Division of Bacterial Diseases (DBD) News Bulletin

Elizabeth Zell with Claire von Mollendorf from the Centre for Respiratory Diseases and Meningitis (CRDM) in Johannesburg, South Africa, helping Claire learn to use IVEware to multiply impute for missing data. Adjusting for missing information on HIV status is needed for monitoring pneumococcal disease trends through the GERMS surveillance system.

Change in Administration for Anthrax Vaccine
Data from CDC’s Anthrax Vaccine Research Program (AVRP) provided the evidence for FDA approval in May of changes to the label for pre-exposure use of anthrax vaccine adsorbed (AVA, BioThrax). Under the new 3-dose primary series recommendation, AVA will safeguard 66% more personnel in one-third the time with an anticipated 50% reduction in local adverse events, and will require only half the number of doses compared with the original licensed schedule. It will also provide a significant cost reduction per schedule. FDA approval of a 3-dose primary series for AVA (BioThrax) represents the successful culmination of this CDC program. DBD/MVPDB will continue to work with the AVA manufacturer to explore additional reductions in the booster schedule. The Microbial Pathogenesis and Immune Response (MPIR) Laboratory and Brian Plikaytis from the Statistics Office made significant contributions to this research.
Tdap Vote: Streamlining the Adult Recommendation
In February, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted to recommend that all adults aged 19 years and older who have not yet received a dose of Tdap should receive a single dose. Tdap can be administered regardless of interval since last tetanus or diphtheria-toxoid containing vaccine.