Hot CHILI Tips
Hello Everyone: Greetings from the Immunization Team in District IV. We wanted to send out a little newsletter – the first of a series to help keep you and us up to date on new developments with Immunizations. It is hard to keep up and read everything that comes to us so we hope this will help “spotlight” some things, which are new and vital for us to know. The 2003-2004 Influenza Vaccine The vaccine for this coming season is exactly like the vaccine we had last year. It contains A/New Caledonia/20/99, A/Panama/2007/99 and B/HongKong/330/2001 strains. I wish I could tell you exactly when we will get it from the state by we don’t have that info as yet. We will get our guidelines from the state but according to the ACIP the best time to give Influenza vaccine is in October and November. Influenza and Pneumococcal vaccines can now be given in long term care facilies, patients of home health agencies, and Medicaid and Medicare participating facilities without a physician signature. This was an amendment to the Medicare standing orders rule. The reimbursement rate to physicians has also doubled for administration of Influenza vaccine to Medicare patients.
Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV7) There is ample supply of PCV7 now and we can start offering it to all infants. This is an excellent vaccine and according to the Pharmacy we have a good supply. Please encourage all parents to give this to their infants at 2, 4, 6 months and one year. It is not required but highly recommended. It helps prevent Pneumococcal Meningitis, Pneumonia and Middle Ear infections. Pneumococcal infections are the number one cause of meningitis in infants in this country. Despite the shortage of the vaccine, its introduction has been associated with a 69% decline in invasive disease among children aqed less than 2 years through 2001. A catch-up schedule is available for children incompletely vaccinated. Special Events Coming Up: On August 16th there is a special statewide immunization day. The Association of Primary care providers sponsor it. You should have received information regarding this from Santa Fe. If possible please try and have some type of activity that day to support this effort. One health office in our district is partnering with the private providers and support organizations to have a KIDS Health Fair that day at the park. If you decide to have an event, use the registration form you received and have it in by the required date so that your activity will be listed on the 1-800 information. This would be a great time to catch those pre-school shots as school starts the following week.
On June 26 there will be a CDC update on Adult Immunizations. You can access it on the Web. To register go to: http://www.phppo.cdc.gov/phtn/webcast The program will have a live web cast at: http://www.phppo.cdc.gov/phtn/webcast/adult-imm03 For technical support and to prepare for the web cast ahead of time, go to:http://www.phppo.cdc.gov/phtn/webcast/techsupport.asp Pediarix The new combination vaccine that contains DtaP; hepatitis B, and Inactivated Polio is now available through our pharmacy. Recently you should have received prescribing information on this vaccine. Here are some highlights from that material: 1. The earliest age for this vaccine is 6 weeks of age 2. It should not be given over the age of 6 years 3. Children with allergies to yeast, neomycin, and polymixin B should not receive this vaccine 4. Administration of Pediarix is associated with higher rates of fever relative to separately administered vaccines ( Be sure to have parents give Tylenol and/or Motrin for the first 24-48 hours and warn them of the possibility of fevers for up to 4 days following vaccination ) 5. Pediarix should be given with caution to children with bleeding disorders such as thrombocytopenia or hemophilia 6. Pediarix should be given in a series – if the child has already begun the series with the individual antigens – complete their series with the individual antigens.
7. The most common adverse reactions with Pediarix are pain, redness, or swelling at the site of the injection, fever and fussiness. 8. Pediarix should be shaken vigorously to obtain a homogeneous, turbid, white suspension (DO NOT USE IF RESUSPENSION DOES NOT OCCUR WITH VIGOROUS SHAKING) After drawing up the dose, discard any vaccine left in the vial. Inspect for any discoloration or particles before administering vaccine. 9. Pediarix is not indicated for the forth dose or booster dose following a 3-dose primary series of Pediarix – the forth dose would be the single antigen IPV at age 4, & Dtap at age 12 months. 10. Infants born to Hepatitis B positive Moms should be given HBIG at birth and Hep.B. They should complete their series with the single antigen Hepatitis B vaccine. Infants receiving Hep.B at birth to Hep.B negative Moms may receive the 3 doses of PEDIAIX as their primary series at 2, 4, 6 months of age. 11. PEDIARIX is given at 2, 4, & 6 months of age, minimum interval is 6-8 weeks between doses, dosage is 0.5cc and is given IM Again, be sure to read all information on this new vaccine before administering it – this is a summary of some of the important points but not everything you will want to know.
Hepatitis A Vaccine While doing our CASA audits and Day Care Assessments we found the rates of Hepatitis A Immunizations in our District are very low. Please start giving this vaccine to all children over the age of 2 years. Please encourage the private providers in your area to give this to all children presenting in their offices for services. We have a high rate of Hepatitis in our state and need to really push this vaccine. Questions we get: 1. How does the “grace period” on Immunizations work – is it just for certain vaccines? The grace period is 4 days before any interval and any vaccine. In other words if a child received their one year old series 1-4 days before their first birthday it would not have to be repeated. This is really meant to help keep children vaccinated a few days early accidently from having to repeat vaccinations – not to encourage folks to give shots early!! 2. Do you have to repeat the MMR if it is given before the 4th Birthday for school requirements? NO, as long as the 2nd MMR was given 30 days after the first one and the first one was given after the first birthday you don’t have to repeat it.
Do you have any questions about vaccines or immunizations? Submit them to Millie Aproda, Suzie Cox, or Helen Hall and we will answer them in our next Hot CHILI Tips. Hope this helps and we look forward to your comments. Submit your favorite “CHILI” recipe or a recipe using chilies for our next edition – the winner will have their recipe featured in our next “CHILI TIPS” Have a great Month from your Immunization Team – Millie Aproda, Suzie Cox and Helen Hall. Please let us know if you need help on your immunization days or special events.
P.S. Helen’s the “green” chili