Immunization

NAPNAP's Immunization Special Interest Group (SIG) began as a Task Force and became a formal SIG in 1993. The SIG currently consists of over 160 members who pay dues of $20.00 annually, which goes to the expenses of the SIG such as mailings, phone bills, and minimal travel reimbursement.

The purpose of the SIG is to provide SIG members with a forum to explore and discuss the current special issues of pediatric immunizations; to represent NAPNAP at various national immunization meetings; and to act as a consulting group to members and the national NAPNAP office regarding vaccine preventable diseases and immunization practices.

The Immunization Special Interest Group has contributed to the field in the following ways:

• Provide a forum for discussion for PNPs regarding immunization practice.
• Host Annual SIG business meeting during the NAPNAP Annual Conference.
• Distribute biannual newsletter to SIG members containing interesting and current immunization information PNPs can use in practice.
• Advise in the development of immunization curricula for colleges and continuing education through the Association of Teachers of Preventative Medicine.
• Collaborated with American Nurses Association on childhood immunization topics.
• Attend national meetings such as Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and Immunization Education and Action Committee of the Healthy Mother's, Healthy Babies Coalition.
• Consult with national organizations on such efforts as the Prevention Flow Sheets used by the Department of Health and Human Service's Put Prevention Into Practice program.
• Serve on the Advisory Committe on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and the National Vaccine Advisory Committee (NVAC)
• Assist in coordinating grant application process for NAPNAP educational grants related to Vaccines.

SIG Officers

Ann Linguiti Pron MSN, RN, CPNP, Chair
Ann Taub CPNP, Co-Chair
Catherine O'Keefe DNP, CPNP, Secretary
Email: immunization@napnap.org

The College of Physicians of Philadelphia developed a website The History of Vaccines. The site explains the development of vaccination and in its more contemporary resources, such as activities on herd immunity, how vacinnes work and understanding risk.

Click here to view the NMA Press Release on:  Back-to-School Checklist Should Include Ensuring Vaccinations are Up-to-Date
Click here to view the NMA Adolescent Immunization Program Templete

Click here to view the IMM SIG Winter 2011 Newsletter

Visit www.immunize.org for up-to-date immunization information from the Immunization Action Coalition

ECBT's new Video FAQs as mentioned on today's CDC Childhood Immunization Partners Call

For more information:  http://www.vaccinateyourbaby.org/faq/index.cfm

These publications contain ready-to-print educational materials for healthcare professionals and their patients, updated immunization schedules, vaccine news highlights, and IAC’s popular “Ask the Experts” question-and-answer column with answers by CDC experts William Atkinson, MD, MPH, and Andrew Kroger, MD, MPH. The current issues of Needle Tips and Vaccinate Adults focus on seasonal and H1N1 influenza.

IAC is now in its second year of publishing these periodicals exclusively online.  Current and past issues of Needle Tips are available at www.immunize.org/nt and Vaccinate Adults at www.immunize.org/va. To receive direct notification when new issues are published, subscribe at www.immunize.org/subscribe. On this page, you can also subscribe for free to IAC’s weekly email news service, IAC Express, which keeps you up to date on immunization news between issues of IAC’s periodicals.

CDC-TV SEGMENT ON CHILDHOOD IMMUNIZATIONS 

Get the Picture:  Childhood Immunizations video is a short video to help answer questions that parents may have about childhood immunization.  Click here to access the video.

Click here for vaccine information from the CDC.

To view what NAPNAP members see as obstacles to immunization, click here for a summary of the results from NAPNAP's Immunization Challenges Survey.

New from CDC: Provider Toolkit on H1N1 & Children with High-Risk Conditions

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released a new toolkit on H1N1 and children with high-risk conditions. Infants born prematurely are among those children considered most at-risk for complications of the H1N1 flu. The toolkit, designed for health care providers, includes an informational page on access to the H1N1 vaccine, a brochure and template letters for parents and caregivers, and posters for office settings.

For Provider Toolkit, Click here

For more CDC information on H1N1, visit:  www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu

The Immunization Action Coalition (IAC) has recently released its April 2010 issue of Needle Tips, for all healthcare professionals who give vaccines. Also available is Vaccinate Adults, a version of Needle Tips modified for those who work only with adult patients. Both are now available for online reading and/or printing.

Articles of Interest

2009 H1N1 Influenza Pandemic
Teri Moser Woo, P{PhD, RN, CPNP
Journal of Pediatric Health Care
July/August 2010, Vol. 24, No. 4 pp. 258-266

The Immunization Status of Home-schooled Children in America
Bonnie K. Choi, MSN, CPNP, & Mary Lou Manning, PhD, CPNP
Journal of Pediatric Health Care
January/February 2010, Vol. 24, No. 1, pp. 42-47

Paretnal Hesitation as a Factor in Delayed Childhood Immunization
Karlen E. Luthy, APRN, FNP; Renea L. Beckstrand, PhD, RN, CCRN & Neil E. Peerson, RN, BS
Journal of Pediatric Health Care
November/December 2009, Vol. 23, No. 6, pp. 388-393

Special Immunization Considerations of the Preterm Infant
Ashraf Gad, MD, & Shetal Shah, MD
Journal of Pediatric Health Care
November/December 2007, Vol. 21, No. 6, pp. 385-391

Improving Influenza Vaccine Compliance Through Patient Education for Patients with Cystic Fibrosis
Tran C, Pitts J
Journal of Pediatric Health Care
January 2007, Vol. 21, No. 1, pp. 57-61

Vaccine Shortages: Implications for Pediatric Nurse Practitioners
Callender D
Journal of Pediatric Health Care
November 2006, Vol. 20, No. 6, pp. 426-429

Herpes Zoster in Childhood
Leung AKC, Robson WLM, Leong AG
Journal of Pediatric Healthcare
September 2006, Vol. 20, No. 5, pp. 300-303

Educating Teens About Vaccines
Hernandez G, Nestor C
Journal of Pediatric Healthcare
September 2006, Vol. 20, No. 5, pp. 342-349

Update on Adolescent Immunization: Review of Pertussis and the Efficacy, Safety, and Clinical Use of Vaccines that Contain Tetanus-Diptheria-Acellular Pertussis
Wilson TR
Journal of Pediatric Health Care
July 2006, Vol. 20, No. 4, pp. 229-237

Vaccines: Helping Families Travel Safely
Nelms BC
Journal of Pediatric Health Care
May 2006, Vol. 20, No. 3, pp. 155-157

New resources to help increase influenza vaccination children with asthma are now available from the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID). Click www.nfid.org to access various tools and strategies that can be customized for use in clinical settings to help address immunization barriers and improve parent education.  NAPNAP supports the goals of NFID's initiative and encourages members to share these materials with colleagues.

To see minutes from the latest meeting of the CDC's Advisory Council on Immunizations, please click here