Wednesday, March 4, 2015
11:00 am – 12:00 noon Pacific / 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm Eastern
This webinar will provide an overview of National Infant Immunization Week (NIIW) and available planning resources, as well as introduce a new campaign, Born With Protection, aimed at protecting babies from pertussis, or whooping cough. Pertussis can cause serious illness in young infants; however, babies cannot start their own DTaP vaccination series until they are two months old. Tdap vaccination of women during the third trimester of pregnancy can help protect infants when they are most vulnerable, yet coverage with this vaccine during pregnancy remains low.
Objectives:
- Provide background on National Infant Immunization Week (NIIW)
- Highlight CDC resources available to help plan NIIW events
- Review the recommendation for Tdap vaccination during the 3rd trimester of every pregnancy
- Share findings from CDC research about Tdap vaccine during pregnancy, including how those research findings have informed our communication efforts
- Discuss how to access and share educational materials available from CDC
SPEAKERS:
Jenny Mullen is the Lead for the Childhood Immunizations Communication Team in NCIRD’s Health Communication Science Office. In this role, Jenny leads efforts to develop research-based messages and materials and conduct communications activities to raise awareness among parents and healthcare professionals about the value and benefits of vaccinating children according to the CDC’s recommended immunization schedule. More recently, she collaborated with NCIRD’s Division of Bacterial Diseases to lead the development of the Born with Protection Against Whooping Cough campaign.
Allison Kennedy Fisher is a health communications specialist with CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. She has been at CDC since 2002, first in the Immunization Safety Office before joining the Immunization Services Division in 2006 and the Health Communication Science Office in 2013. Her areas of research interest include: adolescent vaccines, health and risk communication, health care decision-making behavior, and vaccine acceptance and hesitancy. Allison’s experience includes conducting communication and epidemiologic research; writing scientific manuscripts; and writing health education and health communication materials. She has authored or co-authored articles on parent and health care provider immunization attitudes and behaviors, and has presented at national conferences and meetings on various aspects of childhood and pre-teen immunization and communication research.