National Immunization Awareness Month is here; upcoming week will focus on protecting babies and young children.

Every year in August, National Immunization Awareness Month (NIAM) provides an opportunity to raise awareness of the importance of immunization and the need for improving national vaccination coverage levels.

NIAM is co-sponsored by the National Public Health Information Coalition (NPHIC) and CDC. This week, August 12–18, focuses on vaccinations for babies and young children. The theme for the week is "A healthy start begins with on-time vaccinations."

The 2018 edition of the communications toolkit, put out by NPHIC in collaboration with CDC, contains key messages, vaccine information, sample news releases and articles, sample social media messages, links to web resources from CDC and other organizations, and logos, web banners, posters, and graphics to use with social media.

https://www.nphic.org/niam

The website also includes a place for you to share your NIAM activities and view what others are doing for NIAM, using the hashtag #NIAM18.

The first week of NIAM focused on vaccinations for pregnant women. The remaining weeks will focus on the following:

August 19–25—Preteens & teens: Ensure a healthy future with vaccines
August 26–31—Adults: Vaccines are not just for kids

TRAINING: Strategies for Recommending Human Papillomavirus Vaccine for Pre-teens

The Florida Department of Health Immunization Section would like to share with its partners and colleagues information about an upcoming webinar, Strategies for Recommending human papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccination for Pre-teen Youth. 

The webinar will be hosted by School of Public Health, University of Albany, State University of New York, and is scheduled for Thursday, June 21, 2018, 9:00–10:00 a.m. EST.

Target audience for this learning opportunity is physicians, physician assistants, nurses, nurse practitioners, and other medical providers who counsel adolescents/pre-adolescents and their parents about vaccinations.

Speaker will be Kristin Oliver, MD, MHS, Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Environmental Medicine & Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai.

Objectives are as follows:

• Describe at least two reasons why HPV vaccination rates are sub-optimal
• Identify communication approaches that elicit and address concerns about the HPV vaccine
• Name at least two strategies to increase HPV vaccine uptake among hesitant youth and parents

For additional information please call 518-402-0330 or email coned@albany.edu.

Join Us—Register Now! If the link doesn't work, paste the following into your browser: 

http://ualbany-sph.informz.net/ualbany-sph/event.asp?eid=BEC629E6-B753-4509-BFEC-4EA45AE64926&uid=309148631&minst=2362313

FREE Immunization Training for medical professionals

The Immunization Action Coalition of Broward is once again offering a FREE immunization training session for medical office professional staff. 

The session will be held at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 20, 2018 at the FL Department of Health in Broward, 780 SW 24 St., Fort Lauderdale, FL 33315.

For more information, contact robert.lamendola@flhealth.gov or 954-213-0607. You can sign up by emailing us the name, phone number and email address of those who will attend.

Topics in this session: Adolescent Vaccines, Using Florida SHOTS, Administering Vaccine, Storage and Handling of Vaccine, and a fun game of Vaccine Jeopardy with prizes.

We have room for about 30 people so don't delay. Thanks and we hope to see you there.

PreTeen Vax news: New HPV resources now available

The FL Dept of Health Immunization Section would like to share with its partners and colleagues information about new Human papillomavirus (HPV) materials, partner resources, and publications now available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Every health care professional plays an important role in educating the public about HPV and increasing HPV vaccination rates. HPV vaccination is cancer prevention!

Check out the new materials and resources below:

• #PreteenVaxScene Webinar Recording: An Interprofessional Approach to HPV and Oropharyngeal Cancer Prevention Education
• HPV Fact Sheets and Guide to Adolescent Immunizations Flip Chart
• National HPV Vaccination Roundtable: Clinical and System Action Guides
• Academic Pediatric Supplement: Raising Human Papillomavirus Vaccination Rates

For additional information and HPV resources, please visit: www.cdc.gov/hpv/index.html.

If you have any questions or need any additional information regarding vaccine recommendations, please contact the Immunization Section at 850-245-4342.

Training opportunity: Pink Book Webinar Series

The Florida Department of Health Immunization Section would like to share with its partners and colleagues information about an upcoming webinar series, Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases—The Pink Book Webinar Series. This learning opportunity will be held on Wednesdays at noon EST beginning June 6, 2018.

