Free pertussis vaccine until June
NSW Health has extended the availability of free whooping cough (pertussis) vaccine for new parents, grandparents and carers of infants less than 12 months of age until June 2012. This pertussis cocooning strategy has been running since May 2009 to protect infants who are too young to be vaccinated. Information on whooping cough is available on the NSW Health website and free vaccine can be ordered using the Pertussis Outbreak GP Vaccine Order Form.New Pneumovax 23 revaccination recommendations
New recommendations affecting the re-vaccination of adults with Pneumovax 23 were issued last month, following a review of the vaccine’s safety, efficacy and effectiveness by the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI). ATAGI reviewed the vaccine in response to an increase in reported adverse events, which lead to health professionals being advised against administering second or subsequent doses of the vaccine.
ATAGI now recommends:
• a dose of Pneumovax 23 should be given at 65 years of age• a second dose (a single re-vaccination) of Pneumovax 23 is no longer recommended for non-Indigenous adults aged 65 years and over without conditions that predispose them to an increased risk of invasive pneumococcal disease
• a second dose continues to be recommended for those with any of these predisposing conditions
Recommendations for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who are younger than 65 have not changed from what is outlined in the Australian Immunisation Handbook (9th edition). Pneumovax 23 can be ordered using the GP Standard Vaccine Order Form.