Immunization Works April 2016

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New Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD): Dr. Nancy Messonnier (CAPT, USPHS) has been appointed as the new director of NCIRD. Dr. Messonnier is well known to the immunization community and has served as NCIRD deputy director since October 2014. She has helped lead the Center through various high-profile challenges, including the 2015 U.S. measles outbreak, ongoing domestic and global respiratory disease outbreaks, Global Health Security Agenda activities, implementation of Ebola vaccine trials, and the latest actions toward polio eradication.

Dr. Messonnier received her BA from the University of Pennsylvania and MD from the University of Chicago School of Medicine, and completed internal medicine residency training at the University of Pennsylvania. She joined CDC in 1995 as an Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) officer in the Childhood and Respiratory Diseases Branch, Division of Bacterial and Mycotic Diseases, National Center for Infectious Diseases. Following EIS, she joined the division’s Meningitis and Special Pathogens Branch, where she held ongoing leadership positions, becoming branch chief in 2005 and continuing as chief of the Meningitis and Vaccine-Preventable Diseases Branch in NCIRD from the Center’s formation in 2006 through 2012. Additional leadership positions since 2012 have included interim director of the Advanced Molecular Detection Implementation Team in the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Diseases (NCEZID), acting deputy director of the Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Services (CSELS), and acting director of the Division of Global Health Protection in the Center for Global Health.

Dr. Messonnier has played critical roles in many efforts to reduce vaccine-preventable diseases, including the highly successful public-private partnership to develop and implement a low-cost vaccine (MenAfriNet) to prevent epidemic meningococcal meningitis in Africa. She has worked tirelessly to prevent and control bacterial meningitis in the U.S., including drafting the initial recommendations for use of meningococcal polysaccharide vaccine in young adults heading for college. She also oversaw a family of studies exploring the U.S. resurgence of pertussis and characterizing post-licensure effectiveness of acellular pertussis vaccines. A well-recognized expert in Bacillus anthracis, she served in leadership roles during the public health response to the 2001 intentional anthrax release, has served as co-leader of the anthrax management team and vaccine working group, and served as incident commander as part of the agency’s response to the 2014 CDC anthrax laboratory incident.

National Infant Immunization Week (NIIW) was a success. Keep the momentum going! Thank you to everyone for another successful NIIW. Due to your ongoing efforts and support of childhood immunization, the nation has witnessed overall high coverage for most vaccines routinely recommended for young children.

While NIIW is still fresh in your mind, please share your feedback on the planning and promotional resources available from CDC by completing the Post-NIIW survey. Your responses will help guide us as we begin planning activities for another successful NIIW in 2017. This brief survey should take less than five minutes to complete. We will keep individual responses private and will only report feedback compiled from the answers of all responders.

During this year’s NIIW, individuals were recognized for their dedication to childhood immunization; events were held to celebrate the milestones reached in childhood immunization; and communities rallied together to raise awareness of the importance of childhood immunization.

Even with the success of this year’s NIIW, there is still much work to be done to continue promoting the importance and benefit of vaccinating children. To learn how you can keep the momentum going, please visit NIIW: Keep the Momentum Going for seven ideas to help keep the energy alive.

47^th National Immunization Conference (NIC)—It Takes a Community: CDC and NCIRD will host the 47^th NIC September 13–15, 2016, at the Hilton Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia. The NIC brings together a wide variety of local, state, federal, and private sector immunization partners to explore science, policy, education, and planning issues related to immunization and vaccine-preventable diseases.

The conference will have three plenary sessions, the Hilleman Lecture, 12 breakout sessions, exhibits, and posters, and will include the following topics:

Health and Risk Communication
Epidemiology and Surveillance
Immunization Information Systems (IIS)
Programmatic Issues
Adult Immunization
Child and Adolescent Immunization

Please visit the NIC web page for the agenda, registration, and additional information. Please contact the conference planning team if you have questions.

Surveillance Systems to Track Progress Toward Polio Eradication—Worldwide, 2014–15: Global efforts to eradicate polio began in 1988, and polio-free certification has been achieved in four of the six World Health Organization (WHO) regions. Nigeria was removed from WHO’s list of countries with endemic polio in September 2015, achieving an important milestone toward interruption of wild poliovirus (WPV) transmission in the African Region. Afghanistan and Pakistan, both in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, were the only countries to report WPV cases in 2015. Previously reported outbreaks caused by WPV importation during 2013–14 have ended. The primary means for detecting poliovirus transmission is surveillance for acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) among children younger than 15 years. Stool specimens collected from children with AFP are tested for both WPV and vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV) in WHO–accredited laboratories within the Global Polio Laboratory Network (GPLN). In selected locations, AFP surveillance is supplemented with environmental surveillance (testing sewage for poliovirus). Testing of stool and sewage samples includes genomic sequencing to characterize poliovirus isolates; results are used to map poliovirus transmission and identify gaps in AFP surveillance. The April 8 MMWR presents poliovirus surveillance data from 2014 and 2015, focusing on the 20 countries in the African Region and six in the Eastern Mediterranean Region that reported a WPV or circulating VDPV (cVDPV) case during 2011–15, including Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, which were most affected by the 2014–15 Ebola outbreak.

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Influenza Information

Flu Season Update: The 2015–16 flu season is well underway. Influenza-like illness has been elevated for 9 consecutive weeks now. For the last 13 seasons, the average duration of a flu season by this measure has been 13 weeks, with a range from 1 week to 20 weeks. There could be several more weeks of flu activity to come this season. If you or your patients haven’t been vaccinated yet, it’s not too late. CDC continues to recommend vaccination as long as flu viruses are circulating. Vaccination remains the first and most important step to prevent influenza. Vaccination can reduce flu illnesses, doctors’ visits, and absences from work and school due to flu, as well as prevent flu-related hospitalizations.

