharic

Dated 7/16/07, the current version of the VIS for trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine (TIV; injectable) is now available on the IAC website in Turkish. Also, the current versions of the VISs for inactivated polio vaccine (IPV, dated 1/1/00) and measles-mumps-rubella vaccine (MMR; dated 1/15/03) are available on the IAC website in Amharic (spoken in Ethiopia). IAC gratefully acknowledges Mustafa Kozanoglu, MD, and Murat Serbest, MD, Adana, Turkey, for the Turkish translation; and Healthy Roads Media, Bozeman, MT, for the Amharic translations.

To obtain a ready-to-print (PDF) version of the VIS for TIV in Turkish, go to: http://www.immunize.org/vis/tu_flu06.pdf

To obtain it in English, go to:
http://www.immunize.org/vis/2flu.pdf

To obtain a ready-to-print (PDF) version of the VIS for IPV in Amharic, go to: http://www.immunize.org/vis/am_pol.pdf

To obtain it in English, go to: http://www.immunize.org/vis/ipv-00.pdf

To obtain a ready-to-print (PDF) version of the VIS for MMR vaccine in Amharic, go to:
http://www.immunize.org/vis/am_mmr.pdf

To obtain it in English, go to:
http://www.immunize.org/vis/mmr03.pdf

For information about the use of VISs, and for VISs in more than 30 languages, visit IAC's VIS web section at http://www.immunize.org/vis

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7 WHO publishes the June 2007 meeting report of the Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety

On July 20, the WHO publication Weekly Epidemiological Record (WER) published "Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety [GACVS], 12-13 June 2007." An expert clinical and scientific advisory body, GACVS deals independently and with scientific rigor with vaccine safety issues of potential global importance. It held its sixteenth meeting June 12-13.

The WER article summarizes some of the issues meeting attendees considered, including the following vaccine safety and policy issues: (1) monitoring vaccine safety; (2) safety of vaccine formulations; (3) mumps vaccine virus strain repository; (4) safety of BCG [bacille Calmette-Guerin] vaccines; (5) safety of human papillomavirus vaccine; (6) update on Menactra and Guillain-Barre syndrome; (7) safety of rotavirus vaccines; and (8) influenza vaccines: update.

To access a ready-to-print (PDF) version of the July 20 issue, go to: http://www.who.int/wer/2007/wer8228_29.pdf

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8 July issue of the Pandemic Influenza Update now on the IAC website

CDC recently issued the July issue of the email newsletter Pandemic Influenza Update. To access it, go to: http://www.immunize.org/pandemic/panflu707.pdf

To access a range of pandemic influenza resources on the IAC website, go to http://www.immunize.org/pandemic

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9 Museum in Virginia opens a permanent exhibit commemorating the most severe polio outbreak of 1950

[The following is cross posted from the July 2007 issue of Parents PACK, an electronic newsletter published by the Vaccine Education Center of Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. To access the Parents PACK archives, go to: http://www.chop.edu/consumer/jsp/division/generic.jsp?id=85561]

Spotlight: Polio Leaves Its Mark

The summer of 1950 made a lasting impression in the Blue Ridge Mountain town of Wytheville, VA. During the summer referred to as the "summer without children," the polio outbreak was more severe than anywhere else in the country.

At the end of June 2007, the Department of Museums in Wytheville celebrated the opening of a new permanent exhibit about the polio outbreak during the "summer without children."

In this 1950s town with a typical main street and summers full of tourists from the south looking to enjoy the cool mountain air, polio affected everyone. The exhibit nicely sets up 1950s life in Wytheville and traces the cases of polio through memoirs and recollections of family members, physicians, businessmen, and funeral directors, who doubled as ambulance drivers throughout the epidemic. In addition to film footage, newspaper reports, and personal accounts, the exhibit also displays both infant-size and adult iron lungs.

