On May 30, CDC published "Prevention of Pertussis, Tetanus, and Diphtheria Among Pregnant and Postpartum Women and Their Infants: Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices" as an MMWR Recommendations and Reports. Previously, the recommendations were available only in electronic format as an MMWR Early Release (published May 15). There is no difference in the content of these two documents; the content of the MMWR Recommendations and Reports published on May 30 is identical to the content of the MMWR Early Release published on May 15.

Important note: If you bookmarked these recommendations based on the URL given in the MMWR Early Release, please change your bookmark to reflect the URL below.

To access a ready-to-print (PDF) version of the recommendations, go to: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/rr/rr5704.pdf

To access a web-text (HTML) version of the recommendations, go to: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5704a1.htm

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

IAC recently developed a new standing orders protocol, "Standing Orders for Administering Zoster Vaccine to Adults." It is based on the recently released CDC publication "Prevention of Herpes Zoster: Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)," which was published May 15 as an MMWR Early Release.

To access "Standing Orders for Administering Zoster Vaccine to Adults," go to: http://www.immunize.org/catg.d/p3092.pdf

To access IAC's standing orders protocols for administering 15 additional vaccines to infants, children, adolescents, and adults, go to: http://www.immunize.org/standingorders

To access more than 175 FREE print resources for healthcare professionals and the public from IAC's Print Materials web section, go to: http://www.immunize.org/printmaterials

To access CDC's shingles recommendations, "Prevention of Herpes Zoster: Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)," go to:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/rr/rr57e0515.pdf

The next NCIRD live netconference will cover information on addressing parents' concerns about immunization. It is scheduled from noon to 1PM ET on June 12. The presenters are Kristine Sheedy, PhD, from CDC, and Patricia Stinchfield, RN, MS, from Children's Hospital of Minnesota. CDC's Andrew Kroger, MD, MPH, will moderate. Participation in the Q&A section of the program is available by phone and Internet.

This is a limited registration event. Registration will close on June 10 at midnight ET or when the course is full. To register, go to: http://www2.cdc.gov/vaccines/ed/ciinc

For additional information, go to:
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/ed/ciinc

On May 20, CDC posted information on its website about the temporary unavailability of rabies pre-exposure vaccines. The information was summarized in the May 27 issue of the electronic publication "CDC Update for Clinicians." The summary is reprinted below.

For additional information, go to:
http://www.cdc.gov/RABIES/news/2008-05-20_PreEVax.html

CDC recently announced the availability of an online tool, "Catch-up Immunization Scheduler for Children Six Years and Younger," that can be downloaded and used to determine the vaccines a child needs. It is especially useful for quickly seeing missed or skipped vaccines.

To access the "Catch-up Immunization Scheduler for Children Six Years and Younger," go to:
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/scheduler/catchup.htm

The IAC print piece "Vaccines Work! CDC Statistics Demonstrate Dramatic Declines in Vaccine-Preventable Diseases When Compared with the Pre-Vaccine Era" has been updated to reflect more recent statistical information made available by CDC.

To access the updated version of "Vaccines Work! CDC Statistics Demonstrate Dramatic Declines in Vaccine-Preventable Diseases When Compared with the Pre-Vaccine Era," go to:
http://www.immunize.org/catg.d/p4037.pdf

To access more than 175 FREE print resources for healthcare professionals and the public from IAC's Print Materials web section, go to: http://www.immunize.org/printmaterials

The Vaccine Education Center (VEC) at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia recently developed the following materials on adult and adolescent immunization:

Adult vaccination resource

• "Vaccines and Adults: A lifetime of health," a patient-education booklet, is available in English and Spanish. Two free booklets in each language are available per practice. Additional booklets are $1 each, plus shipping.

Adolescent vaccination resources

• "Vaccinating Adolescents and Teens," a 2-page laminated professional-education reference card, is available in English. Two free cards are available to healthcare professionals. Additional cards are $1 each, plus shipping.
   
• The posters "You Remember Homework" and "Old Enough to Babysit" are available in English. Two free posters of each title are available per practice. Additional posters are $1 per set of 3 posters of the same title, plus shipping.
   
• The bookmarks "Parent Bookmark," "Soccer Bookmark," "Music Bookmark," "Reading Bookmark," and "Baseball Bookmark" are available in English and Spanish. Each title is offered in a shrink-wrapped pack of 50 bookmarks. Two free packs of each title and language are available per practice. Each additional pack costs $5, plus shipping.

To order online, go to:
http://www.chop.edu/vaccine/vec/vec_order.cfm

Order by email at vaccines@email.chop.edu or by phone at (215) 590-9990.

For additional ordering information, go to:
http://www.chop.edu/consumer/jsp/division/generic.jsp?id=75982

The May issue of Parents PACK, an electronic newsletter published by the Vaccine Education Center (VEC) of Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, has an article of special interest to parents and health professionals.

The article reports on the recent release of the WHO publication "10 Facts on Immunization." The WHO document states that globally 10 million children younger than age 5 die each year; of those, approximately 2.5 million die from vaccine-preventable diseases.

To access the complete WHO document, go to:
http://www.who.int/features/factfiles/immunization/en/index.html

To access the May issue of Parents PACK, go to:
https://www.chop.edu/consumer/jsp/division/generic.jsp?id=88172

For additional information about the Parents PACK newsletter, including subscription information, go to:
http://www.chop.edu/consumer/jsp/division/generic.jsp?id=79354

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) will hold its next meeting on June 25-26 at CDC's Clifton Road campus in Atlanta. The meeting is open to the general public.

To speed security clearance, ACIP attendees (participants and visitors) should register online. The online registration deadline for the June 25-26 meeting for non-U.S. citizens is June 3. The deadline for U.S. citizens is June 10.

To access the online registration form, go to:
http://www2a.cdc.gov/nip/ACIP/JuneRegistration.asp

To access detailed information about the meeting, go to: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/recs/acip/meetings.htm#register There you will find links to the meeting agenda, driving directions, and other useful material.

CDC published "Guiding Principles for Development of ACIP Recommendations for Vaccination During Pregnancy and Breastfeeding" in the May 30 issue of MMWR. A summary made available to the press is reprinted below in its entirety.

To access a ready-to-print (PDF) version of this issue of MMWR, go to: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/wk/mm5721.pdf

CDC recently posted "Avian Influenza A Virus Infections of Humans" to its Avian Influenza web section. In addition to summarizing information about avian influenza A virus (H5N1) infections in humans, the piece presents links to several useful resources offered by the federal government and the World Health Organization.

To access "Avian Influenza A Virus Infections of Humans", go to:
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avian/gen-info/avian-flu-humans.htm

To access a broad range of continually updated information on seasonal influenza, avian influenza, pandemic influenza, and swine influenza, go to: http://www.cdc.gov/flu