H1N1 flu viruses have been most common this season. This is the virus that emerged in 2009 and caused a pandemic. It has circulated globally as a human seasonal flu virus since that time, and has been associated with severe disease in some children, as well as in young and middle-aged adults. The good news is that all flu vaccines this season have an influenza A (H1N1)pdm09 component.

So far, surveillance data show that the flu viruses currently circulating, including H1N1 viruses, remain similar to the vaccine virus components. How similar circulating viruses are to the vaccine viruses is one factor that influences how well the flu vaccine works each year. In February, CDC reported that this season’s vaccine had been 60% effective in preventing medically attended influenza. Flu vaccines are made to protect against the three or four flu viruses (depending on which vaccine you get) that research suggests will be most common during the upcoming season.

Remember that it takes 2 weeks after vaccination for protection to begin. Protecting yourself from flu also protects the people around you who may be more vulnerable to serious flu illness. Pregnant women, babies, and people with asthma, for example, can suffer more serious flu illness and other complications. If you haven’t been vaccinated yet, you should get a flu vaccine now to protect yourself, your family, your colleagues, and your community against influenza.

Flu vaccines are offered by many doctor’s offices, clinics, health departments, pharmacies, health centers, and urgent care centers, as well as by many employers and schools, so you can get vaccinated even if you don’t have a regular doctor or nurse. Find a place near you to get flu and other recommended vaccines.

Antiviral drugs serve as a second line of defense against the flu for treatment of flu illness. Antiviral drugs can lessen symptoms and shorten the time that a patient is sick. They can also prevent serious flu complications. CDC recommends that people who are very sick with flu, or people who are at high risk of flu complications, should be treated as quickly as possible with flu antiviral drugs. Antiviral treatment works best when started early (within 2 days of getting sick). However, starting treatment later can still be helpful, especially if the person has a high-risk condition or is very sick from flu.

The three prescription antiviral medications recommended for treatment of influenza are oral oseltamivir (Tamiflu), inhaled zanamivir (Relenza), and intravenous peramivir (Rapivab). These drugs are chemically-related antiviral medications, known as neuraminidase inhibitors, that work against activity of both influenza A and B viruses. Decisions about starting antiviral treatment should not wait for test results or laboratory confirmation of influenza.

CDC Flu Selfie Campaign: Just a reminder to participate in CDC’s #VaxWithMe campaign. #VaxWithMe is a selfie social media campaign that encourages individuals to share photos and videos of themselves (tagged #VaxWithMe) while getting their flu vaccination. The campaign seeks to spark engagement around the importance of vaccination and to encourage more people to get their flu vaccination each year. CDC posts weekly updates to the interactive campaign timeline. To get involved, take a selfie while getting your flu vaccine and post it using the hashtag #VaxWithMe.

For more information about how serious flu can be and the benefits of flu vaccination, talk to your doctor or other health care professional, visit the CDC influenza website, or call 1-800-CDC-INFO.

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Resources and Information

Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases, 13^th Edition (the Pink Book): CDC, NCIRD, and the Public Health Foundation (PHF) are pleased to announce that the book, Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases, 13^th Edition, is available. The Pink Book provides public health and health care professionals with the most comprehensive information on vaccines and vaccine-preventable diseases. The Pink Book is available for purchase from the PHF Learning Resource Center, and the chapters and appendices can be viewed/downloaded from the NCIRD vaccines site.

Current Issues in Immunization Netconferences: Immunization netconferences are live, one-hour presentations combining an online visual presentation with simultaneous audio via telephone conference call and a live question and answer session. Registration, Internet access, and a separate phone line are needed to participate. The next netconference will be November 9, 2016. Please visit the netconference web page for the archived webcasts, upcoming netconferences, and additional information.

You Call the Shots Modules: You Call the Shots is a web-based training course developed through the Project to Enhance Immunization Content in Nursing Education and Training. Several updated modules are now available, including Rotavirus and Hepatitis B. Please visit the You Call the Shots web page for additional information and other modules. Continuing Education (CE) credit is available for viewing a module and completing an evaluation.

ACIP Meeting: The next ACIP meeting will be held June 22–23, 2016. Please visit the ACIP meeting web page for agendas, presentation slides, meeting minutes, and archived video broadcasts.

Measles Resources: CDC aims to continue increasing awareness of measles among individuals and families and to encourage MMR vaccination. To support disease prevention and vaccination education efforts, CDC has developed a variety of measles and vaccination resources, including fact sheets, podcasts, and matte articles. There are also infographics available in English and Spanish.

CDC and Medscape: This special series of commentaries, part of a collaboration between CDC and Medscape, is designed to deliver CDC’s authoritative guidance directly to Medscape’s physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and other health care providers. In this series, CDC experts offer video commentaries on current topics important to practicing clinicians. NCIRD has contributed to a variety of commentaries. You may need to sign up and log in as a member to view the commentaries. Registration is free.

Immunization Resources: Publications are available for ordering at CDC-INFO on Demand. You can search for immunization publications by using the “Programs” drop-down menu and selecting “Immunization and Vaccines,” or you can search by “Title.” Numerous items are available, including the 2016 immunization schedules, the Parents’ Guide to Childhood Immunizations, and various campaign materials.

CDC Job Openings: CDC is committed to recruiting and hiring qualified candidates for a wide range of immunization and other positions. Researchers, medical officers, epidemiologists, and other specialists are often needed to fill positions within CDC. For a current listing, including international opportunities, please visit CDC’s employment web page.

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