Synopsis for January 12, 2001

MMWR articles are embargoed until 4 p.m. E.S.T. Thursdays.

1. Certification of Poliomyelitis Eradication-Western Pacific Region, October 2000.
2. Progress in Development of Immunization Registries-United States, 2000.
3. Recommended Childhood Immunization Schedule-United States, 2001.

Certification of Poliomyelitis Eradication-Western Pacific Region, October 2000

Certification of poliomyelitis in the Western Pacific is a milestone towards poliomyelitis eradication.

The Western Pacific Region of the World Health Organization, home of 1.6 billion persons, has not experienced a single case of domestic poliomyelitis since March 1997. This was accomplished with high vaccination coverage throughout the region thanks to strong political commitment in all 37 member states. The Western Pacific Region is second after the American Region of the World Health Organization to eliminate poliomyelitis. Only 20 countries in the World are still experiencing wild poliovirus transmission and it is expected that the disease will be eradicated by 2002. Continued high levels of poliovirus vaccination will be required worldwide until poliomyelitis elimination will be certified globally.

Progress in Development of Immunization Registries-United States, 2000

Immunization registries are an important component of strategies to increase and sustain high immunization coverage.

Immunization registries are confidential, population-based computerized information systems that contain data about children’s vaccinations and are an important tool to increase and sustain high vaccination coverage. One of the national health objectives for 2010 is to increase to 95% the proportion of children aged <6 years who participate in fully operational population-based immunization registries. Based on 2000 data, 21% of U.S. children are currently participating in population-based immunization registries. Four major challenges need to be addressed to increase participation: protecting the confidentiality of registry information; ensuring immunization provider participation; overcoming technical and operational challenges; and determining resources needed to develop and maintain immunization registries. The National Immunization Program at the CDC and our partners are committed to overcoming these challenges and reaching the 2010 national health objective.

Recommended Childhood Immunization Schedule-United States, 2001

Since the January 2000 publication of the recommended childhood immunization schedule, peneumococcal conjugate vaccine has been added to the schedule and the recommendation for use of Hepatitis A vaccine has been extended through age 18 years in selected states and/or regions, and in certain high-risk groups.

The report presents the recommended childhood immunization schedule for 2001, which has been approved by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP). The changes that have occurred since the January 2000 schedule are: 1) the addition of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine to the schedule, and 2) the extension of the recommendation for the use of hepatitis A vaccine. Pneumococcal vaccine is recommended for all children ages 2-23 months in a 4-dose schedule at 2, 4, 6, and 12-15 months of age, and should be considered for children 24-59 months of age who are at increased risk for pneumococcal disease. The recommendation for use of Hepatitis A vaccine has been extended to include persons through age 18 years in selected geographic areas and in certain high-risk groups.

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