To learn more, visit the Wytheville Department of Museums website at http://museums.wytheville.org/default.htm The polio exhibit is housed in the Thomas J. Boyd Museum. The museum coordinator of heritage education has also written about the polio outbreak in "A Summer Without Children," available on the website in the publications section.

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10.  Vacancy announcement: NVPO seeks senior public health advisor; application deadline extended to August 17

The National Vaccine Program Office (NVPO) of the Department of Health and Human Services seeks a senior public health advisor for its office in Washington, DC. The closing date for filing an application is August 17, 2007.

According to the job announcement, "the incumbent serves as principal advisor and confidant to the Director of the National Vaccine Program Office in planning and determining public health policies, programs, and activities related to vaccines and immunization."

For additional information, go to: http://jobsearch.usajobs.opm.gov In the box titled Keyword Search, type in this job announcement number: HHS-OS-2007-0299. Scroll to the bottom of the page, and click on the button titled Search for Jobs.

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11.  MMWR notifies readers that September 15 is the deadline for applying for the Epidemic Intelligence Service

CDC published "Notice to Readers: Epidemic Intelligence Service Application Deadline--September 15, 2007" in the July 27 issue of MMWR. The notice is reprinted below in its entirety.


The Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) is a 2-year, postgraduate program of service and on-the-job training for health professionals interested in the practice of epidemiology. Each year, EIS provides approximately 80 persons from around the world opportunities to gain hands-on experience in epidemiology at CDC or state or local health departments. EIS officers, often called CDC's "disease detectives," have gone on to have leadership positions at CDC and other public health agencies. The EIS experience also is useful for health professionals who would like to gain a population-based perspective on public health practice.

Persons with a strong interest in applied epidemiology who meet at least one of the following qualifications may apply to EIS:
  • Physicians with >=1 year of clinical training
  • Persons with a doctoral degree in epidemiology, biostatistics, the social or behavioral sciences, natural sciences, or the nutrition sciences
  • Dentists, physician assistants, and nurses with a master of public health (MPH) or equivalent degree
  • Veterinarians with an MPH or equivalent degree or relevant public health experience

Applications are being accepted for the July 2008-June 2010 EIS program. Deadline for submitting application materials is September 15, 2007. Application information and EIS program details are available at http://www.cdc.gov/eis, by telephone [at] (404) 498-6110, or via e-mail [at] eisepo@cdc.gov


To access a web-text (HTML) version of the notice, go to:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5629a5.htm

To access a ready-to-print (PDF) version of this issue of MMWR, go to: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/wk/mm5629.pdf

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

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12.  Minnesota Department of Health schedules its 2007 immunization conference for October 11-12

The Minnesota Department of Health has scheduled its 2007 immunization conference for October 11-12 in Bloomington, MN. Titled "Got Your Shots?" the conference will bring together public and private partners to explore ongoing and upcoming issues related to vaccine-preventable diseases and immunization. Conference presenters include Donna Weaver, RN, MN, from CDC; Paul Offit, MD, from Children's Hospital of Philadelphia; and L.J. Tan, PhD, from the American Medical Association. Registration will open in August.

For comprehensive conference information, go to:
http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/idepc/immunize/gysconf07.html

For more information, contact Chris Rosga at Christine.rosga@health.state.mn.us or (651) 201-5558.

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13.  Hib Initiative offers a free quarterly email newsletter

The Hib Initiative unites experts from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the World Health Organization. Its mission is to expedite and sustain evidence-informed decisions at the global, regional, and country levels regarding the use of Hib vaccination to prevent childhood meningitis and pneumonia.

The newsletter Hib Focus provides a focus on haemophilus influenzae type b and the work of the Hib Initiative.

To access a ready-to-print (PDF) version of the July 2007 issue of Hib Focus, go to:
http://www.hibaction.org/news/newsletter/hibFocusVol2No3.pdf

To sign up to receive this quarterly newsletter by email, go to:
http://www.hibaction.org/news/newsletter

To visit the Hib Initiative website, go to:
http://www.hibaction.org

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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.

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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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