Immunization Works August 2017

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Dr. Wharton on Detail to NVPO: Dr. Melinda Wharton, Immunization Services Division (ISD) director, joined the National Vaccine Program Office (NVPO) at HHS August 7 for a 120-day detail as NVPO director. In this position, she will be responsible for coordinating and ensuring collaboration among the federal agencies involved in vaccine and immunization activities, including carrying out the goals of the National Vaccine Plan. Dr. Wharton is well qualified for this temporary assignment, given her extensive experience with issues related to vaccine policy, vaccine science, and public health response. Dr. Cindy Weinbaum is the acting director of ISD during this period.

Updated Immunization Scheduling Tool for Children from Birth through 6 Years of Age: In June, CDC updated its online Catch-Up Immunization Scheduler to follow the print 2017 catch-up immunization schedule for children aged birth through 6 years. Using this tool, a parent or provider can:

Enter, update, or modify a child’s vaccination history.
Load a previously saved vaccination history.
Generate an accelerated vaccine schedule.
Save a child’s vaccination history to the computer for future use.
Print a vaccination schedule.

National Immunization Awareness Month (NIAM): NIAM is winding down! Each week NIAM has focused on messages for a different audience to raise awareness about the important role vaccines play in preventing serious diseases. CDC encourages all partners to help observe NIAM and offers resources to help you highlight the importance of vaccination for people of all ages. There are many ways you can get involved. Below are some actions you can take to support and promote vaccinations for NIAM during the final week and beyond:

Join the conversation on social media by adding the hashtag #NIAM17 to your vaccination messages.
Use NIAM logos and banners on your website and social media to highlight your participation.
Share CDC’s Adult Vaccine Quiz.
Update your vaccination materials with the latest information in the NIAM Communication Toolkit.
Implement CDC’s Standards for Adult Immunization and download adult vaccine resources.
Remind adults with chronic health conditions to get vaccinated.

We hope these resources will be useful to you as you promote NIAM. Don’t forget to share what your organization is doing to support and promote immunization during NIAM. Thank you for your continued support!

HPV Cancer Award: CDC, the Association of American Cancer Institutes (AACI), and the American Cancer Society (ACS) are partnering to recognize vaccination providers who are successfully preventing HPV cancers through timely vaccination of their young adolescent patient populations. By recognizing clinicians with high HPV vaccination rates, we hope the program also serves to reinforce for parents that HPV vaccination is an important part of cancer prevention and a normal part of adolescent health care.

Clinicians, clinics, practices, groups, and/or health systems can be nominated for the HPV Vaccine Is Cancer Prevention Champion Award if they are effectively working to protect their adolescent patients against HPV cancers by achieving high HPV vaccination rates. Each year, the award program will honor up to one champion from each of the 10 U.S. HHS regions.

Champions will be selected based on the following criteria and considerations:

The nominee must be a clinician, clinic, practice, group, or health system.
The nominee must reach a target series completion rate of 70% for the patient population aged 13–15 years. The rate must account for both female and male patients. Vaccination under the 2-dose schedule (2 doses given at least 5 months apart to children ages 9–14 years) satisfies series completion, as does that under the original 3–dose schedule.
Patient population size will be considered. Patient population is defined as all patients who have had a clinical encounter with the nominee in the previous 24 months.
Data provided via AFIX (Assessment, Feedback, Incentives, and eXchange) can be used for nomination. Other data sources can include immunization information systems, electronic health record platforms, quality improvement initiatives, or performance measure systems, but those data must be validated by the state or local immunization program.

Submissions must be received by September 15, 2017, and winners will be announced in October. Nominate a champion today!

Vaccine Administration e-Learn Now Available: A new e-Learn on vaccine administration is now available. Proper vaccine administration is critical for ensuring that vaccines are both safe and effective. Vaccine administration errors happen more often than you might think. Of the average 36,000 reports received annually by VAERS, about 1,500 of those reports are directly related to administration error.

Some of the most common vaccine administration errors include:

Not following the recommended immunization schedule.
Administering improperly stored or expired vaccine and/or diluent.
Administering the wrong vaccine—confusing look-alike or sound-alike vaccines such as DTaP/Tdap or administering products outside age indications.

The e-Learn is a free, interactive, online educational program that serves as a useful introductory course or a great refresher on vaccine administration. The self-paced e-Learn provides comprehensive training, using videos, job aids, and other resources to accommodate a variety of learning styles, and offers a certificate of completion and/or Continuing Education (CE) for those that complete the training.

For more information, please contact nipinfo@cdc.gov.

Webinar Series for Pink Book: This online series of 15 webinars provides an overview of vaccination principles, general recommendations, immunization strategies, and specific information about vaccine-preventable diseases and the vaccines that prevent them. Each webinar will explore a chapter from the 13th edition of Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases (the Pink Book). The webinars started on June 14 and will air live most Wednesdays from 12 to 1 p.m. EDT through October 11, 2017. Check the schedule for live webcasts, and view recordings at your convenience online at the Pink Book webinar web page.

You must register in advance for the live webinars. After registering, you will receive event access information via e-mail. Each webinar is limited to 1,500 participants, so please log in early to secure a virtual “seat.” If a webinar is full or if you miss a live event, you can watch it later at the Pink Book webinar web page. Webcasts will be posted within a few days after the live event. Continuing Education (CE) will be available for each event.

