IAC Express 2010
Issue number 865: May 3, 2010
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Contents of this Issue
Select a title to jump to the article.
  1. Reminder: April 2010 issues of Needle Tips and Vaccinate Adults available online
  2. MMWR publishes ACIP's guidance for use of high-dose inactivated influenza vaccine in people age 65 years and older
  3. IAC's Video of the Week is a rebroadcast of PBS's "The Vaccine War"
  4. Shingles vaccine VIS now available in Spanish
  5. MMWR presents state-by-state statistics on seasonal influenza vaccination coverage during August 2009-January 2010
  6. Keep vaccinating against H1N1 and seasonal influenza!
  7. VISs for Gardasil and Cervarix human papillomavirus vaccines now available in four translations
  8. MMWR corrects some references that appeared in the March 2010 ACIP recommendations for rabies postexposure prophylaxis
 
Abbreviations
AAFP, American Academy of Family Physicians; AAP, American Academy of Pediatrics; ACIP, Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices; AMA, American Medical Association; CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; FDA, Food and Drug Administration; IAC, Immunization Action Coalition; MMWR, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report; NCIRD, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases; NIVS, National Influenza Vaccine Summit; VIS, Vaccine Information Statement; VPD, vaccine-preventable disease; WHO, World Health Organization.
  
Issue 865: May 3, 2010
1.  Reminder: April 2010 issues of Needle Tips and Vaccinate Adults available online

The April 2010 issues of Needle Tips and Vaccinate Adults are available online for viewing, downloading, and printing. Both issues focus on IAC's newly revised summaries of recommendations for immunization. The content of Vaccinate Adults is similar to that of Needle Tips, except the pediatric information has been removed from Vaccinate Adults.

Complete information about the April 2010 issue of Needle Tips is available at http://www.immunize.org/nt There you will find a link for displaying and printing the entire 24-page PDF of the issue, along with a table of contents for viewing and printing individual sections of Needle Tips.

To download the entire issue of Needle Tips right now, go to: http://www.immunize.org/nslt.d/n44/n44.pdf

Complete information about the April 2010 issue of Vaccinate Adults is available at http://www.immunize.org/va

To download the entire issue of Vaccinate Adults right now, go to: http://www.immunize.org/va/va27.pdf

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2 MMWR publishes ACIP's guidance for use of high-dose inactivated influenza vaccine in people age 65 years and older

CDC published "Licensure of a High-Dose Inactivated Influenza Vaccine for Persons Aged >=65 Years (Fluzone High-Dose) and Guidance for Use--United States, 2010" in the April 30 issue of MMWR. A portion of the first paragraph and the section on guidance for use are reprinted below.


Persons aged >=65 years are at greater risk for hospitalization and death from seasonal influenza compared with other age groups, and they respond to vaccination with lower antibody titers to influenza hemagglutinin (an established correlate of protection against influenza) compared with younger adults. On December 23, 2009, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) licensed an injectable inactivated trivalent influenza vaccine (Fluzone High-Dose, sanofi-pasteur) that contains an increased amount of influenza virus hemagglutinin antigen compared with other inactivated influenza vaccines such as Fluzone. Fluzone High-Dose is licensed as a single dose for use among persons aged >=65 years and will be available beginning with the 2010-11 influenza season. . . . .

ACIP GUIDANCE FOR USE OF FLUZONE HIGH-DOSE
Fluzone High-Dose may be used for persons aged >=65 years. All persons aged >=6 months are recommended for annual influenza vaccination beginning with the 2010-11 influenza season. ACIP has not expressed a preference for any specific licensed inactivated trivalent influenza vaccine, including Fluzone High-Dose, for use in persons aged >=65 years. Data demonstrating greater protection against influenza illness after vaccination with Fluzone High-Dose are needed to evaluate whether Fluzone High-Dose is a more effective vaccine for persons aged >=65 years. A 3-year postlicensure study of the vaccine effectiveness of Fluzone High-Dose compared with standard dose inactivated influenza vaccine (Fluzone) was begun in 2009 and should be completed in 2012. As with other inactivated influenza vaccines, Fluzone High-Dose should not be administered to anyone with a known hypersensitivity to egg proteins or influenza vaccine. Adverse events after receipt of any vaccine should be reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System at http://vaers.hhs.gov


To access the MMWR article in PDF format, go to: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/wk/mm5916.pdf and see pages 485-486.

