Issue
Number 533
June 20, 2005
CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE
- CDC announces topics for July 14 net conference on
Current Issues in Immunization and opens online registration
- FDA approves Pegasys for treatment of chronic hepatitis
B virus infection
- New: June 17 issue of IAC's Hep Express electronic
newsletter now available online
- Corrections made to Hmong inactivated influenza vaccine
VIS; interim meningococcal vaccine VIS now available in Turkish
- Upcoming events: Immunization coalition teleconference
in July and Indiana immunization conference in October
- Somalia schedules emergency polio immunization campaign
for June 17-26
- CDC reports on seroprevalence of poliovirus antibodies
among children in a Dominican community in Puerto Rico in 2002
- CDC reports on progress in measles control in Zambia
during 1999-2004
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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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June 20, 2005
CDC ANNOUNCES TOPICS FOR JULY 14 NET CONFERENCE ON CURRENT ISSUES IN
IMMUNIZATION AND OPENS ONLINE REGISTRATION
Scheduled for July 14, from noon to 1PM ET, the net conference Current
Issues in Immunization is designed to provide clinicians with up-to-date
immunization information. The two program topics for July are (1) updated
recommendations for varicella vaccine and (2) information on the new
adolescent pertussis vaccine. The
conference requires registration, as space is limited. Registration will
close when the course is full or on July 11 (midnight ET). To register for
the conference, go to:
http://www2.cdc.gov/nip/isd/ciinc
The program will combine a telephone audio conference and simultaneous
online visual content. Participants can join the Q&A session by telephone or
Internet. For instructions and system requirements, go to:
http://www.cdc.gov/nip/ed/ciinc/instructions.htm
For additional information, go to:
http://www.cdc.gov/nip/ed/ciinc
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June 20, 2005
FDA APPROVES PEGASYS FOR TREATMENT OF CHRONIC HEPATITIS B VIRUS INFECTION
On May 13, 2005, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Pegasys (Peginterferon
alfa-2a) for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B infection. Pegasys is the
only pegylated interferon approved for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B,
including both HBeAg-positive and HBeAg-negative variations of chronic
hepatitis B.
To access prescribing information from the FDA website,
click here.
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June 20, 2005
NEW: JUNE 17 ISSUE OF IAC'S HEP EXPRESS ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER NOW AVAILABLE
ONLINE
The June 17 issue of Hep Express, an electronic newsletter published by IAC,
is now available online. It is intended for health and social service
professionals involved in the prevention and treatment of viral hepatitis.
IAC Express has already covered some of the information presented in the
June 17 Hep Express; titles of articles we have not yet covered follow.
- Hepatitis B Foundation offers interactive
tutorial and other new resources
- NYU Center for the Study of Asian American
Health seeks abstracts for September conference
- Latino Organization for Liver Awareness
sponsoring New York City Hepatitis C March for Awareness
- HFI's National Viral Hepatitis Summit to
take place September 22-23 in Chicago
- Free viral hepatitis program offered July
16 in Orange, CA
To access the complete June 17 issue, go to:
http://www.hepprograms.org/hepexpress/issue31.asp
To sign up for a free subscription to Hep Express, go to:
http://www.hepprograms.org/hepexpress/signup.asp
To access previous issues of Hep Express, go to:
http://www.hepprograms.org/hepexpress/index.asp
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June 20, 2005
CORRECTIONS MADE TO HMONG INACTIVATED INFLUENZA VACCINE VIS; INTERIM
MENINGOCOCCAL VACCINE VIS NOW AVAILABLE IN TURKISH
Recently, minor errors were corrected on the Hmong-language VIS for
trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine (TIV), and the interim VIS for
meningococcal vaccine was translated into Turkish. IAC thanks the
California Department of Health Services for correcting the Hmong-language
VIS and Doctors Mustafa Kozanoglu and Murat Serbest for providing the
Turkish-language VIS.
VIS FOR INACTIVATED INFLUENZA VACCINE (dated 5/24/04)
To obtain a ready-to-copy (PDF) version of the VIS for TIV in Hmong, go
to:
http://www.immunize.org/vis/hm_flu04.pdf
To obtain it in English, go to:
http://www.immunize.org/vis/2flu.pdf
INTERIM VIS FOR MENINGOCOCCAL VACCINE (dated 4/4/05)
To obtain a ready-to-copy (PDF) version of the interim VIS for
meningococcal vaccine in Turkish, go to:
http://www.immunize.org/vis/tu_men05.pdf
To obtain it in English, go to:
http://www.immunize.org/vis/menin05.pdf
For information about the use of VISs, and for VISs in a total of 33
languages, visit IAC's VIS web section at
http://www.immunize.org/vis
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June 20, 2005
UPCOMING EVENTS: IMMUNIZATION COALITION TELECONFERENCE IN JULY AND INDIANA
IMMUNIZATION CONFERENCE IN OCTOBER
IAC recently posted the following to its Calendar of Events web section:
1. TELECONFERENCE ON USING REGISTRIES TO IMPROVE AND SUSTAIN IMMUNIZATION
COALITIONS.
