NIIW 2013 – Resources for Vax Educators

23 04 2013

It’s National Infant Immunization Week!

We put out the call for infant vaccination resources that groups were prepared to share, and this is what we received. If you have any tools or resources you can share with others, either hard copies or downloadables, just add them to the comments section.

Vaccinate Your Baby has a nice section on their website of video FAQs, featuring Dr. Paul Offit, Dr. Mark Sawyer, Alison Singer, and Dr. Mary Beth Koslap-Petraco. The videos are very short, and they each ask and answer a question about vaccines. Plus, they have the full transcripts available for download. Nice way to hear how other healthcare professionals answer questions, and something you can show patients.

AAP has a multitude of resources, as you would imagine.

Here’s the Childhood Immunization Support Program Best Practices Summary. Clinicians answer several questions, and their answers are compared to best practices for each question. Sample question: “How does your practice ensure that, whenever possible, immunization appointments are scheduled along with other appointments, to prevent missed opportunities?” Good opportunity to find out how others are overcoming issues related to best practices.

AAP also has a nice page with several provider resources listed for those wanting to communicate with parents of infants, or children of any age.

The Alliance for Immunization in Michigan has a toolkit available for download that addresses infant immunization, as well as immunization in other age groups.

The Illinois Maternal & Child Health Coalition has a Community Immunization Education Guide Toolkit available in English and Spanish. It provides background information that the trainee can use as they train fellow community workers and/or educate the public about immunizations. Key topics include: What is a vaccine preventable disease, what are the five key immunization messages, what do vaccine preventable diseases look like, how to give an excellent presentation.

The Hepatitis B Foundation has a downloadable flyer promoting hep B vaccination.

CDC has an entire infant/toddler immunization section on its website.

Stanford’s Asian Liver Center has a flyer available in multiple languages that addresses HBV and Moms-to-be

CHOP’s Vaccine Education Center has several resources available:

Print materials: - Vaccines and Your Baby booklet; Q and A sheets about related vaccines: rotavirus, hep A, chickenpox, influenza, pertussis; Vaccine safety q and a sheets – facts about childhood vaccines, aluminum, recommended immunization schedule, thimerosal, too many vaccines, vaccine ingredients, vaccines and autism; Clings of the immunization schedule.

Videos: - Vaccines and your baby (for new or expectant parents), Vaccines: Separating Fact from Fear (for parents concerned about vaccine safety)

Parents PACK program – website and monthly e-newsletter (sample)

IAC has several resources for those working with infants:

FOR PARENTS:

Immunizations for Babies  (also available in 8 translations)

Vaccinations for Infants and Children, Age 0–10 Years

Clear Answers & Smart Advice About Your Baby’s Shots by Dr. Ari Brown, MD, FAAP

Cocooning Protects Babies

Personal belief exemptions for vaccination put people at risk. Examine the evidence for yourself.

Questions Parents Ask about Baby Shots   (also available in 8 translations)

Reliable Sources of Immunization Information: Where to go to find answers!

What if you don’t immunize your child?

FOR PROVIDERS:

Vaccine Administration Record for Children and Teens

Summary of Recommendations for Child/Teen Immunization

Recommendations for Pneumococcal Vaccine Use in Children and Teens

Meningococcal Vaccination Recommendations by Age and/or Risk Factor

Screening Checklist for Contraindications to Vaccines for Children and Teens   (also available in 9 translations)

Decision to Not Vaccinate My Child (declination form)

Standing orders for all routine childhood vaccines

PKIDs has several infant-specific resources that anyone may use. There’s a nice section on pertussis with video and audio PSAs, , and other materials for use by providers and parents. For the Make On-Time Vaccination Easy program, there are radio PSAs available for download . There are also videos covering a variety of vaccine-preventable diseases that may be used by anyone as PSAs, or there are longer versions for showing in waiting rooms .


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Categories : Immunizations

Healthcare Professionals: Thanks for Vaccinating Yourselves!

3 12 2012

nurseI like nurses and doctors and technicians and assistants and all the folks who, one way or another, try to keep me healthy.

That needed to be said because, in a second, it’s going to seem like I don’t much care for them.

