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This page aims to keep you informed on the hot topics in immunisation.
HPV vaccine update
GP HPV Vaccine program kicks off - 2/07/07
From 1 July 2007, the GP HPV Vaccine is funded for young women, who have not received the vaccine through the school program and are still less than 27 years of age. The free vaccine will be available for this group for two years, until 30 June 2009 and is given in a series of three injections spread out over a six-month period.
Doctors should note that each State and Territory is responsible for distribution in their jurisdiction and this may impact on rollout. There will be varying start dates according to your state or territory and that information is best gained from your public health immunisation counterpart. They will also be able to inform practices as to when the vaccine will actually arrive in practices.
GPs are encouraged to use the opportunity when administering the vaccine to remind women about the continued importance of regular pap smears.
A reminder also that consent needs to be obtained for both the administering of the vaccine and to allow the lodging of data on the National HPV Register. This data will need to be collected by practices and held until the register is operational later this year. Methods of lodgement will be publicised at that time.
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HPV Register
A National HPV Vaccination Program Register (HPV Register) is being developed to collect HPV vaccine data by the Australian Government. Currently, the register is in its infancy with the establishing legislation still sitting on the table in Federal Parliament. The Bill will be debated and presumably passed in August after the winter recess. In the mean time, we need to encourage all practices to collect HPV data and hold it for future lodgement with the register. For more information please refer to the July edition of The Finer Point.
Who the data will be collected for
The proposed register will receive data of HPV immunisations of all girls between the ages of 12 and 18 years of age. Data for older girls and women (18 to 26 years of age) can also be recorded until the funded program finishes at the end of June 2009. A $6 administration fee will be paid to you by the Commonwealth for lodgement of each HPV immunisation encounter for the 12 to 18 year olds once the register is up and running.
What the data will be used for
Personal information collected on the Register will not be made available publicly but will be used to evaluate the impact of the HPV Vaccination Program on cervical cancer rates, to issue reminders if the course is incomplete and to contact vaccine recipients if booster doses are required. If your patient’s details are not included in the Register it may not be possible to contact her about booster doses.
How you can collect the HPV Data
As this register is not yet operational, all practices will be asked to collect and hold the information until it can be forwarded on. You can collect data by:
- Using your medical software – Below are step by step instructions for collecting HPV information using Medical Director, Genie, Zedmed, Best Practice and Communicare software and examples of what the printout of data looks like. These also include instructions to help retrieve the information in a report format which can then be sent to the register later in the year.
- If you do not have desktop software we still encourage you to collect the data. Below are a couple of templates that can be used to collect the data with the fields that will be needed to populate the proposed register.
- Manual template - excel. This spreadsheet can be populated and kept electronically (in excel) or printed off and populated by hand and kept in hardcopy.
- Manual template - word. This table can be populated and kept electronically (in word) or printed off and populated by hand and kept in hard copy.
All data needs to be kept safely until the proposed register is operational later this year.
How to submit your data when the register is operational
- For data collected manually - fax pages to the register. Your division will give you information on times and fax numbers as soon as they are known.
- For data collected using your medical software – There is also the possibility that the information will be lodged electronically.
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Rival vaccine wins Aussie approval - 20/04/2007
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) have developed a vaccine 'Ceravix' as an alternative to rival vaccine, CSL's Gardasil, and Australia could be the first country to approve marketing of it.
The latest Australian Drug Evaluation Committee (ADEC) has said it will not oppose registration of the vaccine which was submitted to it last year.
It indicated the product for use in females from 10 to 45 years of age for the prevention of cervical cancer caused by human papillomavirus types 16 and 18, and GSK is very please with the possible opportunity to provide the first cervical cancer vaccine reccomended for women over 26 years of age. (Gardasil is indicated for females aged between nine and 26.)
"The recommendation from ADEC does not mean Cervarix is registered. GSK’s candidate cervical cancer vaccine will be registered when it is listed on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG) when the product information (PI) has been finalised. At this time GSK is currently in discussion with the TGA regarding the PI and we hope to secure a final registration approval and listing on the ARTG as quickly as possible," the spokesperson added.
GSK is already awaiting the outcome of a submission to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee for Cervarix to be included in the National Immunisation Program. Cervarix has been submitted to regulators in the US and Europe but is yet to be approved for marketing in either jurisdiction.
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Rotavirus Vaccine update
Rotavirus vaccine program commences - 2/07/07
It’s a busy time for immunisation with the Rotavirus vaccine program starting from 1 July, along with the HPV vaccine program. From July 2007 all babies born from May 1 2007 will be able to receive the free Rotavirus vaccine from their GP or local health service.
There are 2 important points to note with the rotavirus vaccines
- Rotavirus vaccines are ORAL vaccines, and
- have a limited administration time frame
There are two (2) vaccines currently available and listed on the PBS: Rotateq (produced by CLS) and Rotarix (Produced by GSK). It is important to know which vaccine your jurisdiction has selected as there are significant differences between the two. Below are two tables outlining which virus will be used in which jurisdiction and the differences between the two viruses.
Table 1: Rotavirus Vaccine by jurisdiction
|
State/Territory |
Rotateq ® |
Rotarix ® |
|
ACT |
|
√ |
|
NSW |
|
√ |
|
NT |
|
√ |
|
QLD |
√ |
|
|
SA |
√ |
|
|
TAS |
|
√ |
|
VIC |
√ |
|
|
WA |
|
√ |
Table 2: Differences between Rotavirus vaccines
|
Rotateq ® |
Rotarix ® |
| Produced by |
CSL/Merck |
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) |
| Method |
Oral |
Oral |
| No of Doses |
Three (3) oral doses |
Two (2) oral doses |
| Age for routine administration |
2 month
4 months
6 months |
2 months
4 months |
| Minimal interval between doses |
4 weeks |
4 weeks |
| Age limits for dosing |
1st dose by 12 weeks
3rd dose by 32 weeks |
1st dose by 14 weeks
2nd dose by 28 weeks |
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Measles outbreak in Japan - 27/06/07
On Wednesday 27th June the Australian Government Chief Medical Officer advised of a measles outbreak in Japan and asked doctors to be vigilant for symptoms of measles in visitors and returning travellers from Japan. While measles has been essentially eradicated in Australia it still poses a threat to certain population groups in Australia, and the early detection and management of suspected measles cases is required to ensure that local transmission does not occur. If a case of measles is identified, doctors must notify their local health authority.
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