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Notice to Readers: National Infant Immunization Week --- April
22--29, 2006
Please note:
An erratum has been published for this article. To view the
erratum, please click here.
The week of April 22--29, 2006 is National Infant Immunization Week (NIIW) and Vaccination Week in the
Americas (VWA). During this week, hundreds of communities throughout the United States are expected to participate in
NIIW-VWA by sponsoring activities emphasizing the importance of timely infant and childhood vaccination.
Immunization is one of the most effective ways to protect infants and children from potentially serious diseases. Because
of increased emphasis on vaccination, the majority of vaccine-preventable diseases have decreased in incidence
by approximately 99% from peak prevaccine levels in the United States
(1). In 2005, CDC announced the elimination
of rubella virus in the United States (1). Measles is no longer endemic in the United States
(1). The number of measles cases in the Western Hemisphere has been reduced by more than 99%, from approximately 250,000 cases in 1990 to 75 cases in
2005 (2).
In 2005, a total of 62 cases of measles, one case of wild poliovirus, and no cases of diphtheria were reported in the
United States (3). Approximately 11,000 infants are born each day in the United States; according to the recommended
childhood immunization schedule, they require approximately 24 doses of vaccine (18--19 injections using combination vaccines)
before age 2 years to protect them from 13 vaccine-preventable diseases
(4).
Arizona, Utah, and communities along the United States--Mexico border will host kick-off events highlighting the need
to achieve and maintain high childhood vaccination coverage rates, including provider education activities, media events,
and immunization clinics in collaboration with CDC, state and local health departments, the United States--Mexico
Border Health Commission, and the Pan American Health
Organization (PAHO).
NIIW is being held in conjunction with VWA. VWA, sponsored by PAHO, targets children and other vulnerable
and underserved populations with low vaccination coverage rates in all countries in the Western Hemisphere during
this annual campaign.
During NIIW-VWA, CDC will introduce a new Spanish-language public education campaign, including television and
radio public service announcements, posters, and print
advertisements. Additional information about NIIW-VWA and
childhood vaccination is available from CDC's National
Immunization Program at
http://www.cdc.gov/nip/events/niiw/default.htm. Information on VWA is available at
http://www.paho.org/English/DD/PIN/vw_2006.htm.
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Health and Human Services.References to non-CDC sites on the Internet are
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Department of Health and Human Services. CDC is not responsible for the content
of pages found at these sites. URL addresses listed in MMWR were current as of
the date of publication.
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