What are the symptoms of the new coronavirus and how deadly is it?

January 24, 2020 | Jessica Hamzelou At the end of 2019, health authorities in China alerted the world to a potentially new virus that had caused pneumonia in a handful of people in Wuhan since mid-December. The number of cases has since exploded, with more than 600 cases confirmed as of 23 January. The virus has been confirmed to be a new coronavirus, in the same family as SARS and MERS. What is a coronavirus? Coronaviruses are common, and typically cause mild respiratory symptoms such as a cough or runny nose. Some are more dangerous. SARS, which infected more than 8000 people, was Read More …

Immunization Coalitions Request

Vaccinate Your Family asked immunization coalitions throughout the states to add their name to a letter requesting U.S. Customs and Border Patrol to vaccinate those people – particularly children – in their custody against influenza.   The ICD added our name to a list of 54 signatories that was shared with Acting Secretary McAleenan, Secretary Azar, Director Redfield, and Surgeon General Adams. https://www.vaccinateyourfamily.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Immunization-Community-Request-for-the-Vaccination-of-Detainees-in-CBP-Custody-October-2019_final.pdf

CA governor signs bills limiting vaccine exemptions

September 10, 2019 | CNN | Devan Cole California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday signed two bills that limit medical exemptions for vaccines of schoolchildren. Under SB 276, California’s Department of Public Health would investigate medical exemptions from doctors who have granted five or more in a year.   Read more

NFID Clinical Vaccinology Course

November 16 – 17, 2019Washington, DC This 2-day course focuses on new developments and issues related to the use of vaccines. Expert faculty provide the latest information on vaccines, including updated recommendations for vaccinations across the lifespan, and innovative and practical strategies for ensuring timely and appropriate immunization. For more information, check out the course website!

JAMA: Associations of legislative interventions and vaccine use in California

Pingali, S.C., Delamater, P.L., Buttenheim, A.M., et al (2019). Findings  In this observational study of school-level data from 9 323 315 kindergartners who started attending school between 2000 and 2017, the rate of kindergartners without up-to-date vaccination status decreased from 9.84% during 2013 (before the interventions) to 4.87% during 2017 (after the interventions). Read more

DelVAX / Google Chrome Bug

6/24/2019: This issue has been resolved Envision, our DelVAX vendor, has discovered a bug in the latest version of Google Chrome (v75+) that is causing duplicate entry or error messages when entering data into DelVAX.  While Chrome and Envision are working on the bug (not going to be a quick fix), it is recommended that you not use Chrome when entering data into DelVAX.  Internet Explorer 11, Firefox and Edge are ok to use.

The Flintstones Dilemma

So which is the measles? A minor inconvenience and source of comedy in “The Flintstones,” or a growing, deadly international emergency? If you talk to the official organizations whose solemn mission it is to protect the health of the population, measles outbreaks are a crisis. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have now confirmed more than 700 cases across 22 states in the United States in 2019 alone. That’s despite the disease having been declared eradicated in the U.S. in the year 2000. Read more

Surgeon General VADM Jerome M. Adams, MP, MPH Statement on National Infant Immunization Week, Safety and Effectiveness of Vaccines

Vaccinations save lives, protect our children, and are one of the greatest public health achievements in history. Most parents choose to protect their children with these safe, proven vaccines. Despite this, we are now seeing a large, very concerning outbreak of measles. Vaccinating your baby according to the recommended immunization schedule provides the best protection against 14 serious childhood illnesses—including measles and whooping cough. As a parent, I have publicly talked about my family’s decision to protect my three children by getting them vaccinated. Unfortunately, there is inaccurate information circulating about vaccines, so let’s make sure we separate the facts Read More …

2019 Childhood Immunization Champion Award

The CDC Childhood Immunization Champion Award recognizes individuals who make a significant contribution toward improving public health through their work in childhood immunization. This year, a new partner will join CDC to honor those who are doing an exemplary job or going above and beyond to promote or foster childhood immunization among children 0-2 years old in their communities. One Champion from each of the 50 U.S. states, 8 U.S. Territories and Freely Associated States, and the District of Columbia will be honored. The awardees will be announced during National Infant Immunization Week (NIIW), April 27-May 4, 2019.   We wanted Read More …