Synopsis for December 14, 2006

The MMWR is embargoed until Thursday, 12 PM EST.

1. Visual Impairment and Access to Eye Care among Older Adults – Five States, 2005
2. Assessment of Public Health Surveillance for Smallpox – United States, 2003-2005
3. Immunization Information Systems Progress – United States, 2005
4. Influenza Vaccination Coverage among Children Aged 6-23 Months – Six Sentinel Sites, United States, 2205-06 Influenza Season

Visual Impairment and Access to Eye Care among Older Adults – Five States, 2005

This report is the first to provide state-specific estimates of the self-reported prevalence of visual impairment, eye disease, and use of eye-care services. The self-reported prevalence of visual impairment, eye disease, and use of eye care services among persons aged greater than 50 years varied among the five states that used the BRFSS vision module in 2005. The varied prevalences between states suggest needs for state-level surveillance of visual impairment and investigation of potential barriers to eye care to enable development of vision-loss prevention and eye-health promotion programs tailored to individual state needs.

Assessment of Public Health Surveillance for Smallpox – United States, 2003-2005

In the event of suspected smallpox, the U.S. public health infrastructure has the key components in place to detect, receive reports of, investigate, and confirm or rule in or out the disease. Recommendations are made for continued advancement of disease reporting, early event detection systems, and targeted training. Several factors have contributed to the ability of state health departments to conduct surveillance and respond to suspected smallpox cases. These factors include new reporting requirements and surveillance systems, access to local and reference laboratory facilities, modes of communication to receive information, and training of public health professionals and health-care practitioners. The findings from the CSTE survey show that, in the event of suspected smallpox, the public health infrastructure has the key components in place to detect, receive reports of, investigate, and confirm or rule out the disease.

Immunization Information Systems Progress – United States, 2005

Immunization Information Systems have made progress enrolling children and health-care providers in their systems. The 2005 rate represents an 8 percent increase from 2004, with approximately 2 million more children participating in an IIS. In addition, private provider participation in an IIS increased by 5 percent. This report summarizes data from CDC’s 2005 Immunization Information Systems (IIS) Annual Report. The findings indicate that approximately 56 percent of U.S. children aged less than 6 years participated in an IIS. Moreover, 75 percent of public vaccination provider sites and 44 percent of private vaccination provider sites submitted immunization data to an IIS.

Influenza Vaccination Coverage among Children Aged 6-23 Months – Six Sentinel Sites,
United States, 2205-06 Influenza Season

State health departments should consider the IIS as a means of rapidly assessing influenza vaccination coverage. Prompt reporting of influenza vaccinations to the IIS can enable local or statewide assessments during the current influenza season, aiding measures to increase the proportion of children who are fully vaccinated. This report assesses influenza vaccination coverage among children aged 6–23 months during the 2005–06 influenza season by using data from six immunization information system (IIS) sentinel sites. The findings demonstrate that vaccination coverage with 1 or more doses varied widely (range: 6.6 percent to 60.4 percent) among sites, with coverage increasing from the 2004–05 influenza season in four of the six sites. However, less than 23 percent of children in five of the sites were fully vaccinated, underscoring the need for increased measures to improve the proportion of children who are fully vaccinated.

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