Immunization Update: A Focus on Medical Indications for Vaccines in Adults

The Healthy People 2030 report, published by the US Department of Health and Human Services, includes targets for reducing vaccine preventable disease rates and increasing vaccination rates in all age groups. The report points out that requiring school-age children to get vaccinated, educating adolescents, adults, and older adults about the importance of vaccinations, sending vaccination reminders, and making it easier for people to get vaccines can help increase vaccination rates in our population. Vaccines are one of the most cost-effective clinical preventive services; however, thousands of people in the US do not receive them and suffer – even die – from vaccine preventable diseases. Since 2010, flu-related deaths in the US have ranged from 12,000 to 56,000 per year. Pneumococcal pneumonia leads to about 5,000 deaths every year, mostly among the elderly. As many as 1.4 million people currently suffer from hepatitis B, with liver cancer as a potential complication. A number of communities with pockets of unvaccinated and under-vaccinated children have had measles outbreaks.

Details

Publication Date: 01/22/2021
Expiration Date: 01/22/2024
CE Credit: 2.0 (0.20 CEU)
Type of Activity: Knowledge-based

This program was developed by The Rx Consultant and published by Continuing Education Network, Inc. The Rx Consultant accepts no advertising or financial support from the pharmaceutical industry and is funded solely by the purchase of programs. The Rx Consultant is dedicated to providing unbiased, balanced information to health care practitioners.

Programs developed by The Rx Consultant are written by health care providers with expertise in the topic area, peer-reviewed, extensively edited, and fact-checked. This development process was created to insure that every program presents information that is current, accurate, relevant to "real world" health care providers, and written in an easy reading, "plain English" style.

Authors

Jelena Lewis, PharmD, BCACP, APh is an Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice at Chapman University School of Pharmacy.She is also a faculty-in-residence at Providence St. Joseph Heritage Health where she provides care to patients with chronic disease states.

Albert T. Bach, PharmD, APh is an Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice at Chapman University, School of Pharmacy in Irvine, CA. He is also an ambulatory care pharmacist as a faculty-in-residence at the Providence St. Joseph Heritage Health medical group.

Disclosure Statement

Dr. Lewis and Dr. Bach reports no financial relationship with the manufacturer(s) or provider(s) of any commercial product(s) or service(s) that appear in this issue.

Target Audience

This accredited program is targeted to pharmacists .

Goals & Objectives

At the conclusion of this program, participants will be able to:

1. List the vaccines and the number of doses that are recommended for young adults, middle aged adults, and older adults.
2. Discuss vaccine-specific indications and contraindications for patients with altered immunocompetence, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and chronic lung, liver, or kidney disease.
3. Discuss vaccine-specific indications and contraindications for pregnant women, men who have sex with men, and patients with an egg allergy.

Accreditation Statements

The Rx Consultant is a publication of Continuing Education Network, Inc.

Continuing Education Network, Inc. is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education as a provider of continuing pharmacy education as a provider of continuing pharmacy education.

Continuing Education Network is approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider Number CEP 13118. Programs approved by CA BRN are accepted by most State Boards of Nursing.

ACPE Universal Activity Number: 0428-0000-21-001-H06-P

Technical Specifications

Hardware requirements

Any hardware that supports Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac OS, iOS, or Android, and meets the software requirements.

Software requirements

Browser that supports TLS 1.1 + and PDF files.

This includes Microsoft Internet Explorer 11, Google Chrome 38, Google Android OS 5.0 Browser, Apple Safari (version 7 for desktop, 5 for mobile), Mozilla Firefox 27, newer versions of these browsers, as well as some earlier versions that may require additional configuration.

Adobe Acrobat Reader is recommended, and is required for some browsers.

Note: TLS 1.1 and 1.2 support is required for browser security. Click here for TLS browser support details.

Internet Connectivity

Required. Broadband recommended. (T1, DSL, Cable, G4 or higher.)