Issue Number 523            May 2, 2005

CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE

  1. "Read immediately" issue of Immunization Works discusses relocation of the Immunization Safety Branch
  2. April issue of CDC's Immunization Works electronic newsletter now available on the NIP website
  3. New: CDC's commemorative timeline, 50 Years of Vaccine Progress, is posted on NIP's website
  4. New: VISs for three travel-related vaccines now available in DVD, video, and CD-ROM formats
  5. Updated: IAC revises two of its education pieces
  6. CDC reports on recent worldwide progress toward interruption of wild poliovirus transmission

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ABBREVIATIONS: AAFP, American Academy of Family Physicians; AAP, American Academy of Pediatrics; ACIP, Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices; CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; FDA, Food and Drug Administration; IAC, Immunization Action Coalition; MMWR, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report; NIP, National Immunization Program; VIS, Vaccine Information Statement; VPD, vaccine-preventable disease; WHO, World Health Organization.
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May 2, 2005
"READ IMMEDIATELY" ISSUE OF IMMUNIZATION WORKS DISCUSSES RELOCATION OF THE IMMUNIZATION SAFETY BRANCH

On April 29, CDC released a "read immediately" issue of its Immunization Works electronic newsletter. Written by Chief Science Officer Dr. Dixie Snyder, the issue discusses the relocation of the Immunization Safety Branch. It is reprinted below in its entirety.

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As many of you know, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been taking steps to further strengthen the nation's immunization program. One critical decision that has been made is to relocate the immunization safety activities from CDC's National Immunization Program to CDC's Office of the Chief Science Officer (OCSO), which Dr. Julie Gerberding, Director of CDC, announced at the recent National Immunization Conference in Washington, D.C. In early April, CDC notified Congress of this decision, and on April 21, the 15-day congressional notification period ended, making the relocation of the immunization safety activities to OCSO official. We wanted to share with you some important information now that this transition period is over:

  • The new name of the office will be the Immunization Safety Office (ISO).
     
  • Dr. Frank DeStefano will continue to serve as acting director of the ISO until the selection of a permanent director, conducted via national search, is completed. This position reports directly to Dr. Dixie Snider, CDC's Chief Science Officer.
     
  • Attached is a document with several Questions and Answers that we thought might be helpful in the event that you or your organization receive inquiries from the public and others.
     
  • For more information about the Office of the Chief Science Officer, you can visit the following website: http://www.cdc.gov/od/ads

CDC is committed to building a more robust immunization safety activity with the goal of sustaining confidence through continued scientific quality, objectivity, and transparency of CDC's immunization recommendations. Therefore we want to assure you that collaboration between the National Immunization Program and the Office of the Chief Science Officer's ISO on these important immunization safety issues will continue.

Should you have any questions and/or concerns, please feel free to contact Brooke Barry at (404) 639-7404 or Cathy Spruill at (404) 639-7259. Thank you for your continued support and patience during this process.

Sincerely,

Dixie Snider Jr., MD, MPH
Chief Science Officer
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

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Within the next few days, the 4/29/05 "read immediately" issue is expected to be posted to the following web section: http://www.cdc.gov/nip/news/newsltrs/imwrks/imwrks.htm
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May 2, 2005
APRIL ISSUE OF CDC'S IMMUNIZATION WORKS ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER NOW AVAILABLE ON THE NIP WEBSITE

The April issue of Immunization Works, a monthly email newsletter published by CDC, is available on NIP's website. The newsletter offers members of the immunization community non-proprietary information about current topics. CDC encourages its wide dissemination.

The main article explains the two-tiered pre-booking and distribution strategies recommended for the 2005-06 influenza season. This article and all other articles in the April issue were covered in previous issues of IAC Express.

To access a copy of the April issue from the NIP website, go to:
http://www.cdc.gov/nip/news/newsltrs/imwrks/2005/200504.htm
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May 2, 2005
NEW: CDC'S COMMEMORATIVE TIMELINE, 50 YEARS OF VACCINE PROGRESS, IS POSTED ON NIP'S WEBSITE

CDC has developed a commemorative timeline that charts major milestones in vaccine development, administration, and safety since 1955, the year inactivated polio vaccine was licensed in the United States. Titled 50 Years of Vaccine Progress, the timeline is posted on the NIP website at http://www.cdc.gov/nip/vaccine/vacc-timeline.htm

To access a ready-to-print (PDF) color poster of the timeline, suitable for a commercial printer, go to: http://www.cdc.gov/nip/vaccine/vacc-timeline-poster.pdf
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May 2, 2005
NEW: VISs FOR THREE TRAVEL-RELATED VACCINES NOW AVAILABLE IN DVD, VIDEO, AND CD-ROM FORMATS

Healthway Software of Fargo, ND, has recently produced VISs for three travel-related vaccines in DVD, video, and CD-ROM formats. Available for rabies, yellow fever, and typhoid vaccines, these "talking" VISs include audio, graphics, animation, and text. This makes them useful for presenting vaccine information to people with vision problems or limited literacy. Each "talking" VIS is available in English only, comes with a written handout, and costs $10. Run times vary between 7.3 minutes and 10.0 minutes.

