Pearls Spring 2025

Dane County Immunization Coalition Updates

Quarterly Educational Meeting

Mark your calendars! Our next quarterly educational meeting will be held virtually on Tuesday, May 20, 2025 from 12pm to 1:30pm. Watch your email in the coming weeks for the agenda which will have the Zoom link.

A recording of our February 2025 meeting featuring UW’s Dr. Keith Poulsen talking about H5N1 can be found here.  

Symposium

The Dane County Immunization Coalition 2025 Immunization Symposium is right around the corner on Tuesday, April 29, 2025! The topics will be Immunization in Rough Water: Challenges and Potential Solutions by Dr. Dorit R. Reiss, LLB, Ph.D. and Don’t Miss Your Shot: A Compassionate Approach to Vaccine Hesitancy by Dr. James Bigham, MD, MPH, FAAFP. This event is FREE and VIRTUAL and continuing education will be offered. Click here to register!

IMWI Annual Conference

Immunize Wisconsin’s annual conference will be held in Madison on Wednesday, May 14 and Thursday, May 15, 2025. Click here to register!

New Website

The Dane County Immunization Coalition has a new Website! Check it out here.

Immunization Updates

CDC Updates COVID Vaccine Recommendations

New RSV vaccine recommendation for at-risk adults

Following a 2-month delay, the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP) met and voted on vaccine recommendations. ACIP recommended that the age for risk-based RSV vaccination be lowered from 60 to 50. This means that adults who are 50 to 74 who are at increased risk of severe disease receive a single dose of RSV vaccine. All adults who are 75 years of age and older should still receive a single dose of RSV vaccine.

New Chikungunya Vaccine Approved

ACIP also voted to recommend the use of Bavarian Nordic’s newly approved vaccine-like particle chikungunya vaccine (Vimkunya) for adults who are traveling to a country or a territory experiencing an outbreak. Unlike Valneva’s vaccine (Ixchiq), the new vaccine is not live.

Use of Mengingococcal A, B, C, W, and Y Vaccine

ACIP also recommended that GSK’s pentavalent vaccine (Penmenvy), designed to protect against A, B, C, W, and Y serogroups and approved in February, be used when the quadrivalent (four-strain) and meningitis B vaccine are indicated at the same visit.

Health Equity

April is National Minority Health Month

The National Minority Quality Forum (NMQF) announced the theme for National Minority Health Month: “Health Unlocked: Access, Alignment, Action.” This year’s theme recognizes the evolving challenges in healthcare that disproportionately impact medically underserved communities. As systemic barriers to care persist and new threats emerge, NMQF calls on stakeholders to unlock solutions that align healthcare with human needs and ensure equitable access for all. One way to do that is to offer vaccine information in different languages. Immunize.org offers translations of VISs and other vaccination resources.

Protecting American Indian and Alaskan Native Families from RSV

The Public Health Foundation (PHF) developed an informative toolkit containing digital and printable FAQs, fact sheets, and infographics to support Tribal Home Visitors discussing RSV immunization with American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) families. As trusted members of their communities, Tribal Home Visitors and Early Head Start staff play a crucial role in educating AIAN families about RSV and available immunization options.

RSV poses a significant threat to the health and safety of AIAN children, who experience higher rates of hospitalization due to RSV. AIAN families can help protect their infants and young children from severe RSV illness by ensuring pregnant individuals receive the RSV vaccine (Abrysvo) or infants and young children receive timely RSV immunization (Nirsevimab).

Download the toolkit to access valuable resources.​

Promoting Immunization

Educating on Debunked Claims About Autism

Vaccinate Your Family and Autism Science Foundation offer updated guide, “The Truth About Autism and Vaccines,” to help educate on debunked claims.

Videos Help Answer Common Vaccine Questions

Boost Oregon has a series of videos in English and Spanish that help answer common questions patients and parents may have about vaccination, such as why vaccines are given to babies and who profits from vaccines.

Practice Conversations With Parents Hesitant About Vaccines

American Academy of Pediatrics has a free, 30-minute immersive learning simulation titled Increasing Immunization Confidence to help providers hold  more effective immunization conversations. In this interactive learning module, participants join a virtual pediatric clinic and engage in immunization scenarios with parents who are hesitant about vaccinating their children. Participants learn to about the importance of  opening the conversation with a strong recommendation using the presumptive format and responding with empathy to concerns about immunization using motivational interviewing.

In the Media

What was childhood like before vaccines?

This article from Vox talks about life before vaccines when childhood disease and death were common.

History of Vaccine Skepticism

Article from PBS talks about the history of vaccine skepticism and the importance of vaccination as a way to protect health.

Measles Outbreaks

The AMA urges public to get vaccinated amid growing measles outbreaks

The Importance of ACIP

Wisconsin’s Dr. Jonathan Temte and other former chairs of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) talk about the importance of an independent panel of experts when deciding vaccine recommendations.