Issue 1,674: January 25, 2023
 
Top Stories
 
Vaccine Information Statements
 
Featured Resources
 
Notable Publications
 
Global News
 
Upcoming Events
 
Top Stories

Register for February 28 webinar! Immunize.org, with pain mitigation expert, Anna Taddio, PhD, presents “Improving the Vaccination Experience: Reducing Pain and Anxiety for Children and Adults.”

Anxiety about needles and injections affects as many as 2 out of 3 children and 1 out of 4 adults. This anxiety can contribute to dreading, delaying, or avoiding vaccinations, even when the importance of preventing illness is understood. The good news is that there are safe, effective, and practical steps that vaccinators, vaccine recipients, and caregivers can take to reduce vaccination-related pain and anxiety. Creating a less stressful vaccination experience increases confidence in vaccination.
 
In this live, 1-hour webinar hosted by Immunize.org, Improving the Vaccination Experience: Reducing Pain and Anxiety for Children and Adults at 1:00 p.m. (ET) on February 28, we will learn more about the principles behind vaccination pain and anxiety and discuss simple evidence-based strategies to reduce apprehension. These strategies were developed and promoted by the experts from HELP Eliminate Pain in Kids and Adults. Their work was used by the World Health Organization (WHO), Public Health Canada, and others to develop guidelines for reducing vaccination pain.
 
The panelists will be:

  • Anna Taddio, BScPhm, PhD; Professor, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto; Senior Associate Scientist, The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), Toronto, Ontario
  • Kelly L. Moore, MD, MPH; President and CEO, Immunize.org
  • Lucie Marisa Bucci, MA; Director, Policy and Government Relations, Society for Infodemic Management (SIM), Québec, Québec
  • Sharon Humiston, MD, MPH; Director for Research, Immunize.org

Following the presentation, ample time is reserved for your questions.



Register now to be sure you don’t miss this important session designed to help you make vaccination a more positive experience for everyone.


“Reasons for Receiving or Not Receiving Bivalent COVID-19 Booster Vaccinations among Adults—United States, November 1–December 10, 2022” published in MMWR 

CDC published Reasons for Receiving or Not Receiving Bivalent COVID-19 Booster Vaccinations among Adults—United States, November 1–December 10, 2022 in the January 20 issue of MMWR. A summary appears below.

Vaccination with an updated bivalent COVID-19 vaccine, which contains mRNA for the spike proteins of both the original virus that causes COVID-19 and Omicron variants, is recommended to restore waning protection from severe disease. However, by the end of 2022, just 31% of eligible U.S. adults had received an updated vaccine. An online survey conducted in November–December 2022, assessed reasons for this among 1,200 COVID-19–vaccinated U.S. adults.

The most commonly reported reasons for not receiving an updated vaccine were lack of awareness of eligibility (23%) or availability (19%) and perceived existing protection against infection (19%). The frequency varied by age group, with younger adults more likely to report being unaware they were eligible and adults age 60 years or older more likely to report they felt they already had adequate protection.
 
After viewing vaccine availability information and eligibility criteria, two thirds of the participants who had not yet received an updated vaccine reported planning to do so. One month later, 29% of the participants who planned to receive the vaccine had done so. Most of the respondents who had not yet received the vaccine still planned to receive it but, many reported being too busy (36%).

Healthcare professionals and public health practitioners should convey information about vaccination recommendations, eligibility, and waning immunity and encourage patients to get vaccinated. 

Access the MMWR article in HTML or PDF.

Related Link


“Early and Increased Influenza Activity among Children—Tennessee, 2022–23 Influenza Season” published in MMWR 

CDC published Early and Increased Influenza Activity among Children—Tennessee, 2022–23 Influenza Season in the January 20 issue of MMWR. A summary appears below.

A field investigation of influenza activity in Tennessee during November 2022 found that children were twice as likely as adults to test positive for influenza and were hospitalized with flu at rates that rivaled past high-severity influenza seasons. This highlights that, to help prevent flu and severe flu complications, everyone age 6 months and older should get an annual flu vaccine.



Access the MMWR article in HTML or PDF.

Related Link


Influenza continues to decline, but remains a threat; keep encouraging vaccination

Now is the best time to vaccinate anyone not yet protected from influenza this season. CDC’s Weekly U.S. Influenza Surveillance Report, FluView, provides a valuable snapshot of influenza activity state-by-state.

Influenza Surveillance
For week 2, ending January 14, CDC's Weekly U.S. Influenza Surveillance Report, FluView, reports that nationwide, 3.0% of outpatient visits were due to respiratory illness that included fever plus a cough or sore throat (i.e., influenza-like illness [ILI]). This exceeds the national baseline of 2.5%. Multiple respiratory viruses are co-circulating; the relative contribution of influenza virus infection to ILI varies by location. So far this season, 85 children have died from influenza-associated causes.



