IAC Express 2010

CDC published "Influenza Activity--United States and Worldwide, June 13-September 25, 2010" in the October 8 issue of MMWR. Two paragraphs from the report's Editorial Note are reprinted below.

To access the full article in web-text (HTML) format, go to: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5939a3.htm

IAC encourages IAC Express readers to watch a 2-minute video in which Dr. Paul A. Offit, of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), talks about the highly successful experience CHOP had last year when it instituted a mandatory employee influenza vaccination requirement. The video is located on Medscape, and registration is required to access it. There is no charge to register.

Four additional influenza-related videos are available on the CHOP website at http://www.chop.edu/video/vaccine-flu/influenza.html They feature Dr. Offit and three of his colleagues--Dr. Susan Coffin, Dr. Louis Bell, and Dr. Kristen Feemster--discussing various aspects of influenza disease and vaccination.

The Medscape and CHOP videos will be available on the home page of IAC's website through October 17. To access them, go to: http://www.immunize.org and click on the image under the words Video of the Week.

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

Looking for an online directory of immunization-related organizations in the United States and abroad? Look no further--the "U.S. Partners" and "International Organizations" web sections on immunize.org are comprehensive and up to date. For each organization listed, you'll find a link to the group's website as well as detailed information.

For the listing of more than 45 "U.S. Partners," which includes U.S.-based professional societies, disease-specific organizations, academic centers, and other non-profit groups, visit: http://www.immunize.org/resources/part_us.asp

For the listing of more than 40 "International Organizations," which includes Asociacion Espanola de Vacunologia (AEV) and UK's Health Protection Agency, visit: http://www.immunize.org/resources/intorg.asp

We apologize for omissions to these lists. Please send maryq@immunize.org your suggestions for additions or changes.

In addition to the listings of organizations, IAC's online compendium of immunization resources includes descriptions and links for the following sections: Books and Periodicals, CDC Materials, Continuing Education Opportunities, Email News Services, Government Agencies, Hotlines, Vaccine Manufacturers, and Package Inserts. To access these sections, go to http://www.immunize.org/resources

CDC published "Seasonal Influenza Vaccination Coverage Among Children Aged 6 Months-18 Years--Eight Immunization Information System Sentinel Sites, United States, 2009-10 Influenza Season" in the October 8 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/mm5939a2.htm

The California Department of Public Health (CDPH), Immunization Branch, recently updated its award-winning training video, "Immunization Techniques: Best Practices with Infants, Children, and Adults." The 25-minute program can be used to train new employees and to refresh the skills of experienced staff. The video demonstrates the skills and techniques needed to administer vaccines to patients of all ages. It includes instruction on the following:

• Selecting, preparing, and administering injectable, oral, and nasal vaccines
• Documenting immunizations
• Making patients comfortable and educating them
• Facilitating staff and patient communication

Prices start at $17 each for 1-9 copies and are greatly reduced for large orders, dropping to $4.25 each for 1,000-1,500 copies.

To learn more about the DVD, and find out how to order it, go to: http://www.immunize.org/shop/toolkit_iztechdvd.asp

For quotes on larger quantities, call (651) 647-9009 or email admininfo@immunize.org

The Immunization Action Coalition is the only nationwide vendor of this new DVD.

Note for healthcare settings located in California: Contact your local health department immunization program for a free copy.

Created by the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, the History of Vaccines website includes abundant and varied materials that inform and educate the public about the value of vaccination and the seriousness of the diseases vaccines protect against.

It includes a four-century timeline of vaccine developments, feature articles and popular articles, a gallery of photographs and short videos, resource materials for parents, activities that teach basic concepts about immunization science, resources and lesson plans for educators, and much, much more.

Website users can follow the website on Facebook and Twitter and are invited to submit comments to the website's blog.

To access the home page of the History of Vaccines website, go to: http://www.historyofvaccines.org

For more information on the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, go to: http://www.collphyphil.org

The website of the World Health Organization (WHO) recently posted the following information about the composition of the seasonal influenza vaccines that will be used in the southern hemisphere in 2011.

To access the WHO announcement, go to: http://www.who.int/csr/disease/influenza/recommendations2011south/en

On October 5, CDC posted updated information about the availability of certain presentations of Kinrix, GlaxoSmithKline's combination diphtheria-tetanus-acellular pertussis (DTaP) and inactivated polio vaccine (IPV). The information is reprinted below.

For continuing vaccine supply information, go to: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-gen/shortages

The current VIS for the shingles vaccine is now available in Arabic, Cambodian, Chinese, and Tagalog. The current VIS for the measles-mumps-rubella-varicella (MMRV) vaccine is now available in Arabic, Cambodian, Hmong, and Korean. IAC gratefully acknowledges the California Department of Public Health, Immunization Branch, for the translations.

Shingles
To access the new translations of the VIS for shingles vaccine, as well as the shingles vaccine VIS in English and other translations, go to: http://www.immunize.org/vis/vis_shingles.asp

MMRV
To access the new translations of the VIS for MMRV vaccine, as well as the MMRV vaccine VIS in English and other translations, go to: http://www.immunize.org/vis/vis_mmrv.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 recently released the September issue of its monthly newsletter Immunization Works and posted it on the website of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD). The newsletter offers the immunization community information about current topics. The information is in the public domain and can be reproduced and circulated widely.

The issue includes feature articles on these topics:
(1) Estimates of vaccination coverage for children ages 19-35 months (based on the 2009 National Immunization Survey)

(2) Updated recommendations for prevention of invasive pneumococcal disease among adults using pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV)

(3) Pertussis outbreak in California

(4) Update on CDC's influenza resources

To access the September issue of Immunization Works, go to: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/news/newsltrs/imwrks/2010/201009.htm

To access archived issues, go to: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/news/newsltrs/imwrks

The CDC website recently posted the minutes of ACIP's June 23-24 meeting. To access a ready-to-print (PDF) version of the minutes, go to: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/recs/acip/downloads/min-jun10.pdf

To access information on past and upcoming ACIP meetings, including meeting agendas, minutes, registration, presentation slides, and meeting dates, go to: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/recs/acip/meetings.htm

PKIDs (Parents of Kids with Infectious Diseases) has scheduled four new webinars for October and November. All are intended to help immunization educators learn the ropes of social media.

(1) "Communications Made Easy--Roundtable Discussion" [of participants' social media problems and solutions] is scheduled for October 21 at 9AM Pacific time/noon Eastern time. For more information, or to pre-register, go to: https://cc.readytalk.com/r/qvc7a3t37cdy

(2) "Communications Made Easy--It's Our Policy: Social Media Guidelines We Can All Live With" is scheduled for October 26 at 9AM Pacific time/noon Eastern time. For more information, or to pre-register, go to: https://cc.readytalk.com/r/s2lh42hohxzl

(3) "Communications Made Easy--Social Media: Transforming the Way Nonprofits Communicate" is scheduled for November 16 at 9AM Pacific time/noon Eastern time. For more information, or to pre-register, go to: https://cc.readytalk.com/r/2ozpkoxrxoo1

(4) "Communications Made Easy--The Networked Nonprofit" is scheduled for November 17 at 9AM Pacific time/noon Eastern time. For more information, or to pre-register, go to: https://cc.readytalk.com/r/agxvwj5bxa55

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

Eurovaccine 2010 will be held in Stockholm on December 10. With a focus on vaccinology, the conference is intended for professionals working in the fields of regulation, policy, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of immunization activities in European countries.

For complete information, go to: http://ecdc.europa.eu/en/eurovaccine/Pages/index.aspx