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National Infant Immunization Week to be observed April 23-30
The CDC-sponsored annual event to promote the benefits of immunizations and to improve the health of children aged 2 years or younger kicks off on April 23.
The annual National Infant Immunization Week (NIIW) is part of a broad global initiative to ensure that infants are fully immunized against 14 vaccine-preventable diseases. Local and state health departments, national immunization partners, health care professionals, community leaders and the CDC use NIIW to highlight the positive effect of vaccination on the lives of infants and children and to highlight immunization achievements, according to the CDC.
Despite increases in US immunization coverage rates, vaccine-preventable diseases still occur in US children, including the recent resurgence of measles and pertussis.
This year’s NIIW will be held in conjunction with the Pan American Health Organization’s (PAHO) Vaccination Week in the Americas (VWA). Awareness and education events are being planned in conjunction with state and local health departments, PAHO and the US-Mexico Border Health Commission in sister city sites along the US-Mexican border. More than 40 countries throughout the Western Hemisphere are expected to hold events to highlight the need for routine vaccinations for infants and children.
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Figures 1-2: The Oklahoma State Department of
Health Immunization Service and the Choctaw Nation Health Services hosted an
event in 2003 to unveil the “Protect the Circle of Life” program. The
event featured the National Immunization Program Director and Infectious
Diseases in Children Board Member Walter A. Orenstein, MD. Source: Oklahoma
State Dept. of Health Immunization Service |
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Many states have hosted successful activities in past years. In 2009, the Connecticut Immunization Program hosted a “Teddy Bear Clinic” at a Danbury Community Action Day Care Center, and organizers in Bridgeport hosted a 2009 Mother’s Day Social. Two separate programs, one in English and one in Spanish, were attended by mothers and fathers at the local Women, Infants & Children office.
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Figure 3: During the 2009 NIIW, students at
Danbury’s Action Early Learning Center in Connecticut received a hands-on
lesson about the importance of being immunized. They participated in a
“Teddy Bear Clinic” run by the Greater Danbury Immunization Action
Program and the Danbury Visiting Nurse Association. Student Allyson Dominguez
demonstrates how to protect our loved ones through immunization. Source:
Virginia Landry |
Each year, the Alaska Immunization Program hosts an event during the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in March, just before NIIW. These events pair well because the race from Anchorage, in south-central Alaska, to Nome, on the western Bering Sea coast (1,150 miles of what is known as the Iditarod Trail), became a life-saving highway in 1925 for epidemic-stricken Nome. Diphtheria threatened the city’s population and dog mushers and their dogs delivered diphtheria serum to patients.
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Figure 4: Alaska Immunization Program’s
“I Did It by TWO!” campaign during the 2010 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog
Race in Anchorage, Alaska. Source: TJ Lenahan |
Figure 5: “Izzy, the Immunization
Dog,” who poses for photos with children and hands out immunization
information, with four-time Iditarod Race Champion Martin Buser. Source: TJ
Lenahan |
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Figure 6: BeeWise provides an autograph.
Source: Kansas Dept. of Health and Environment |
Figure 7: The BeeWise Inflight Tour, sponsored
by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, included a stop at the
Stafford County Health Department. Source: Kansas Dept. of Health and
Environment |
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Figure 8: Mayor Bill Finch of Bridgeport,
Conn., speaking with youngsters at the Bridgeport Immunization Program’s
2009 Mother’s Day Social. Source: Joan Lane |
Also in 2009, the Pennsylvania Department of Health and the Pennsylvania Immunization Coalition collaborated with Penn State University in promoting NIIW at their annual spring “Blue & White Football Game.” PSU announced and promoted NIIW on its stadium sign during each quarter of the game.
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Figure 9: The Pennsylvania Department of
Health and the Pennsylvania Immunization Coalition collaborated with Penn State
University in promoting NIIW at their annual spring “Blue & White
Football Game” in 2009. Specifically, PSU announced and promoted NIIW on
its stadium LED sign for 1 minute during each quarter of the game. Source: Penn
State Sports Properties, LLC |
Hundreds of educational activities and media events are expected to take place nationwide to celebrate and promote this important issue. The theme for this year’s campaign is “Love them. Protect them. Immunize them.”
In 2010, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) mascot, BeeWise Immunize, traveled more than 1,300 miles across the state visiting nine counties and 10 health department offices in 5 days spreading the message, “Immunize and Win a Prize.” This statewide campaign provides prizes to families who have their children immunized in a timely manner.
For more information about the NIIW and to review the events that are planned in various states, visit www.cdc.gov/vaccines/events/niiw/index.html. A message to nurses from Anne Schuchat, MD, assistant US surgeon general, can be found at:
www.cdc.gov/vaccines/events/niiw/promotional/media/downloads/schuchat-NIIW-message.doc.
Through the years I have had the opportunity of participating in several NIIW local, state national and bi-national activities and events throughout the US and Mexico. Whether it’s talking to parents and staff at a WIC clinic in Chicago about their immunization questions and the importance of vaccinating young children, being invited into thousands of homes through early morning television interviews in San Diego, or presenting an update on the latest immunization recommendations and best practices at pediatric grand rounds on the US-Mexico border, I am always struck by the passion, determination, and commitment of local and state public health staff and other health care professionals to protect infants and children from vaccine- preventable diseases. This passion, understanding of the life-saving power of vaccines, and ability to address parents’ immunization questions and communicate the value of vaccines to parents, family members and neighbors is why the United States is at or near record high levels of immunization.
Unfortunately, we continue to see vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks. The recent 2010 pertussis outbreak, hit hardest in California, was one of the worst in the last 50 years, with more than 21,000 cases and 26 deaths nationwide. The resurgence of pertussis is an important reminder that vaccine-preventable diseases are still a serious risk to children and that immunization remains our best protection. These outbreaks also remind us about the importance of effectively communicating about immunization. To ensure access to up-to-date information for parents, CDC has developed a series of educational materials called Provider Resources for Vaccine Conversations with Parents, which can be found at www.cdc.gov/vaccines/conversations.
NIIW and all of the other immunization weeks planned throughout the globe provide an opportunity to nationally and globally acknowledge the life-saving value of vaccines, educate and empower parents in their vaccination decision, and recognize the important year-long efforts of public health and health care professionals to achieving disease protection.
This year as we celebrate NIIW, we should appreciate and support all of the health care professionals who are responsible for delivering immunizations, educating parents on vaccines, protecting children and making immunization work throughout the year.
– Larry K. Pickering, MD
Infectious
Diseases in Children Editorial Board member
Disclosure: Dr. Pickering reported no relevant financial disclosures.