Every year, a few healthcare professionals complain when the order comes down to get a flu shot or wear a mask when seeing patients.

They don’t wanna. Not only don’t they wanna, but their excuses sound, well, uninformed is the most polite way I can think of to say it.

The vaccine isn’t necessary.
The masks scare people.
Nobody can tell them what to do.
The vaccine doesn’t prevent flu.
The vaccine is more dangerous than the flu.
The masks are stuffy.
They don’t wanna.

Kids are required to get certain vaccines to attend public school, and if they don’t, they can’t attend.

The CDC recommends everyone over the age of six months get an annual flu shot.

You can’t get influenza from the flu shot.

It’s puzzling to know what to say to people who are supposed to be more educated than you are about disease prevention.

Granted, there are people at work or shopping in the grocery store who didn’t get the flu shot. They are therefore at risk of getting influenza and passing it on to those who couldn’t get the shot. But, the risk we have to take out here in the big old world isn’t the same as the risk we should be expected to encounter in a healthcare setting.

I say yahoo for the hospitals and clinics holding firm on this issue. To the few in healthcare who skipped the classes on disease prevention: follow the science and provide the minimum standard of care by getting vaccinated or wearing a mask around patients.

Please.

By Trish Parnell

Image courtesy of Lower Columbia College (whose students and staff are all vaccinated, as far as I know)


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , ,
Categories : Immunizations, Vaccines

Rebecca’s Son

24 10 2011

(Christopher died from a devastating case of chickenpox. His mom, Rebecca, shared her son’s story until the day she died, and we’d like to share it with you. This is taken from testimony she gave to a U.S. House of Representatives’ committee.)

My name is Rebecca Cole, and I am the mother of five children. I am speaking to you today because I have faced the worst nightmare any parent can possibly face. There is no experience on earth that compares to the horror and devastation of losing a child. It is shattered dreams, crushed wishes, and a future that suddenly vanishes before our eyes. It cannot be wished away, slept away, prayed away, or screamed away. It is darkness, agony, and shock. It leaves our hearts broken, bleeding, and bursting with pain.

My life changed forever on June 30, 1988, when I had to stand by helplessly as an infectious disease claimed the life of my oldest child, Christopher Aaron Chinnes, at the age of 12.

Christopher was a beautiful little boy who had light blonde hair, and deep, brown eyes. He was full of compassion, joy, and energy. He loved baseball, and every living creature on the earth. He wanted to be a scientist or doctor. I can honestly say that my son was one of the most beautiful human beings I have ever known, and I am proud to have been his mother.

Christopher was born a very healthy child, but at the age of eight he developed asthma. It was never a problem for him, and it never kept him from doing the things he loved. But, on June 16, 1988, four years after he was diagnosed, he suffered his first and only severe asthma attack. He had to be hospitalized and was treated with all of the normally prescribed drugs, including a corticosteroid. (Anti-inflammatory drugs used in asthma, arthritis, allergies, etc.) He was released four days later with several medications to finish at home, and he was well on his way to recovery.

On June 23, exactly one week after the asthma attack, he broke out with the chickenpox. “Don’t worry, you’ll get over it,” I told him. What I didn’t know was that the corticosteroid had lowered his body’s immune response and he could not fight the disease. The chickenpox began to rampage wildly through his young body. As I drove him to the emergency room, on June 27, my four younger children watched silently in shock and horror as their brother went into seizures, went blind, turned gray, and collapsed due to hemorrhaging in his brain.

That afternoon, Christopher was flown from Camp Lejuene’s Naval Hospital to East Carolina University’s Medical Center, but the chickenpox was uncontrollably sweeping through him like a wildfire, and there was nothing anyone could do.

The next day Christopher suffered a cardiac arrest and slipped into a coma. As my son lay swollen beyond recognition, and hemorrhaging from every area imaginable, including out into the blisters on his skin, I learned that a vaccine existed, but was not yet licensed by the FDA—a vaccine that could have prevented the unimaginable suffering of my child, and all who knew him.

