Announcements: National Infant Immunization Week — April 21–28, 2012
The 18th annual National Infant Immunization Week (NIIW) will be observed April 21–28, 2012. Local and state health departments, national immunization partners, health-care professionals, and community leaders across the United States will collaborate to highlight the achievements and benefits of immunization through community activities and events, including grand rounds and educational training for health-care professionals and parents, media briefings, and immunization clinics.
This year, NIIW will be observed simultaneously with World Immunization Week (WIW), the first ever global immunization observance, an initiative of the World Health Organization to promote immunization and advance equity in the use of vaccines and universal access to vaccination services. This year also includes the inaugural presentation of the CDC Childhood Immunization Champion Award, given jointly by CDC and the CDC Foundation to recognize persons for the important contributions they have made to public health through their work in childhood immunizations. In the United States, CDC currently recommends that children aged ≤2 years receive vaccines to protect against diseases caused by 14 different pathogens (1).
Immunization rates for vaccines routinely recommended for children remain at or near record highs (2). Nevertheless, recent cases of measles (3) and pertussis (4) in the United States highlight the importance of maintaining high immunization rates. High vaccination coverage in children requires parental acceptance of routine childhood immunization. A recent survey of U.S. parents with children aged <6 years indicated that most parents are confident or very confident in the safety (72.2%), effectiveness (77.8%), and benefit of vaccines (79.6%) (5). To remind parents of the value of their children being vaccinated in accordance with the recommended immunization schedule, CDC is introducing print advertisements, posters, and radio and television public service announcements. Additional information about NIIW is available at http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/events/niiw.
- CDC. Recommended immunization schedules for persons aged 0 through 18 years—United States, 2012. MMWR 2012;61(5).
- CDC. National, state, and local area vaccination coverage among children aged 19–35 months—United States, 2009. MMWR 2010;59:1171–7.
- CDC. Measles—United States, 2011. MMWR 2012;61:253–7.
- CDC. Notice to readers: final 2010 reports of nationally notifiable infectious diseases. MMWR 2011;60:1088–101.
- Kennedy A, LaVail K, Basket M, Nowak G. Assessing the current state of immunization attitudes in the United States: results from the 2011 ConsumerStyles Survey [Poster]. Presented at the 1st Annual Immunization Conference Online, March 26–28, 2012. Available at http://cdc.confex.com/cdc/nic2012/webprogram/Paper30098.html.
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