RABIES VACCINE VISs. The DVD, video, and CD-ROM formats are based on the current CDC VIS for rabies vaccine, dated 11/4/03. To access additional information, go to:
http://www.healthwaysoftware.com/engrabies.htm

YELLOW FEVER VACCINE VISs. The DVD, video, and CD-ROM formats are based on the current CDC VIS for yellow fever vaccine, dated 11/9/04. To access additional information, go to:
http://www.healthwaysoftware.com/engyelfev.htm

TYPHOID VACCINE VISs. The DVD, video, and CD-ROM formats are based on the current CDC VIS for typhoid vaccine, dated 5/19/04. To access additional information, go to:
http://www.healthwaysoftware.com/engtyphoid.htm

ORDERING. To place an online order, go to:
http://www.healthwaysoftware.com/products.htm

To access an order form for fax and mail orders, go to:
http://www.healthwaysoftware.com/Orderform.pdf

ADDITIONAL MATERIALS. Healthway Software offers VISs and other health education materials in video, DVD, and CD-ROM formats in languages including English, Vietnamese, Spanish, Somali, Bosnian, Russian, and Arabic. To access Healthway Software's complete product line, go to: http://www.healthwaysoftware.com and scroll down the left column to the section titled Materials Available.

For additional information, send an email message to contact@healthwaysoftware.com
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May 2, 2005
UPDATED: IAC REVISES TWO OF ITS EDUCATION PIECES

IAC recently made major revisions to the following education pieces:

(1) "Reliable Sources of Immunization Information: Where to go to find answers!" Suitable for professionals or patients/ parents, this one-page education sheet was completely revised in April. It offers up-to-date contact information for a variety of dependable immunization resources: websites, staffed telephone lines, books, and videos.

To access a ready-to-print (PDF) version, go to:
http://www.immunize.org/catg.d/p4012.pdf

To access a web-text (HTML) version, go to:
http://www.immunize.org/catg.d/p4012.htm

(2) "Suggestions to Improve Your Immunization Services." This two-page education sheet gives health professionals an easy means of assessing the immunization services they provide to patients. It was re-titled and completely updated in April. The previous title was "Tips to Improve Your Clinic's Immunization Rates."

To access a ready-to-print (PDF) version, go to:
http://www.immunize.org/catg.d/p2045tip.pdf

To access a web-text (HTML) version, go to:
http://www.immunize.org/catg.d/p2045.htm
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May 2, 2005
CDC REPORTS ON RECENT WORLDWIDE PROGRESS TOWARD INTERRUPTION OF WILD POLIOVIRUS TRANSMISSION

CDC published "Progress Toward Interruption of Wild Poliovirus Transmission--Worldwide, January 2004-March 2005" in the April 29 issue of MMWR. The article's opening paragraph is reprinted below.

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In 1988, the World Health Assembly of the World Health Organization (WHO) resolved to eradicate poliomyelitis globally. Since then, substantial worldwide progress has been made toward that goal; the number of countries where polio is endemic declined from 125 in 1988 to six by the end of 2003. Further progress in 2004 toward interruption of transmission has continued in the three Asian countries where polio is endemic (Afghanistan, India, and Pakistan). However, in 2003, two countries in Africa experienced a resurgence of polio cases; the resurgence continued to spread in 2004 from the Nigeria-Niger endemic reservoir to involve a total of 14 countries that had not reported polio >=1 year. Local transmission of wild poliovirus (WPV) has been reestablished in six of these 14 countries, including Sudan, where a major outbreak occurred. This report describes global efforts to eradicate polio during January 2004-March 2005 and outlines remaining challenges to interrupting transmission in countries where polio remains endemic or transmission has been reestablished.

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To access a web-text (HTML) version of the complete article, go to: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5416a4.htm

To access a ready-to-print (PDF) version of this issue of MMWR, go to: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/wk/mm5416.pdf

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

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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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