Each session will explore a chapter from the 13th edition of Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases—The Pink Book and will include a LIVE Q&A session.

Webinars will also include updates from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).

Free continuing education available!

To view The Pink Book online, please visit: www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/index.html.

Advanced registration is required to participate.

For additional webinar information and registration, please visit: www2.cdc.gov/vaccines/ed/pinkbook/.

If you have any questions or need any additional information regarding vaccine recommendations, please contact the Immunization Section at 850-245-4342.

Robert M. Griffin, Administrator

Immunization Section

Bureau of Epidemiology

Division of Disease Control and Health Protection

Phone:  (850) 245-4331

Fax:  (850) 922-4195

E-mail: Robert.Griffin@flhealth.gov

Links, reports from vaccine webinar

Thank you for registering for the April 25^th NACCHO webinar, State of the ImmUnion: A Report on Vaccine-Preventable Diseases in the U.S.  We hope you were able to attend and that you enjoyed learning about Every Child By Two’s (ECBT) State of the ImmUnion special report, and how prepared the U.S. is to face the threat of vaccine-preventable diseases.  Materials from the webinar are available here on the NACCHO website, including the recording, presentation slides, and State of the ImmUnion special report. For additional policy and advocacy resources, access NACCHO’s government affairs newsletter and advocacy tools which are available on the NACCHO website.

Thank you again to everyone who was able to join and participate in the webinar. Please take a moment to complete the webinar evaluation form to share your experience, feedback or comments. Your response by Friday, May 11 would be greatly appreciated.

Best,

Kim Scott
Senior Program Analyst, Immunization

Direct: (202) 595-1123
Email: ksharpe-scott@naccho.org

National Infant Immunization Week

Please join in the National Infant Immunization and World Immunization Week events from Monday, April 23 to 30, 2018.
In south Broward County, Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital - Children’s Mobile Health Center will host Immunization Only Days. 
Locations will be in Hallandale Beach (Monday), Miramar (Tuesday), West Park (Wednesday and Thursday) and Pembroke Pines (Friday). For details, call 954-276-5548 (5542 in Spanish).
Encourage a parent to find the Children’s Mobile Van in the community to have their child immunized.
Families living in North Broward can get immunizations from Broward Health or the Florida Department of Health (954-467-4705). We appreciate your support!
Nationally, hundreds of communities across the United States will join those in countries around the world to celebrate the critical role vaccination plays in protecting the health of our children, families, and communities.
The United States celebrates NIIW as part of World Immunization Week, an initiative of the World Health Organization.
The links below tell stories of children and families from Denmark, the Republic of Korea and the Philippines.


http://www.who.int/campaigns/immunization-week/2018/campaign-essentials/en/

http://www.who.int/features/2018/hpv-vaccination-denmark/en/

http://www.who.int/features/2018/cervical-cancer-republic-of-korea/en/

https://medium.com/@who/now-that-a-deadly-disease-is-eliminated-childbirth-is-safer-in-the-philippines-a182574862f6

Submitted by:

Joanne Christopher-Hines, DNP, ARNP

Children’s Mobile Health Center

It Still Takes A Village to Raise A Child!!

 

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/events/niiw/index.html

Nominate for the Childhood Immunization Champion Award

Know anyone you would like to nominate for this prestigious award? Submit through the Florida DOH. Here's how ...

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the CDC Foundation is now calling for nominations for the annual Childhood Immunization Champion Award. This is an annual award that recognizes individuals who make a significant contribution toward improving public health through their work in childhood immunization.

The Champion Award is intended to recognize individuals who are working at the local level. It honors those who are doing an exemplary job or going above and beyond to promote or foster childhood immunizations in their communities.

The nomination and selection of a local Champion should be based on meeting one or more of the following criteria:

• Leadership: The candidate is considered an authority on immunization in their community, medical system, or individual practice. Activities may include acting as a spokesperson, trainer, mentor, or educator.
• Collaboration: The candidate has worked to build support for and increase immunization rates in infants and young children. Activities may include establishing or strengthening partnerships, coalitions, committees, working groups, or other.
• Innovation: The candidate has used creative or innovative strategies to promote immunization or address challenges to immunization in their practice, community, state, or region. Activities may include either new strategies or adapting existing strategies in new ways such as for reaching under-immunized populations.
• Advocacy: The candidate is active in advancing policies and best practices to support immunization in infants and young children in their community, state, or region. The candidate cannot be involved in advocacy activities that are related to funding for immunizations.

