Tdap Immunization Project posted: Friday, June 25, 2010
The Tdap Project – music video and website - were created for the purpose of educating youth and their parents about the dangers of pertussis and the availability of a vaccine to prevent pertussis in adolescents and adults.
The idea of developing a music video to educate youth on this topic was conceived by INAAP member Charlene Graves, after reviewing vaccination videos available on YouTube in March of 2009. INAAP then secured funding for this project through a competitive process for immunization grants available from the Friends of Children Fund of the AAP. The concept of the grant proposes to widely disseminate the music video and website through social networking venues as well as to health care providers and school systems.
INAAP partnered with the Media Arts Department of Butler University in Indianapolis to produce the music video Tdap Vac and Friends Visit the Classroom. Faculty member Patrick Hurley composed the music and lyrics and produced the music video and designed the website. The video features a newly created character – rapper Tdap Vac – as the central focus of the video and the website. Utilizing humor and parody, along with a variety of rapidly paced musical performances, the music video provides a highly entertaining method of health education.
TdapVac and Friends Visit the Classroom is a unique educational offering. We urge you to explore the health information available through the www.TdapVac.com website (posters, fact sheets) and show the music video in pediatric offices and other sites. The music video can be obtained on a DVD (contact CGraves1203@aol.com) or downloaded from the website or from YouTube (search term Tdap Vac). Become a fan of Tdap Vac on Facebook! The music video will also be featured as a Video of the Week on the Immunization Action Coalition website (www.immunize.org) which has 38,000 subscribers. We can prevent pertussis infection if a large majority of teens and adults receive Tdap vaccine!
FDA Revises Recommendations for Rotavirus Vaccines posted: Friday, June 04, 2010
FDA Revises Recommendations for Rotavirus Vaccines
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration this week revised its recommendations for rotavirus vaccines for the prevention of the disease in infants and has determined that it is appropriate for clinicians and health care professionals to resume the use of Rotarix and to continue the use of RotaTeq.
The agency reached its decision based on a careful evaluation of information from laboratory results from the manufacturers and the FDA’s own laboratories, a thorough review of the scientific literature, and input from scientific and public health experts, including members of the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee that convened on May 7, 2010 to discuss these vaccines.
The FDA also considered the following in its decision:
· Both vaccines have strong safety records, including clinical trials involving tens of thousands of patients as well as clinical experience with millions of vaccine recipients.
· The FDA has no evidence that PCV1 or PCV2 pose a safety risk in humans, and neither is known to cause infection or illness in humans.
· The benefits of the vaccines are substantial, and include prevention of death in some parts of the world and hospitalization for severe rotavirus disease in the United States. These benefits outweigh the risk, which is theoretical.
2010-2011 School Immunization Requirements posted: Wednesday, January 27, 2010
During the 2009 legislative session, Indiana Code 02-34-4-2 was revised, requiring the Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) to "adopt rules under IC 4-22-2 to require school age children to receive additional immunizations...
Sample Vaccine Policy Statement Ready for you to adapt for your practice
Use the vaccine policy statement below as is, or modify it to make it into your practice's own strong statement of support for the vital role vaccination plays in safeguarding the health of children. Your practice's clearly expressed commitment to immunization can be powerfully persuasive with parents who are hesitant to have their child vaccinated because of scientifically invalid information they have encountered on the Internet or through the news media. The statement below was developed by clinicians at All Star Pediatrics in Lionville, Pennsylvania, where it is posted in every exam room and handed to parents at their infant's one-month well-check appointment. The results have been that parents new to All Star Pediatrics know exactly where their doctors stand on immunization, and the families of established patients feel supported in the choice they've made to immunize their children.
The text of the policy statement below is available as a pdf or MS Word document at www.immunize.org/catg.d/p2067.doc. You can cut and paste it to make your own vaccine policy statement
[Your practice name here] Vaccine Policy Statement
We firmly believe in the effectiveness of vaccines to prevent serious illness and to save lives.
We firmly believe in the safety of our vaccines.
We firmly believe that all children and young adults should receive all of the recommended vaccines according to the schedule published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
We firmly believe, based on all available literature, evidence, and current studies, that vaccines do not cause autism or other developmental disabilities. We firmly believe that thimerosal, a preservative that has been in vaccines for decades and remains in some vaccines, does not cause autism or other developmental disabilities.
We firmly believe that vaccinating children and young adults may be the single most important health-promoting intervention we perform as health care providers, and that you can perform as parents/caregivers. The recommended vaccines and their schedule given are the results of years and years of scientific study and data gathering on millions of children by thousands of our brightest scientists and physicians.
These things being said, we recognize that there has always been and will likely always be controversy surrounding vaccination. Indeed, Benjamin Franklin, persuaded by his brother, was opposed to smallpox vaccine until scientific data convinced him otherwise. Tragically, he had delayed inoculating his favorite son Franky, who contracted smallpox and died at the age of 4, leaving Ben with a lifetime of guilt and remorse. Quoting Mr. Franklin's autobiography:
"In 1736, I lost one of my sons, a fine boy of four years old, by the smallpox... I long regretted bitterly, and still regret that I had not given it to him by inoculation. This I mention for the sake of parents who omit that operation, on the supposition that they should never forgive themselves if a child died under it, my example showing that the regret may be the same either way, and that, therefore, the safer should be chosen."
The vaccine campaign is truly a victim of its own success. It is precisely because vaccines are so effective at preventing illness that we are even discussing whether or not they should be given. Because of vaccines, many of you have never seen a child with polio, tetanus, whooping cough, bacterial meningitis, or even chickenpox, or known a friend or family member whose child died of one of these diseases. Such success can make us complacent or even lazy about vaccinating. But such an attitude, if it becomes widespread, can only lead to tragic results.
Over the past several years, many people in Europe have chosen not to vaccinate their children with the MMR vaccine after publication of an unfounded suspicion (later retracted) that the vaccine caused autism. As a result of underimmunization, there have been small outbreaks of measles and several deaths from complications of measles in Europe over the past several years.
Furthermore, by not vaccinating your child you are taking selfish advantage of thousands of others who do vaccinate their children, which decreases the likelihood that your child will contract one of these diseases. We feel such an attitude to be self-centered and unacceptable.
We are making you aware of these facts not to scare you or coerce you, but to emphasize the importance of vaccinating your child. We recognize that the choice may be a very emotional one for some parents. We will do everything we can to convince you that vaccinating according to the schedule is the right thing to do. However, should you have doubts, please discuss these with your health care provider in advance of your visit. In some cases, we may alter the schedule to accommodate parental concerns or reservations. Please be advised, however, that delaying or "breaking up the vaccines" to give one or two at a time over two or more visits goes against expert recommendations, and can put your child at risk for serious illness (or even death) and goes against our medical advice as providers at [Your practice name here]. Such additional visits will require additional co-pays on your part. Furthermore, please realize that you will be required to sign a "Refusal to Vaccinate" acknowledgement in the event of lengthy delays.
Finally, if you should absolutely refuse to vaccinate your child despite all our efforts, we will ask you to find another health care provider who shares your views. We do not keep a list of such providers, nor would we recommend any such physician. Please recognize that by not vaccinating you are putting your child at unnecessary risk for life-threatening illness and disability, and even death.
As medical professionals, we feel very strongly that vaccinating children on schedule with currently available vaccines is absolutely the right thing to do for all children and young adults. Thank you for your time in reading this policy, and please feel free to discuss any questions or concerns you may have about vaccines with any one of us.
