February 1997
Total Page：16
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Volume 7 - Number 1 NEEDLE TIPS February 1997 & the Hepatitis B Coalition News Published by the Immunization Action Coalition for individuals and organizations concerned about vaccine-preventable diseases. Robin, it's been a year since my first hepatitis B shot. Am I supposed to WHAT'S ON THE INSIDE: start the series over again? Ask the Experts CDC’s immunization expert, Dr. William L. Atkinson, answers immunization questions ..... 1 CDC’s hepatitis chief, Dr. Harold S. Margolis, answers hepatitis A & B questions ............... 7 What’s New? "Pharmacists vaccinate, too!" and other "Letters to the Editor" ........................................... 2 New DTaP vaccines, new childhood immunization schedule, polio news, and more ............ 4 Confused about the hepatitis B panel? You're not alone!...................................................... 5 Photocopy these free patient and provider materials! Revised! Summary of rules for childhood immunization ...................................................... 9 Holy shot in the arm, Batman! Revised! When do children and teens need shots? ................................................................ 11 How many times do I have to tell you? After the shots...What to do if your child has discomfort ...................................................... 12 You NEVER start the series over again! "Immunizations...not just kids' stuff," a brochure for adults .................................................. 13 National Resources Where to get videos, brochures, ACIP statements, and adolescent materials ........................ 16 How to order immunization, hepatitis, and travel materials from CDC ................................ 18 Coalition Catalog Immunization and hepatitis B items—videos, brochures, etc. Order one, make copies! ....... 19 Hep B shots for all Join the Coalition! kids A $50 annual membership will help support the Coalition and entitles you to a packet of all our printed materials, too! ........................................................................................... 24 http://www.immunize.org/ General questions Which vaccines are contraindicated if a Ask the child’s mother or other household contact is by William L. Atkinson, MD, MPH pregnant? A pregnant household member, including the How long can the interval between doses of a Experts vaccine be without having to restart the child’s mother, is not a contraindication to admin- vaccine series over? istration of any vaccine. Editors' note: The Coalition thanks William L. At- Every effort should be made to adhere to the recom- Some doctors do not vaccinate children with kinson, MD, MPH, and Harold S. Margolis, MD, mended vaccine schedule, including the spacing minor illnesses. Are minor illnesses a contraindication to vaccination? of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention between doses. However, if the interval between The ACIP, the AAP, and the AAFP recommend that for answering the following questions for our read- doses is prolonged, there is no need to restart the children with minor illnesses, with or without low- ers. Drs. Atkinson and Margolis serve as CDC li- series of any vaccine. grade fever, should be vaccinated. Minor illness aisons to the Coalition. What childhood vaccines may be given simultaneously? would include upper respiratory infections, most • Dr. Atkinson, medical epidemiologist at the Na- All vaccines used for routine childhood vaccination cases of otitis media, colds, and diarrhea. There is tional Immunization Program, conducts training in the United States may be given simultaneously. no consistent evidence that these minor illnesses in- workshops via satellite across the United States. There is no evidence that simultaneous administra- terfere with response to the vaccine, or increase ad- verse events. Children with more serious illness • Dr. Margolis, pediatrician, is chief of the Hepa- tion of vaccines either reduces vaccine effective- ness or increases the risk of adverse events. The should be vaccinated as soon as the illness re- titis Branch and principal author of the soon-to- solves. be-released updated ACIP recommendations on only vaccines which should NOT be given simul- hepatitis B. taneously are cholera and yellow fever vaccines. What length of needle is recommended for subcutaneous and intramuscular vaccines Which vaccines are contraindicated if a child given to children and adults? E-mail the Experts! is breast-feeding? CDC also answers immunization questions via Breast-feeding is not a contraindication to the ad- In both children and adults, subcutaneous injec- E-mail at: [email protected] ministration of any vaccine, either to the mother or tions (MMR, varicella, IPV) should be given with to the child. (continued on page 6) Immunization