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MMWR

National, Regional, State, and Selected Local Area Vaccination Coverage among Adolescents Aged 13–17 Years in the U.S., 2016: To protect against vaccine-preventable diseases, including human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated cancers, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, and meningococcal disease, routine immunization of adolescents aged 11–12 years is recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). Since HPV vaccine introduction in 2006 for females and 2011 for males, coverage has increased gradually, although coverage has not reached the level of Tdap and MenACWY vaccinations. In December 2016, ACIP updated its recommendation for HPV vaccine. The recommendation includes a 2-dose schedule for immunocompetent adolescents initiating the vaccine series before their 15th birthday; 3 doses are recommended for persons who initiate the vaccine series at age 15 through 26 years and for immunocompromised persons. A new HPV up-to-date (HPV UTD) measure has been added to the 2016 NIS-Teen to account for the revised HPV vaccination schedule. HPV UTD estimates were 49.5% for females and 37.5% for males and 6.0–6.5 percentage points higher than the percentages of adolescents receiving more than 3 HPV vaccine doses. Additionally, HPV UTD vaccination coverage was 15 percentage points lower among adolescents living in non-MSA areas compared to adolescents living in MSA central cities. Adolescent vaccination coverage continues to improve overall, but substantial opportunity remains to increase HPV-associated cancer prevention. A better understanding of reasons for differences in HPV vaccination by MSA status may help identify appropriate strategies to improve coverage. Protection against vaccine-preventable diseases will be increased if clinicians consistently recommend and simultaneously administer Tdap, MenACWY, and HPV vaccines at age 11–12 years. Please read the August 24 MMWR for the full report.

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Influenza Information

What’s New for the 2017–2018 Flu Season: ACIP held a public meeting June 21 to update and finalize its recommendations for the upcoming influenza season. For the 2017–18 season, ACIP continues to recommend annual flu vaccination with either the inactivated influenza vaccine (IIV) or recombinant influenza vaccine (RIV) for everyone aged 6 months and older. Vaccine viruses included in the 2017–18 U.S. trivalent influenza vaccines will be an A/Michigan/45/2015 (H1N1)pdm09–like virus, an A/Hong Kong/4801/2014 (H3N2)-like virus, and a B/Brisbane/60/2008–like virus (Victoria lineage). Quadrivalent influenza vaccines will contain these three viruses and an additional influenza B vaccine virus–a B/Phuket/3073/2013–like virus. Due to its low effectiveness against influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 in the U.S. during the 2013–14 and 2015–16 seasons, ACIP renewed the recommendation for the 2017–18 season that LAIV4, also known as “nasal spray” flu vaccine, should not be used. Pregnant women may receive any licensed, recommended, age-appropriate influenza vaccine during the 2017–18 season. Please read the August 24 ACIP recommendations for additional information.

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.

2017–18 Flu Vaccination Campaign Kick-off Event: A panel of leading medical and public health experts will hold a press conference September 28 in Washington, D.C., to address the topic of influenza and encourage all people 6 months of age and older to get vaccinated against influenza. They will discuss preparations for the 2017–18 flu season and advise people to begin their flu vaccination campaign promotional efforts. The event will be hosted by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) and panelists will be on hand to discuss recommendations for the 2017–18 season and the final vaccination rates for the 2016–17 flu season. Registration will be available soon on the resource center web page.

As you gear up to encourage flu vaccination this season, check out CDC’s campaign toolkit website. The toolkit includes social media content, posters, web resources, and important events.

Prevention and Control of Seasonal Influenza with Vaccines in the U. S., 2017–2018 Influenza Season: Influenza viruses typically circulate widely in the U.S. annually from late fall through early spring. Although most persons who become infected with influenza viruses will recover, influenza can cause serious illness and death, particularly among older adults, very young children, pregnant women, and people with chronic medical conditions. CDC estimates that from the 2010–11 influenza season to the 2013–14 influenza season, influenza-associated deaths in the U. S. ranged from a low of 12,000 (during 2011–12) to a high of 56,000 (during 2012–13). Annual influenza vaccination is the primary way to prevent influenza and its complications, and routine annual influenza vaccination for all persons aged 6 months and older has been recommended by CDC and ACIP since 2010. Please read the August 24 ACIP recommendations for the full report and additional information.

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Resources and Information

Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases, 13^th Edition (the Pink Book): Published by CDC, NCIRD, and the Public Health Foundation (PHF), the Pink Book provides health care professionals with the most comprehensive information available 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 events combining an online visual presentation with simultaneous audio via telephone conference call, along with a live question-and-answer session. Registration, Internet access, and a separate phone line are needed to participate. Please visit the netconference web page for information on upcoming netconferences and to view archived webcasts. The next netconference is scheduled for September 13, 2017.

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. The HPV module, Vaccines for Children (VFC) module, and Vaccine Storage and Handling module have recently been updated and are now available. Please visit the You Call the Shots web page for additional information and other modules. Continuing Education (CE) is available for viewing a module and completing an evaluation.

ACIP Meeting: ACIP comprises medical and public health experts who develop recommendations for the use of vaccines in the U.S. The recommendations stand as public health guidance for the safe use of vaccines and related biological products. ACIP meetings are held quarterly. The next ACIP meeting will be October 25–26, 2017. Please visit the ACIP meeting web page for additional information including presentation slides and agendas.

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 educational 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, including a recently released commentary titled “Vaccine Communication with Parents: Best Practices,” featuring Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD). You will 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 Parents’ Guide to Childhood Immunizations and various campaign materials. The 2017 immunization schedules are also available for ordering.

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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