Nomination packets must be received by the Immunization Section no later than Friday, January 26, 2018. Please email completed packets to Immunization@flhealth.gov.

Awardees will be announced during National Infant Immunization Week (NIIW), which runs April 21–28 in 2018. Champions will receive a certificate of recognition, will be featured on CDC’s web site, and may be recognized by their immunization program during NIIW.

Champions can include coalition members, parents, health care professionals (e.g., physicians, nurses, physicians’ assistants, nurse practitioners, medical assistants, etc.), and other immunization leaders who meet the award criteria. State immunization program managers, state and federal government employees of health agencies, individuals who have been affiliated with and/or employed by pharmaceutical companies, and those who have already received the award are not eligible to apply (for details, see page 3 of the nomination packet)[10 pages](https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/events/niiw/champions/downloads/nomination.docx)

For additional information, please visit:
www.cdc.gov/vaccines/events/niiw/champions/index.html.

Free immunization training for medical professionals

The Immunization Action Coalition of Broward is again offering a FREE immunization training session for medical office professional staff. 

It will be held at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, January 17, 2018 at the FL Department of Health in Broward, 780 SW 24 St., Fort Lauderdale, FL 33315.

For more information, contact robert.lamendola@flhealth.gov or 954-213-0607. You can register by filling out the form below and emailing to us. We have room for about 30 people so don't be shy. Thanks and we hope to see you there.

CDC: Nationwide Shortage of Hepatitis A Vaccine

By Sandee LaMotte, CNN

(CNN) - The battle against Hepatitis A outbreaks across the US is being stymied by a national shortage of the vaccine needed to combat it.

"Current supply is not sufficient to support demand for vaccine," the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told CNN in a written statement.

Southeast Michigan has seen 495 cases of Hepatitis A and 19 deaths, mostly in Macomb and Wayne counties and in Detroit. The outbreak began in August of 2016, and after a drop off during the winter, has been climbing since February of this year, said Michigan Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson Angela Minicuci.

"We have a limited supply of vaccine," said Minicuci, "so we are prioritizing delivery to high-risk populations."

In California an outbreak of the virus has sickened at least 644 people and claimed 21 lives, mostly in the cities of San Diego, Santa Cruz, and Los Angeles, according to the CDC.

Persons infected with the virus there have also spread it to Arizona, Utah, and Colorado, said Dr. Wilma Wooten, Public Health Director at San Diego's Health and Human Services Agency.

To manage the current shortage, the CDC said, staff have been working closely with public health officials to target vaccinations toward at-risk populations, as well as coordinating with vaccine manufacturers "to monitor and manage public and private vaccine orders to make the best use of supplies... during this period of unexpected increased demand."

An unexpected demand

"It's unprecedented what we are seeing out of California and other parts of the country," said GlaxoSmithKline spokesperson Robin Gaitens. "The shortage is simply an issue of supply and demand."

Outbreaks of Hepatitis A are normally small, because the vast majority of the US population was inoculated as children at approximately one year of age. GlaxoSmithKline and Merck are the only companies approved by the Food and Drug Administration to sell a Hepatitis A adult or pediatric vaccine in the US.

"We typically provide 1.2 million adult doses each year to the US market, and the demand this year has vastly surpassed the supply on hand," Gaitens said. She stressed there is no shortage of the pediatric version, which is given in a two-dose series about six months apart. Nor is there a shortage of their combination hepatitis A/B vaccine.

The current outbreaks of hepatitis A, virus genotype (IB), is normally not found in the US; it's more common to the Mediterranean, Turkey and South Africa. However, the current vaccine is effective against all strains of the virus.

In an emailed statement, Merck said it has been taking steps to increase the manufacturing capacity of both their adult and pediatric versions of their vaccine due to "unexpected demand in markets."