For the full article in web-text (HTML) format, go to:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5916a2.htm

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3 IAC's Video of the Week is a rebroadcast of PBS's "The Vaccine War"

IAC encourages IAC Express readers to watch the 55-minute rebroadcast of PBS's Frontline episode "The Vaccine War." The episode, which aired nationally on April 27, examines the emotionally charged debate over vaccines that is increasingly being played out through social media such as Facebook and Twitter.

The video will be available on the home page of IAC's website through May 9. To access it, 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

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4 Shingles vaccine VIS now available in Spanish

Dated 10/6/09, the VIS for shingles (zoster) vaccine is now available in Spanish. IAC gratefully acknowledges the California Department of Public Health, Immunization Branch, for the translation.

To access the Spanish translation of the VIS for shingles, as well as this VIS in English and other translations, go to: http://www.immunize.org/vis/vis_shingles.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

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5 MMWR presents state-by-state statistics on seasonal influenza vaccination coverage during August 2009-January 2010

CDC published "Interim Results: State-Specific Seasonal Influenza Vaccination Coverage--United States, August 2009-January 2010" in the April 30 issue of MMWR. The first paragraph is reprinted below.


The advent of the 2009 influenza A (H1N1) pandemic in April 2009 made the 2009-10 influenza season highly unusual. Public awareness of the potential seriousness of influenza was heightened by media coverage of pandemic-associated hospitalizations and deaths, especially among younger persons. In the fall, the distribution of two separate influenza vaccines began, with distinct, although overlapping, recommendations from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). In addition, 2009-10 was the first full season in which ACIP's recommendation to vaccinate all children aged 5-18 years was implemented. To provide preliminary state-specific estimates of seasonal influenza vaccination coverage, CDC analyzed Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) and National 2009 H1N1 Flu Survey (NHFS) data collected during October 2009-February 2010. By January 31, estimated state seasonal influenza vaccination coverage among persons aged >=6 months ranged from 30.3% to 54.5% (median: 40.6%). Median coverage was 41.2% for children aged 6 months-17 years, 38.3% for adults aged 18-49 years with high-risk conditions, 28.8% for adults aged 18-49 years without high-risk conditions, 45.5% for adults aged 50-64 years, and 69.3% for adults aged >=65 years. These results, compared with the previous season, suggest large increases in coverage for children and a moderate increase for adults aged 18-49 years without high-risk conditions. Health departments should identify best practices that led to higher vaccination coverage and should support effective vaccination services (e.g., school-located vaccination programs and office-based protocols, such as reminder/recall and standing orders).

For the full article in web-text (HTML) format, go to:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5916a1.htm

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6 Keep vaccinating against H1N1 and seasonal influenza!

Please continue to vaccinate patients against H1N1 and seasonal influenza (as vaccine supplies permit). Remember: 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccine will not protect people against seasonal influenza, and seasonal influenza vaccine will not protect against H1N1 influenza.

Providers who don't have H1N1 vaccine or seasonal influenza vaccine can direct patients to the Google Flu Shot Finder at http://www.google.com/flushot

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7 VISs for Gardasil and Cervarix human papillomavirus vaccines now available in four translations

Dated 3/30/10, the VISs for Gardasil and Cervarix human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines are now available in Armenian, Cambodian, Farsi (spoken in Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, and Iran), and Tagalog. IAC gratefully acknowledges the California Department of Public Health, Immunization Branch, for the translations.

To access the new translations of the Gardasil VIS, as well as this VIS in English and other translations, go to:
http://www.immunize.org/vis/vis_hpv_gardasil.asp

To access the new translations of the Cervarix VIS, as well as this VIS in English and other translations, go to:
http://www.immunize.org/vis/vis_hpv_cervarix.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

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8 MMWR corrects some references that appeared in the March 2010 ACIP recommendations for rabies postexposure prophylaxis

CDC published Errata: "Vol.59, No.RR-2" in the April 30 issue of MMWR. A portion of the first paragraph is reprinted below.


In "Use of a Reduced (4-Dose) Vaccine Schedule for Postexposure Prophylaxis to Prevent Human Rabies: Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices," errors occurred in the references on page 8. . . .

[IAC Express editor's note: To access text about the corrected references, click on the link below.]

For the full article in web-text (HTML) format, go to:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5916a5.htm

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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.

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Editorial Information

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    Kelly L. Moore, MD, MPH
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    John D. Grabenstein, RPh, PhD
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    Courtnay Londo, MA
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