On June 30, 1988, exactly one week after breaking out with chickenpox, Christopher passed away. The chickenpox virus had destroyed every organ in his body, and it cut pieces from the hearts of everyone who witnessed its devastation.

Christopher wanted to be a scientist or doctor, but because of the unavailability of a vaccine, we will never know what contributions he might have made to society.

Vaccines prevent countless deaths each year. Without them the number of valuable human beings we’d lose would be staggering. There are children and adults who come in contact with the public everyday who would die if they were exposed to the diseases we can prevent.

If everyone around them is vaccinated, they are also protected. We owe it to them and to ourselves as a nation to achieve the highest level of protection possible. We must win the war against infectious disease, and vaccines are our most powerful weapons. We cannot win, however, if we do not use them. Leaving any of our population unprotected is like surrendering to a defeatable foe. We must never surrender.

Rebecca Cole


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , ,
Categories : Chickenpox, Immunizations

ECBT – Two Decades

8 09 2011

Every Child By Two (ECBT) celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter and Former First Lady of Arkansas Betty Bumpers started ECBT with two goals: “. . . [to] raise awareness of the critical need for timely immunizations and to foster a systematic way to immunize all of America’s children by age two.”

ECBT offers a lot of direction to various segments of the population. For parents, they have sections on vaccine safety, tips on paying for vaccines, and descriptions of vaccines and the diseases they prevent.

Immunization advocates can find a huge amount of information on ECBT’s website, including surveys, reports, links, and a long list of national and regional resources.

Immunization registries are at the heart of ECBT’s work and they feature on their website how-tos, detailed explanations of registry benefits, and other tools helpful to those investigating such start-ups.

Healthcare professionals aren’t forgotten! They can find many links to patient educational materials and to strategies to improve vaccination rates.

Bringing Immunity To Every Community is an eLearning course developed by ECBT in partnership with the Colorado Foundation for Medical Care and the American Nurses Association and is worth checking out.

In the past few years, ECBT has created a second website, Vaccinate Your Baby, and a blog called Shot of Prevention. Vaccinate Your Baby is based on an awareness campaign of the safety of vaccines and the need to keep children’s immunization rates high. Actress Amanda Peet has been an ardent spokeswoman for ECBT and immunization and has kept the momentum going on this campaign.

The blog, Shot of Prevention, is led by Christine Vara, and has been both a leader in the arena of immunization blogs and a lightning rod for those with strong opinions. But they do love it when folks take time to comment on posts, so stop by when you have a minute to read these thoughtful opinion pieces.

It’s true that we’re fans of the people at ECBT, but for good cause. Kids would not be so well-protected today if, 20 years ago, two strong women hadn’t taken it upon themselves to lead the nation in immunizing our young.

Amy Pisani, Rich Greenaway and Jennifer Zavolinsky get up and go to work each day at ECBT, and because they do, they make the jobs of other immunization advocates so much easier. Thanks to all of you.

By Trish Parnell


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Categories : Immunizations

Flu Shot Already?

29 08 2011

It’s so easy to get flu vaccinations these days. My daughters and I were grocery shopping and we were immunized between the bacon and the frozen pizza aisles.

OK, I confess I didn’t tell my 12-year-old what we were going to do. I lured her to the store with promises of cantaloupe and pepperoni sticks (don’t judge) and slipped in the visit to the pharmacy mid-store. My 15-year-old was happy to get her shot because she had H1N1 last year and is determined never to get the flu again as long as she lives.

Does it seem weird to anyone else to get a flu shot in August? The upside is, there are no lines, and the shot takes a couple of weeks to kick in, so getting it sooner rather than later is a good idea.

Obviously, influenza is on my mind. I was browsing YouTube for flu vaccination videos and came across this one from Australia. What do you think? We need to mix it up a bit. Does this do the trick?

By Trish Parnell

Video courtesy Government of South Australia


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , ,
Categories : Immunizations

A Thoughtful Choice

25 08 2011

I remember lining up at school in the ‘60s to get vaccinated against smallpox and a few other diseases for which there were vaccines.

I also remember the years when my brothers and I took turns at getting measles, mumps and other diseases for which there were no vaccines.