"At the end of October, we began shipping single-dose vials (in packages of 10 vials) for adults, which previously had been on backorder," the statement said. "We anticipate the availability of adult and pediatric pre-filled syringes of the vaccine in the first quarter of 2018."

GlaxoSmithKline also began shipping backordered single-dose syringes at the end of October, Gaitens said, adding that the company is working closely with the CDC and California officials on "how to distribute and to ensure the vaccines are actually going to where there is the greatest need."

What is hepatitis A?

Hepatitis A is a highly contagious liver disease caused by the HAV virus. The virus is found in the feces of people with the disease, and is most frequently transmitted by eating food or drinking water handled by someone who has not properly washed their hands. It's also transmitted by sex and by illicit drug use.

Some of the most common symptoms include nausea, vomiting, fever, fatigue, loss of appetite and jaundice, or yellowing of the skin or eyes. It can take 15 to 50 days to show symptoms of the infection; however, an infected person is most contagious during the two weeks before their skin turns yellow.

According to the CDC, the hepatitis A virus is very hard to kill and can live for months outside the body. Hand sanitizers are not effective against the virus, so frequent hand washing is critical to controlling any outbreak.

A growing threat

California is in the middle of the biggest person-to-person outbreak of hepatitis A since the vaccine first became available in the mid-90s, according to the California Department of Public Health.

San Diego has been hardest hit, with 546 confirmed cases and 20 deaths as of November 14, the latest numbers released by the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency.

Cases were first seen in November 2016 and in March officials determined they were dealing with an outbreak. It has spread predominantly among the homeless and drug users in the city, said agency spokesperson Craig Sturak. Homelessness is a year-round problem for San Diego, he added, and accompanying issues of sanitation helped fuel the spread.

"We've focused on a couple of different strategies," said Sturak. "A large vaccination effort---we've vaccinated over 100,000 people -- and the city is doing a big clean up by power-washing streets and cleaning up trash in areas where the homeless are congregating."

Despite the current shortage, Public Health Director Wooten said her agency has had enough vaccine on hand to deliver a first dose to most of the estimated 150,000 at-risk population in the San Diego area.

"With an outbreak you want to get those first doses into the arms of as many people as possible as fast as possible," said Wooten "At that point they will be 90% to 95% protected. It's the second dose that takes you up to 100% protection."

Wooten said the county had planned to start a campaign soon to administer the second dose, but delayed the program until spring due to the shortage. But she stressed that nurses out in the at-risk community are administering the additional dose if they come across anyone who requires it.

"We're also targeting those who fall under the CDC guidelines, such as the MSM, or men having sex with men population, or anyone who currently has hepatitis B or C," said Wooten. "We have access to 15,000 doses for the month of November to meet that need, and if we need additional doses in December we will ask the state for those as well."

California's outbreak led Governor Jerry Brown to declare a state of emergency in mid-October. The declaration allowed the state to "immediately purchase additional vaccines directly from manufacturers and coordinate distribution to people at greatest risk in affected areas." 

NACCHO highlights Broward HPV campaign

Kim Rodgers of the National Association of County and City Health Officials highlighted Broward County's campaign on HPV vaccine on her immunization blog. Thanks Kim.


NIAM Blog Series 2017: Turning the Tide on HPV Vaccination Rates


Throughout the month of August, NACCHO’s National Immunization Awareness Month (NIAM) Blog Series highlights the importance of immunizations across the lifespan. This week’s NIAM Blog Series post takes us to Florida, where high rates of human papilloma virus (HPV)-associated cancers and low HPV vaccination rates led the Florida Department of Health in Broward County (DOH-Broward) to take action.

The Problem
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that nearly 40,000 HPV-associated cancers occur in the United States each year – 23,300 among women and 16,500 among men – and that these cancers are responsible for more than 90% of anal and cervical cancers, about 70% of vaginal and vulvar cancers, and more than 60% of penile cancers.

In the state of Florida, these statistics are all too familiar.