SCHEDULED FOR July 12 at 1PM ET.
DISCUSSION FOCUS: The role of an immunization coalition in implementing an
immunization registry in a challenging medical environment.
PRESENTERS: Debbie McCune Davis, program director, the Arizona Partnership
for Immunization (TAPI), and Amy Pisani, executive director, Every Child
by Two/The Carter-Bumpers Campaign for Early Immunization (ECBT).
REGISTER BY EMAIL at IZTA@aed.org and
include the following in your message: "Sign me up for the Using
Registries call."
PRESENTED BY the National Immunization Coalition TA [technical assistance]
Network.
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION on the National Coalition TA Network, go to:
http://www.izcoalitionsta.org
2. INDIANA IMMUNIZATION FALL AWARDS RECEPTION AND CONFERENCE.
SCHEDULED FOR October 2 (reception with speakers) and October 3
(conference; 8:30AM to 3:30PM) at the Indianapolis Hilton.
SPEAKERS: William L. Atkinson, MD, MPH, CDC/NIP, Atlanta, and Patricia
Stinchfield, RN, CNP, Children's Immunization Project, St. Paul.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, email Beverly Sheets, Immunization Program, Indiana
State Department of Health (ISDH), at
hepbbev@aol.com To visit the Immunization Program on the ISDH website,
go to:
http://www.in.gov/isdh/programs/immunization
FOR INFORMATION ON ADDITIONAL EVENTS of interest to those in the
immunization community, visit the IAC Calendar of Events web section at
http://www.immunize.org/calendar
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June 20, 2005
SOMALIA SCHEDULES EMERGENCY POLIO IMMUNIZATION CAMPAIGN FOR JUNE 17-26
On June 15, UNICEF issued a press release announcing that Somalia will
conduct a nationwide emergency polio vaccination campaign during June
17-26. The campaign comes as WHO issued a warning that Somalia could
become re-infected with polio from nearby Ethiopia and Yemen, where an
outbreak of the disease has paralyzed 230 children.
Somalia has been polio free since October 2002. The current campaign is
launched as an emergency preventive measure; the aim is to rapidly boost
children's immunity to polio. It is estimated that only one-quarter of
Somalia's children are routinely immunized against polio.
To access the complete press release, go to:
http://www.unicef.org/media/media_27376.html
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June 20, 2005
CDC REPORTS ON SEROPREVALENCE OF POLIOVIRUS ANTIBODIES AMONG CHILDREN IN A
DOMINICAN COMMUNITY IN PUERTO RICO IN 2002
CDC published "Seroprevalence of Poliovirus Antibodies Among Children in a
Dominican Community--Puerto Rico, 2002" in the June 17 issue of MMWR.
Portions of a summary made available to the press are reprinted below.
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In response to an outbreak of 21 cases of paralytic poliomyelitis
associated with type 1 oral polio vaccine on the Caribbean island of
Hispaniola (Haiti and Dominican Republic) during 2000-2001, the Puerto
Rico Department of Health (PRDH) and CDC assessed the seroprevalence of
poliovirus antibodies among 180 children in a community in Puerto Rico
with a high proportion of immigrants from the Dominican Republic. Results
of the study, conducted in 2002, show high levels of seropositivity
(immunity) for all 3 poliovirus serotypes; 162 (90 percent) of the 180
children studied had antibodies to all 3 polioviruses, and only 3 (1.7
percent) children were negative to all 3 serotypes.
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To access a web-text (HTML) version of the complete article, go to:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5423a2.htm
To access a ready-to-print (PDF) version of this issue of MMWR, go to:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/wk/mm5423.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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June 20, 2005
CDC REPORTS ON PROGRESS IN MEASLES CONTROL IN ZAMBIA DURING 1999-2004
CDC published "Progress in Measles Control--Zambia, 1999-2004" in the June
17 issue of MMWR. Portions of a summary made available to the press are
reprinted below.
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Zambia, a southern African country, reported 1,698-23,518 measles cases
annually during 1991-1999. During this time, measles was considered one of
the five major causes of morbidity and mortality among children aged less
than 5 years. During 1999-2004, Zambia tried several different strategies
to control measles. In 2003, the country adopted a strategy of accelerated
measles control. As part of this approach, a nationwide campaign targeting
all children aged 6 months–14 years was conducted in July 2003. As a
result, Zambia has seen greater than 85 percent reduction in reported
measles cases and greater than 98 percent reduction in reported measles
deaths. In 2004, 3,425 suspected measles cases were reported, of which 831
were serologically tested for measles and 34 (4 percent) were positive for
measles. During this year there were only 3 reported measles deaths.
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To access a web-text (HTML) version of the complete article, go to:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5423a3.htm
To access a ready-to-print (PDF) version of this issue of MMWR, go to:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/wk/mm5423.pdf |