Action Coalition Letters to the Editor ● ● ● Hepatitis B Coalition Editor's note: the Immunization Action Coalition wel- Britannica borrows Batman 1573 Selby Avenue, Suite 229 comes letters of interest to our readers. Please send The editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica’s 1997 Medi- St. Paul, MN 55104 your letters by mail, fax, or e-mail to the addresses in cal and Health Annual wish to take this opportunity to 612-647-9009 the box at the left. thank the Immunization Action Coalition for supplying Fax 612-647-9131 two outstanding pieces of art that E-mail: Pharmacists vaccinate, too! [email protected] were used to illustrate our World Wide Web site: Thank you for providing copies of Needle Tips for our “Immunization Up- http://www.immunize.org/ programs across the country to train community phar- date” article. Both im- macists as vaccine advocates. The publication has been ages, a child’s draw- Needle Tips & the Hepatitis B Coalition very well received at meetings of the American Pharma- ing of Batman and News is a semi-annual publication of the ceutical Association and the American Society of Health- Robin and the photo- Immunization Action Coalition. Every- System Pharmacists. graph of a child get- thing inside is reviewed by the Centers One of our most intensive training programs was in ting vaccinated, very for Disease Control and Prevention for Mississippi, where community pharmacists are work- technical accuracy and is yours to copy effectively convey the message that vaccinating kids is and share with others. It is written for ing with their colleagues in medicine and public health crucial. The authors of the report, Bruce Gellin, MD, physicians, nurses, and other health to vaccinate at-risk people in their local pharmacies, MPH, and Regina Rabinovich, MD, MPH, at the Na- care workers in the public and private especially against influenza, pneumococcal disease, and tional Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, also sectors. Circulation is now 165,000. hepatitis B. expressed their pleasure with the illustrations. We downloaded the disease images from your website Co-Editors: We are grateful for the assistance and cooperation we Deborah L. Wexler, MD and blended them into our slide presentations. These had from your fine organization and look forward to Margaret Vaillancourt graphic images are excellent for explaining preventable working with the Coalition again. disease risks. I am recommending that pharmacists who Ellen Bernstein, Editor Publication Assistants: Lynn Bahta, PHN vaccinate join the Coalition. Many thanks! Kathy Nakamura, Senior Picture Editor Lourdes De Leon John Grabenstein, MS Pharm, EdM, FASHP Medical and Health Annual University of North Carolina Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., Chicago, IL Artwork: Izzy and Sarah Wexler-Mann Immigrant kids need hepatitis B shots “Bravo Zulu, Coalition!” The Immunization Action Coalition, Thank you for alerting the medical community that only Needle Tips is certainly one of the best written and con- a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, works a few of the one million Asian Pacific Islander children cise publications available to keep health care provid- to boost immunization rates. The Coali- between the ages of 3-13 years have been vaccinated ers up to date on vaccination issues. tion promotes physician, community, and against hepatitis B (see Needle Tips, Sept. 1996, page 5). family awareness of, and responsibility Here at the U.S. Navy Environmental Health Center for, appropriate immunization of all Please alert your readers that another 400,000 recent we serve as advocates for health promotion for not only people of all ages against all vaccine- immigrant children are also at high risk of HBV infec- sailors and Marines, but family members and retirees as preventable diseases. tion and chronic liver disease. These children live within well. We are always looking for resources to assist households originating from countries such as Russia, members of the worldwide Navy-Marine Corps team. The Hepatitis B Coalition, a program the Dominican Republic, Nigeria, Haiti, Romania, Needle Tips is an excellent supplement to officially of the Immunization Action Coalition, Ukraine, and the former Yugoslavia. provided publications. Each issue contains valuable promotes hepatitis B vaccination for Plexus Health Group, a nonprofit organization, is information for all of our providers, whether they are all infants, children, and adolescents; HBsAg screening for all pregnant committed to seeing that all at-risk immigrant and refu- stationed “in the field,” aboard ship, or developing women; testing and vaccination for high- gee children are vaccinated against hepatitis B. We work health care policy. Each issue of Needle Tips is full of risk groups; and education and