In the end, we three were fortunate—no permanent harm from our maladies.

Fast-forward 30 years. My daughter was four months old when she was diagnosed with hepatitis B. She had not been vaccinated and subsequently developed a chronic infection.

It all sounds mundane when read as words on a screen. But in those early years, the heartache and anger I felt at having my daughter’s life so affected by something that was preventable . . . well, it was almost more than I could bear.

But again, we were fortunate. After years of infection, her body turned around and got control of the disease. Although we have bloodwork done every year to keep an eye on things, she has a good chance of living the rest of her life free of complications from this infection.

Over the years, I’ve met other parents whose children were affected by vaccine-preventable diseases. Some, like Kelly and Shannon, chose not to vaccinate their kids and ended up with horrible consequences. Kelly’s son Matthew was hospitalized for Hib and they came within a breath of losing him. Shannon did lose her daughter Abigale to pneumococcal disease, and almost lost her son. He recovered and was released from the hospital, at which time they had a funeral for their daughter.

Because of my job, I talk to and hear from many families with similar stories. Some children have died, some remain permanently affected, and some have managed to recover.

Also because of my job, I hear from parents who believe vaccines are not safe, and that natural infections are the safer choice. I understand and have experienced the emotions we as parents feel when something happens to our children. In a way, I was lucky. I knew exactly what caused my daughter’s problems. A simple test provided a definite diagnosis.

If we can’t identify the cause of our children’s pain or suffering, we feel like we can’t fix it and we can’t rest until we know the truth. When the cause can’t be found, we latch onto if onlys. What could we have done differently to keep our kids safe? If only we hadn’t taken her to grandpa’s when she didn’t feel good. If only we hadn’t vaccinated him on that particular day. If only. The problem is, the if onlys are guesses and no more reliable routes to the facts than playing Eenie Meenie Miney Mo.

The deeper I go into the world of infections and disease prevention, the more obvious it is to me that the only way to find the facts is to follow the science. Now granted, one study will pop up that refutes another, but I’ve learned that when multiple, replicable studies all reach the same conclusion, then I can safely say I’ve found the facts.

In our family, we vaccinate because for us, it is the thoughtful choice.

By Trish Parnell

Originally posted on Parents Who Protect


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Categories : Immunizations, Uncategorized

It’s August – Get Immunized!

8 08 2011

Are you aware of immunizations? You may think that as someone who has passed the childhood years, you’re finished with immunizations. August is National Immunization Awareness Month, and here at PKIDs, we thought you should be aware that immunizations aren’t only for kids anymore. Here is a handy guide to immunizations for specific populations, from children to tweens and teens to those who are more mature in years.

Children

Immunization starts in childhood, with the standard shots against measles, mumps and rubella, chickenpox, polio, hib, hepatitis, diphtheria, pneumococcal, rotavirus, tetanus and whooping cough for children ages six and under. These vaccination programs have been extraordinarily successful at saving lives and permanent negative effects from these diseases. For example:

  • Vaccines have successfully wiped smallpox from the face of the planet. This horrific disease could kill as many as 25% of those infected and left survivors with permanent disfigurement. Scientists declared it globally eradicated—thanks to vaccines—in 1980.
  • Polio used to hit about 50,000 people every year in the United States. Between 13,000 and 20,000 of those cases were paralytic polio that left thousands of children disabled, some in iron lungs, unable to breathe on their own. Thanks to immunization, polio is a thing of the past in the Western Hemisphere but is resurging in areas where immunization programs have been suspended, including Nigeria.
  • The United States is currently experiencing measles outbreaks, primarily among unvaccinated groups. These outbreaks have resulted in high hospitalization rates. Vaccines against measles prevent infection—which also means preventing the death and disability that this highly infectious disease causes. In areas of the world where vaccines are lacking, hundreds of thousands of children die every year from measles.
  • Have you ever known anyone who has died of diphtheria? If not, that’s because of vaccines. About 13,000 people died each year in the United States before the vaccine. In 2002, there was a single case of diphtheria in the US.
  • And take chickenpox. You may not consider chickenpox to be deadly, but before the vaccine, the death rate was about 0.41 per million cases. The death rate has dropped 97% among children and teens since the advent of the varicella vaccine.

