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(c) 2000 Information Inc., Bethesda, MD.
Brought to you by the National Network for Immunization Information (NNii).
- Impact of the 1999 AAP/USPHS Joint Statement on Thimerosal in Vaccines on Infant Hepatitis B Vaccination Practices
- Notice to Readers: Satellite Broadcast on Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases
- Lawmakers Approve Bill to Educate Students About Meningitis
- Hepatitis Fines May Hit Fire Agency
- USA Today Snapshots: Trying to Avoid Flu This Season
- Influenza Kills Vail-Area Woman
- Chief Medical Officer Proposes Mandatory Hepatitis A Shots
- Notice to Readers: Risk of Meningococcal Disease Associated With the Hajj 2001
- Pharmacists and Immunizations: a National Survey
- South Africa: Cost of Flu Vaccine Set to Increase Drastically This Year
- AgForce Angry at [Australian] Govt's Inaction Over Q Fever Promise
U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS
Impact of the 1999 AAP/USPHS Joint Statement on Thimerosal in Vaccines on Infant Hepatitis B Vaccination Practices
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (www.cdc.gov/mmwr) (02/16/01) Vol. 50, No. 6, P. 94
In 1999, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) recommended generally that infant exposure to thimerosal, a popular vaccine preservative that contains mercury, be reduced, and specifically that infants born to hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-negative women--or women not infected with the hepatitis B virus--have the first dose of the vaccine postponed until two to six months of age. The groups also recommended that infants born to HBsAg-positive women--women who are infected with hepatitis B--receive postexposure prophylaxis with the first dose of vaccine, which should be administered within 12 hours of birth. In a recent report, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) determined that the 1999 statements on thimerosal from the AAP and PHS fostered rapid changes in routine perinatal hepatitis B virus prevention practices. After tests were conducted at hospitals in Michigan, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, and Oregon, the AAP and PHS recommended that hepatitis B vaccination policies be reintroduced for all newborn infants, but the previous recommendations about thimerosal caused many of the hospitals to maintain the discontinuance of prevention practices. Vaccination practices were inadvertently thwarted because of the seriousness with which the recommendations of professional and government advisory groups were treated. Both the AAP and the PHS suggest that all birthing hospitals have hepatitis B vaccine available for use in infants born to HBsAg-positive and unscreened women, and that hospitals continue to vaccinate all infants at birth until procedures are in place that dictate otherwise. The CDC maintains that early hepatitis B vaccination is a safe and effective means of reducing the risk of perinatal and horizontal hepatitis B transmission, and that it improves the chances of children completing the vaccination series on time.
Notice to Readers: Satellite Broadcast on Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (www.cdc.gov/mmwr) (02/16/01) Vol. 50, No. 6, P. 99
Over the course of four weeks in March and April, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Immunization Program and the Public Health Training Network will offer a satellite broadcast dealing with the most current information regarding immunization. Physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, pharmacists, residents, medical students, and nursing students are all encouraged to view the four-part series, titled, "Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases." The first portion of the program will deal with principles of vaccination, general recommendations on vaccination, and strategies to improve vaccination coverage levels. The second session will deal with pertussis, pneumococcal disease in childhood, poliomyelitis, and Haemophilus influenzae type b. The third session will address measles, rubella, varicella, and vaccine safety, while the last part will cover hepatitis B, hepatitis A, influenza, and pneumococcal disease in adults. The series will be broadcast on March 15, 22, 29, and April 5, 2001.
Lawmakers Approve Bill to Educate Students About Meningitis
Associated Press (www.ap.org) (02/15/01); Falkenberg, Lisa
A Texas State Senate committee unanimously approved on Thursday State Sen. Judith Zaffirini's bill to educate students about the deadly, little-known effects of meningococcal meningitis and the availability of a vaccine. The bill, which Zaffirini wrote after encouragement from an e-mail sent by a constituent, instructs the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to distribute information about meningitis to all college students. It also asks the Texas Education Agency's Education Service Centers to distribute information to school-aged children and their parents. The full Senate will vote on the law shortly.
Hepatitis Fines May Hit Fire Agency
Arizona Republic (www.arizonarepublic.com) (02/15/01) P. B1; Creno, Glen
In Arizona, Rural/Metro Corp. could be fined thousands of dollars after it failed to show that its Scottsdale firefighters had received vaccinations against hepatitis B. Acute forms of hepatitis B can result in liver failure or death, and one of the most common ways of catching the disease is through contact with infected blood--a constant worry for emergency workers. In the fall of 2000, Arizona's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) started checking testing procedures and record-keeping at Rural/Metro, and it discovered enough violations to recently refer the case to the Arizona Industrial Commission, which makes the final decision on whether to file formal citations. According to Rural/Metro, the OSHA concerns are primarily a record-keeping problem--no one has complained about being sick, and the company has even appointed a person to oversee its compliance with OSHA rules. A spokeswoman for the company added that employees who could not verify that they had been vaccinated received a hepatitis B shot, and that all of Rural/Metro's firefighters in Maricopa County received additional OSHA training.
USA Today Snapshots: Trying to Avoid Flu This Season
USA Today (www.usatoday.com) (02/15/01) P. 9D; Hall, Cindy; Simmons, Keith
According to a recent survey, many people try to avoid the flu by avoiding people who are sneezing and coughing. The study, from Opinion Research Corporation International for Kleenex, also found that 41 percent of the respondents were vaccinated against the flu. Approximately one-third of the participants said they prayed to try to stay healthy, while about one-quarter said they stayed away from crowded situations.