According to CDC data (2006-2010), Florida ranks in the top third of states in HPV-associated cervical cancer, anal cancer in males and females, and oropharyngeal cancer in males; while ranking in the mid-third of states in HPV-associated penile cancer and vaginal cancer. The state’s high rates of HPV-associated cancers have a lot to do with its low rates of HPV vaccination coverage. In 2013, CDC data indicated that HPV vaccination rates of adolescent girls (ages 13-17) in Florida was between 30-37.6%, placing Florida among the lower third in state ranking. In fact, that same year, Florida had the lowest coverage for =1 HPV vaccine dose (39.4%) compared to the rest of the nation’s states.

The connection between the low rates of HPV vaccination and high rates of HPV-associated cancers led Broward County – which represents 9% of the State’s population and is the second most populous county in Florida – to take action to increase HPV vaccination rates.

The Intervention
In May 2015, DOH-Broward and the Broward County Immunization Action Coalition (the Coalition) held a community planning meeting to develop an action plan to increase HPV vaccine rates in Broward County. The Coalition, which was developed in 1996 through the leadership of DOH-Broward, was established to develop, implement, and monitor immunization strategies that further the goals of providing complete protection against, and eventual elimination of, vaccine-preventable diseases.

DOH-Broward Immunization Clinic at Lauderhill Mall

As part of the community action plan, stakeholders agreed that DOH-Broward could offer HPV vaccine at its annual back-to-school immunization point of dispensing (POD). Consequently, DOH-Broward offered HPV vaccine during the 2015 and 2016 back-to-school immunization PODs, hosting extended night and weekend hours to maximize community reach. In addition, DOH-Broward attended a Broward County Pediatric Society meeting to educate providers about recommending the HPV vaccine as part of routine immunization clinical visits and speaking about the vaccine as cancer prevention. Further, by developing and distributing an HPV palm card to the community and providers, DOH-Broward was able to increase awareness of HPV and the HPV vaccine.

Through this series of activities, DOH-Broward produced a major shift in the county’s HPV vaccination rates.

The Impact
Prior to the intervention, DOH-Broward was only providing HPV vaccine at its immunization clinics and had not engaged the county’s provider community. However, by distributing more than 5,000 palm cards, offering the HPV vaccine at PODs, and making it a part of routine immunizations, the health department was able to increase vaccine acceptance in doses administered from 2015 (1,772) to 2016 (4,217), representing a 138% increase.

During the 2016 POD, 1,640 HPV vaccines were provided as compared to 903 in 2015 – an 81% increase. Of those, 1,256 were initial doses, 228 were second doses and 156 were third dose. HPV vaccine rates have also significantly increased at DOH-Broward clinics, which saw a 196.5% increase in doses provided from 2015 (869) to 2016 (2,577). Of those, 1,236 were initial doses, 944 were second doses, and 397 were third dose.

While this intervention is still relatively new, the hope is that DOH-Broward’s continued efforts to drive HPV immunization rates up will eventually help to curb the rates of HPV-associated cancers.

Best Practices & Lessons Learned
While increasing awareness and expanding opportunities for the community to receive the HPV vaccine had much to do with DOH-Broward’s success, there were other contributing factors. In particular, training immunization nurses to reference HPV as cancer prevention rather than STD prevention was critical. When HPV becomes a part of routine vaccination and is presented as cancer prevention, parents are more apt to agree to the vaccination for their child. Further, the engagement of stakeholders and partners during the community planning meeting produced up-front buy-in that will allow DOH-Broward to continue increasing HPV vaccination uptake and vaccines delivered.

NACCHO is pleased to support local health departments in their participation of NIAM. Download NACCHO’s updated Guide to HPV Resources for Local Health Departments and be sure to check out our previous posts in the NIAM Blog Series:

• Breaking Down Barriers to Access to Increase Immunization Rates
• Leveraging Partnerships to Increase Maternal Immunization
• Increasing Adult Immunizations through Education and Outreach
  For more information about vaccines for teens and preteens, check out resources from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

Posted by: Kim Rodgers // All, Featured Articles, Featured Home // HPV, Immunization // August 28, 2017

About Kim Rodgers

Kim Rodgers serves as a Communications Specialist at NACCHO. Her work includes promoting local health departments' best practices, as well as partner tools and resources, in infectious disease and preparedness through NACCHO's communications channels, storytelling, and outreach to various audiences.