Tweens and Teens

Don’t leave out children over age six when it comes to immunizations. Kids ages 11 and 12 need boosters for tetanus, diphtheria, and whooping cough (pertussis), and everyone needs protection against meningococcal with a booster after a few years. Further, current recommendations are also for girls to get the HPV vaccine, which protects against the viruses that most commonly cause cervical cancer. Remember that your daughter’s sexual behavior or history is not the only determinant of whether or not she will be exposed to the virus; her partner’s past matters, too. The HPV vaccine is also licensed for boys—talk to your son’s provider about vaccination.

Adults

If you’re grown, you still need to get a tetanus booster every decade, or TDaP if you haven’t received at least one booster for whooping cough. If you’re age 60 or older, get your shingles vaccine to avoid a painful viral attack on your nervous system. Adults age 65 or better also should get a one-time pneumonia shot.

Everyone

Everyone should get vaccinated against flu each year, either with a shot or a nasal spray. The nasal spray contains live, weakened viruses and is approved for healthy people ages 2 to 49 who are not pregnant. The flu shot is approved for people ages 6 months and over, either healthy or with chronic health conditions. Children younger than 2 years, pregnant women, and people over age 50 are especially vulnerable and a specifically targeted population for flu shots. If you have a fever, egg allergy, or a history of reaction or Guillain-Barré following a flu shot, you should not get the vaccine.

Speaking of people who can’t get vaccines for medical reasons, one final thing to be aware of during National Immunization Awareness Month and beyond: Vaccinations as preventive healthcare don’t prevent disease only in you or your child. They also protect those who can’t receive vaccine protection because of allergy or medical conditions. It’s protection for all of us.

By Emily Willingham

Image courtesy of CDC


Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: , , , , ,
Categories : Immunizations

You and the Shingles Vaccine

14 07 2011

Who should…and shouldn’t…get the shingles vaccine?

The virus that causes chickenpox, varicella zoster, doesn’t confine its activity to childhood. For reasons that remain unclear, it can re-emerge in older age as the rash called herpes zoster, more commonly known as shingles. Just as you can get chickenpox only once, usually you also have shingles only once. But that “once” can translate into chronic, unbearable pain if a complication known as postherpetic neuralgia develops. This pain, a burning nerve pain severe enough to disrupt sleep, can last for years.

That’s why people who are eligible for the shingles vaccine should get one. But who are those people?

The short answer is, almost anyone age 60 and over. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved this vaccine only for this age group because researchers have no evidence yet that it’s effective in younger groups. It makes sense because one of the risk factors for developing shingles is . . . being over 60. Another risk factor is having had chickenpox before age 1.

The shingles vaccine is not, however, a substitute for the childhood vaccines against chickenpox.

Some people in the over-60 age group should not get the shingles vaccine. Avoid this vaccine if any of the following applies to you:

  • You’ve had a life-threatening allergic reaction to gelatin or the antibiotic neomycin. The vaccine contains other ingredients, so if you’re deathly allergic to something, check the ingredients list.
  • You’re taking drugs that suppress the immune system or have a disease that does, such as HIV, because this vaccine is a live-virus vaccine.
  • You have tuberculosis.
  • You are or might become pregnant, an unlikely possibility in the 60+ age group.
  • You are moderately to severely ill, including have a fever over 101.3 F. Wait to get the vaccine until you’re better.

Can you get this vaccine if you’ve already had the shingles? Sure, even though you’re not likely to get shingles again. You can also get this vaccine while receiving the influenza vaccine.

Like any vaccine or other medical intervention, the shingles vaccine can have side effects and carry risk. The most common side effects are pain and swelling at the injection site and headache. One large research study of the safety of the vaccine found no difference in rates of negative events between the vaccinated group and the group that received a placebo (a dummy injection). A substudy within that study, however, found a slightly higher rate of serious adverse events in the real vaccine group compared to placebo (1.9% vs. 1.3%). The data did not indicate that the events were vaccine-related.