Influenza Kills Vail-Area Woman
Denver Rocky Mountain News (www.insidedenver.com) (02/15/01) P. 5A; Erickson, Jim
In Colorado, a 29-year-old Vail-area woman died recently from influenza, just a fortnight after two children in the state died from the disease. Since the end of December, flu cases have risen sharply in Colorado, one of 11 states reporting widespread numbers of people coming down with the disease. In 2000, the state's flu season had peaked by early January; however, this year the disease is still active in mid-February. Nevertheless, according to Dr. Richard Hoffman, state epidemiologist and chief medical officer, this has been an average year in terms of the numbers of people coming down with the disease. On average, about two Coloradans in the 18-to-44 age group die each year from the flu, while overall the disease takes the lives of between 200 and 400 residents of the state every year, most of them elderly.
Chief Medical Officer Proposes Mandatory Hepatitis A Shots
Associated Press (www.ap.org) (02/14/01)
In Colorado, the state Board of Health is debating whether to mandate that every child entering a Head Start, child care, or day care program should receive a hepatitis A shot. According to Richard Hoffman, chief medical officer for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, if the state Board of Health approves the suggestion, the immunizations of children aged between two and four would start in January 2002.
Notice to Readers: Risk of Meningococcal Disease Associated With the Hajj 2001
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (www.cdc.gov/mmwr) (02/16/09/01) Vol. 50, No. 6, P. 97
The Centers for Disease Control is warning about the risk of contracting meningococcal disease during the Hajj in Saudi Arabia this year. Every year, about 2 million pilgrims from over 140 countries travel to Saudi Arabia to visit the holy places of Islam in a pilgrimage known as the Hajj. Last year, health officials identified an outbreak of meningococcal disease during the Hajj, and four cases of the disease were subsequently identified among the approximately 15,000 pilgrims returning to the United States, their community, and their close contacts. Following an outbreak of the disease in 1987, the government of Saudi Arabia has required all pilgrims to get shots of the meningococcal polysaccharide vaccine. In the United States, the available vaccine, a quadrivalent meningococcal polysaccharide vaccine, contains serogroup W-135 polysaccharide, the same serogroup that was found in many of the cases of the disease last year in Saudi Arabia. This vaccine does not, however, does not protect people against asymptomatic nasopharyngeal carriage of the bacteria, and people can pass on Neisseria meningitidis infection to close contacts on their return from the Hajj. Taking antibiotics can cut down on the risk of contracting and passing on the disease.
Pharmacists and Immunizations: a National Survey
Journal of the American Pharmaceutical Association (www.aphanet.org) (02/01) Vol. 41, No. 1, P. 32; Madhavan, S. Suresh; Rosenbluth, Sidney A.; Amonkar, Mayur; et al.
A random sample of 5,342 pharmacists was selected for a mail survey to determine pharmacists' participation or readiness to participate in immunization programs. The pharmacists were chosen from chain drug stores, independent pharmacies, mass merchandiser and grocery settings, and primary care clinics and health maintenance organization locations. Three mailings resulted in a response rate of 25.3 percent. Primary outcome measures were current involvement in immunization programs, willingness to become involved, barriers to involvement, and believed patient interest. Just 53.1 percent of respondents knew whether their state allowed pharmacist-administered immunizations. While many are involved in immunization counseling, only 2.2 percent of respondents actively immunize adults and 0.9 percent immunize children. Those more likely to perform immunizations were men, independents, owners/partners, and those who had attended educational programs on the topic. Significantly, many states were in the process of changing their laws to allow pharmacists to perform immunizations during this survey, which may account for the low percentage of pharmacists who knew their state's regulations. The survey provides a baseline for future educational initiatives and programs for an increase in pharmacy-based immunization.
INTERNATIONAL IMMUNIZATION NEWS
South Africa: Cost of Flu Vaccine Set to Increase Drastically This Year
Africa News Service (www.africanews.org) (02/15/01)
According to Medinfo spokesperson Dr. Andrew Jamieson, the cost of flu vaccines should rise dramatically in South Africa this year as a result of the country's entry into the world economy, the depreciation of the rand, and the high cost associated with importation. With the flu expected to hit South Africa beginning in the autumn months, Jamieson says the country will not benefit from the discounted prices it was charged in previous years, because of global trading conditions. Medinfo's Dr. Stephen Toovey said recently that the flu strains accounted for in this year's vaccine have emerged with great severity throughout Europe. The World Health Organization (WHO) holds a meeting each September to determine the composition of the inactivated flu vaccines that are to be implemented in the following southern hemisphere winter. Experts this year have recommended the 2001 vaccine contain strains of an A/Moscow/10/99 (H3N2)-like virus, an A/New Caledonia/20/99 (H1N1)-like virus, a B/Sichuan/379/99-like virus, and an A/Panama/2007/99, which is another A/Moscow/10/99-like virus.
AgForce Angry at [Australian] Govt's Inaction Over Q Fever Promise
Australian Broadcasting Corp. News (www.abc.net.au) (02/14/01)
The Australian government's lack of action regarding Q Fever is putting the health of primary producers and meatworkers at risk, according to AgForce, a lobbying group in Queensland. AgForce's Ron Carige asserted that although the government unveiled a A$10 million Q Fever awareness and vaccination program four months ago, nothing has happened since then. Carige also said that there is a shortage of the Q Fever vaccine.
Immunization Newsbriefs is a service of the National Network for Immunization Information (http://www.immunizationinfo.org), a special project of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (http://www.idsociety.org), the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society (http://www.pids.org), the American Academy of Pediatrics (http://www.aap.org) and the American Nurses Association (http://www.ana.org), supported by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
NNii makes the Immunization Newsbriefs available as a public service only. Providing this information does not constitute endorsement by the NNii nor any of its partners.
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