Influenza Vaccination Dashboard
CDC's Weekly Flu Vaccination shows that vaccination coverage for all children is similar to the estimate at the same time in December 2021 (50.3% compared with 49.5%) and 2.8 percentage points lower compared with same time in December 2020 (50.3% compared with 53.1%). Vaccination rates are lowest for children living in rural areas. Coverage for children residing in rural areas is 16.4 percentage points lower compared with children living in suburban areas (35.6% compared with 52.0%) and 17.0 percentage points lower compared with children living in urban areas (35.6% compared with 52.5%).

CDC recommends everyone age 6 months and older get annual influenza vaccination. Vaccines.gov offers VaccineFinder, a service of Boston Children’s Hospital, to help people find influenza and COVID-19 vaccines for any age group. To be listed as a provider by VaccineFinder, see the information at this website.

Related Links

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Immunize.org remembers Hal Margolis, MD, our long-time friend and partner in the fight against hepatitis B and other infectious diseases

It is with great sadness that we acknowledge the death of former CDC employee and long-time friend of Immunize.org (formerly IAC), Harold S. “Hal” Margolis, MD, on November 25, 2022, at the age of 76. Below is a remembrance from Deborah L. Wexler, MD, Immunization Action Coalition (IAC) Founder and Executive Director Emerita.



Hal and I became friends at the 1990 Asian and Pacific Islander American Health Forum conference on hepatitis B.  Quickly after that, Hal did everything he possibly could to assist IAC, including bringing IAC’s hepatitis B vaccine birth dose activities to the attention of the CDC.  It was Hal’s critical support and encouragement in 1995 that led to our receiving the first of many CDC cooperative agreements.
 
Over the years, Hal continued to provide his expertise to IAC in unlimited ways, including answering hundreds of “Ask the Experts” questions on hepatitis B that were published in our semiannual newsletter
Needle Tips.
 
It was Hal who nominated IAC in 1997 for CDC’s prestigious Partners in Public Health Award, which we were honored to receive. 
 
In addition to IAC, Hal collaborated with organizations and governments far and wide, across the nation and around the world, providing his unique vision of ways to improve public health services.
 
Hal Margolis was a true international hero of public health.


Related Link

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Spotlight: Immunize.org resources that focus on vaccine products and manufacturers

In this week's Spotlight, we summarize resources at Immunize.org that focus on specific vaccine products. 



Package Inserts and FDA Product Approvals main page provides up-to-date product information links and links to FDA vaccine approval web pages for all vaccines licensed for use in the United States. 

Vaccine Manufacturers main page provides links to the websites of the vaccine manufacturers in the United States, as well as providing contact information such as telephone numbers and email addresses. In addition, the vaccine products for each of the companies are listed.

Vaccines main page links to information about 24 vaccines and the diseases they prevent. For each vaccine, access the latest recommendations, information, and resources from Immunize.org and CDC.


Vaccines in the news

These recent articles convey the potential risks of vaccine-preventable diseases and the importance of vaccination.


Vaccine Information Statements

Immunize.org continues to expand its translations of new and updated Vaccine Information Statements for varicella, MMR, and MMRV, MenB, MenACWY, and zoster vaccines. Be sure you are using the latest translations!

Thanks to CDC support, Immunize.org substantially expanded its repository of Vaccination Information Statement (VIS) translations. Immunize.org posted new and updated VIS translations for varicella, MMR, and MMRV, MenB, MenACWY, and zoster vaccines.

All translations are available in print-ready PDF format. 

Varicella VIS (view in English):
Updated: Farsi
New! German
New: Hindi
New! Italian
Updated: Khmer (Cambodian)
New! Polish
New! Swahili (Kiswahili)
New! Urdu
New! Yiddish

MMR (Measles, Mumps, and Rubella) VIS (view in English): 
New! German
New! Italian
New! Polish
New! Swahili (Kiswahili)  
New! Urdu
New! Yiddish

MMRV (Measles, Mumps, Rubella, and Varicella) VIS (view in English):
Updated: Farsi
New! German
New! Hindi
New! Italian
Updated: Khmer (Cambodian)
New! Polish
New! Swahili (Kiswahili)
New! Urdu
New! Yiddish

MenACWY (Meningococcal ACWY) VIS (view in English):
New! Armenian
New! Farsi
New! German
New! Hindi
Updated: Italian
Updated: Japanese
New! Khmer (Cambodian)
New! Korean
Updated: Polish
Updated: Swahili (Kiswahili)
New! Tagalog
Updated: Urdu
Updated: Yiddish

MenB (Meningococcal B) VIS (view in English):
Updated: Armenian
Updated: Farsi
New! German
Updated: Hindi
New! Italian
Updated Japanese
Updated: Khmer (Cambodian)
Updated: Korean
New! Polish
New! Swahili (Kiswahili)
Updated: Tagalog
New! Urdu
New! Yiddish

Zoster recombinant VIS (view in English):
New! Armenian
Updated: Farsi
New! German
New! Hindi
New! Italian
Updated: Japanese
Updated: Khmer (Cambodian)
Updated: Korean
New! Polish
New! Swahili (Kiswahili)
Updated: Tagalog
New! Urdu
New! Yiddish

Check the version dates of your office copies of newly updated translations. Translations of previous VIS versions should be discarded now that translations of the current versions are available.