The effectiveness of this vaccine depends on the outcome in question. Studies indicate that it reduces your risk of getting shingles by about 50%. If you do get shingles, the vaccine is linked to fewer days of pain during the outbreak and shorter periods of pain for people who go on to develop postherpetic neuralgia.

By Emily Willingham


Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: , , , ,
Categories : Chickenpox, Immunizations, Shingles, Uncategorized, Vaccines

Just the Facts, Please

12 05 2011

Usually, the facts are the facts, right? Maybe not. Everything depends on the language we use to frame a given issue. That might sound kind of dry, but take a look at this:

Who would hire THAT babysitter?!

The same thing happens sometimes when people talk about vaccines. Even real facts can look alarming when they’re not presented in an accurate context. Watch how it works.

CBS News: “Ratajczak also looks at a factor that hasn’t been widely discussed: human DNA contained in vaccines. That’s right, human DNA.”

Notice how the reporter repeats “human DNA,” suggesting there’s something shocking about it. Yes, there is human DNA in vaccines that are cultured using human cells. They are a biological product that can’t just be cooked up out of inert materials, and if being exposed to foreign DNA were dangerous, it’d be baaaaad news for anyone who’s ever breathed around an animal.

Also, if it were this easy for one organism’s DNA to hijack the biology of another, kindergarteners could do gene therapy.

Fox News, on how the Court of Federal Claims is dealing with cases in the Omnibus Autism Proceeding now that all of the vaccines-cause-autism theories have been conclusively rejected: “It sounds like they’re making these families jump through almost impossible legal hoops. They want them to go out and somehow drum up their own medical expert, pay for it themselves, come up with a new medical theory…why are they making it so tough?”

Yes, the families who had cases in the Omnibus Autism Proceeding are now being asked to speak up if there’s any reason to believe their child’s case is different from the six test cases the Court heard. And yes, it is almost impossible any of them will prevail. Why? Not because, as the reporter insinuates, there’s some dark conspiracy to suppress information. It’s because the Omnibus Autism Proceeding was exhaustive. If there were any possibility that the vaccines-cause-autism theories held water, the test cases provided every chance in the world to prove it—but they couldn’t.

See how easy it is? Start with something harmless, pour on some spooky music, whip to a frothy doomsday conclusion, and . . . voila! You’ve got yourself a delectable morsel of Pernicious Urban Legend! Unfortunately, many consumers don’t know to beware before digging in.


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , ,
Categories : Immunizations, Uncategorized

Vaccine Education Center

28 04 2011

Dr. Paul Offit, Director, VEC

The science of vaccines can be . . . daunting. The lists of ingredients and potential side effects make us want to second guess ourselves and our children’s providers. We need to be sure we’re making safe choices.

And the complicated schedules! They’re enough to make sane people pound their heads.

The folks at the Vaccine Education Center (VEC) at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia have a gift for presenting the complexities of vaccines and attending issues in a way that’s easy to understand yet comprehensive in scope.

The VEC website has a special section for parents and adults of all ages.  While there, you can sign up for the Parents PACK newsletter to get monthly immunization updates.  In the March issue, there’s a timely post on measles and the dangers of rubella parties.

You’ll also find age-specific information on vaccines and the diseases they prevent. There are FAQs, but if you can’t find your question, you can send it in via a form provided on the site.

The VEC has created a library of educational materials on specific vaccines and commonly asked questions. These resources range from information sheets to more consumer-friendly bookmarks and brochures.

They also maintain essential tools, including vaccine schedules, facts about vaccine preventable diseases, and the latest in vaccine science.

To keep information fresh, the VEC pens a monthly “Ask the VEC” on a myriad of topics.

Starting in 2011, the VEC will present three or four webinars a year addressing evolving issues, recent ACIP meetings, new science and media reports.

There are layers and layers of information available on the website, for those of us who feel more is better.  And what parent doesn’t?

The VEC staff constantly works at sifting vaccine fact from fiction and explaining the difference in ways we can all understand.  If you have questions, they’re worth checking out.


Comments : 6 Comments »
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Categories : Communication, Disease Prevention, Family Interest, Health Education, Immunizations, Virtual Connections

« Previous Entries


Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.