Related Links

Featured Resources

ACOG offers free, online, CME-accredited COVID-19 Vaccine Confidence training

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) is offering a free, online, CME-accredited training titled "Inform to Empower: Building COVID-19 Vaccine Confidence One Conversation at a Time” to help clinicians hold effective conversations with their patients about COVID-19 vaccines. Training highlights include evidence-based patient communication strategies such as:

  • Motivational interviewing
  • Techniques for dispelling myths and misinformation
  • Tips for creating a culture of vaccine confidence among staff and peers.

Each module is supplemented with a toolkit comprised of educational materials for healthcare personnel and patients.  

ACOG found that almost all (96% or more) of the ob-gyns who took the training were satisfied with and enjoyed the training, and agreed or strongly agreed that it was important for their job.

This free training is accredited to provide 1.5 Continuing Medical Education credits for physicians. It is accessible on the ACOG Learning Management System and can be accessed by non-ACOG members through free and simple account creation.

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Newly updated 65+ Flu Defense website offers resources for healthcare professionals serving older adults   

Confident recommendations for influenza vaccine from healthcare providers are powerfully persuasive. To assist you in maximizing protection for your patients, Immunize.org, in collaboration with CSL Seqirus, updated the 65+ Flu Defense website.

Older adults are at increased risk of severe influenza and COVID-19 illness, including hospitalization and death, especially if they are not up to date on these vaccinations. An updated fact sheet on the website, The Importance of Preventing Influenza and COVID-19, offers responses to help guide discussions with patients on the importance of preventing influenza and COVID-19. 



This helpful site includes information, tools, and tips for communicating with adults age 65 and older about the scope and severity of influenza. Resources include:

Check out the updated 65+ Flu Defense website at www.influenza-defense.org to assist your ongoing efforts in protecting this vulnerable population.


Immunize.org's elegant "Vaccines Save Lives" black enamel pins make thoughtful tokens of thanks for hard-working colleagues

Immunize.org’s elegantly designed “Vaccines Save Lives” pins are meaningful gifts for people who care about vaccination. The pin makes a refined statement in hard black enamel with gold lettering and edges, measuring 1.125" x 0.75".


The pin is a stick-through-post variety with the back end covered by a round rubber cap that holds the pin securely. A gold metal spring-lock clasp is also provided.

Wear these pins on clothing, uniforms, and white coats to show that you value vaccines.

  

Click here for "Vaccines Save Lives" pin pricing and ordering information.


Notable Publications

“Codetections of Other Respiratory Viruses among Children Hospitalized with COVID-19” published in Pediatrics

In the January 18 issue, Pediatrics published Codetections of Other Respiratory Viruses among Children Hospitalized with COVID-19. The authors concluded that respiratory virus codetections, including respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and rhinovirus/enterovirus, may increase illness severity among children younger than age 5 years hospitalized with SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Related Link


Global News

“Epidemiology of Human Mpox—Worldwide, 2018–2021” published in MMWR

CDC published Epidemiology of Human Mpox—Worldwide, 2018–2021 in the January 20 issue of MMWR. The MMWR article summary appears below.

The number of mpox cases reported from rural areas in West and Central Africa had been increasing before 2018. . . .

During 2018–2021, mpox cases were confirmed in six African countries. Eight primary and three secondary cases associated with travel to Nigeria were identified in four non-African countries. Online training courses on mpox prevention and control have been available since 2018. . . .

Mpox continues to present challenges to public health and health care personnel in endemic areas. Improvements in surveillance and community engagement will be critical to detection and containment of the virus. Vaccines and treatments might reduce morbidity and mortality in areas with endemic disease.


Access the MMWR article in HTML or PDF.

Related Link


Upcoming Events

Virtual: NFID offers webinar “Cancer Prevention through Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccination” on January 26; CME available

The National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) will host a webinar titled Cancer Prevention through Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccination on January 26 from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. (ET). Participants will learn about the importance of HPV vaccination to prevent certain types of cancer. NFID designates this enduring material for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit.

Register for the webinar


Virtual: North Dakota State University Center for Immunization Research and Education offers webinar "Is Polio Coming Back?" on February 23, featuring Paul Offit, MD; CME available

North Dakota State University's Center for Immunization Research and Education will host a webinar titled Is Polio Coming Back? on February 23 from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. (ET). During the event, Paul Offit, MD, will discuss the recent case of paralytic polio in Rockland County, NY, and whether this case signals a larger problem for public health. Dr. Offit will also discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the inactivated and oral poliovirus vaccines, and provide insight into whether or not we will be able to eradicate polio with our current vaccine strategy. This activity is approved for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit. 

Register for the webinar


For more upcoming events, visit our Calendar of Events.

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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