To help raise awareness of influenza vaccination recommendations and the importance of continuing vaccination efforts throughout November and beyond, the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Influenza Vaccine Summit, partners and stakeholders will be announcing a National Influenza Vaccination Week (NIVW) from Monday, November 27th through Sunday, December 3rd, 2006.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced the launch of a national print, television and online advertising campaign for the world's first cervical cancer vaccine, GARDASIL® [Quadrivalent Human Papillomavirus (Types 6, 11, 16, 18) Recombinant Vaccine]. Adding to Merck's ongoing cervical cancer and HPV education efforts, the new campaign, called One Less, encourages females who are eligible for the vaccine to begin their vaccination series and to also continue to see their doctor for regular healthcare and screening.

Following the recent Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of a vaccine targeting cervical cancer, Women in Government, a national, bi-partisan, non-profit organization representing women state legislators, today recommended that all girls entering middle school be vaccinated against the human papillomavirus (HPV), the cause of cervical cancer. The recommendation is part of the group's new policy recommendations for the HPV vaccine's implementation in the states. The group also supports parental exemptions to the HPV vaccine, based on existing state immunization exemptions. The new HPV vaccine policy recommendations are part of Women in Government's "Challenge to Eliminate Cervical Cancer Campaign," which mobilizes state legislators to help eradicate cervical cancer through education and policy initiatives. Since 2004, 45 states have introduced legislation or resolutions tackling this issue.

In June 2005 and June 2006, the ACIP made policy changes for use of live, attenuated varicella containing vaccines for prevention of varicella.

On May 16, 2006, the American Heart Association (AHA) and the American College of Cardiology (ACC) published guidelines for secondary prevention for patients with coronary and other atherosclerotic vascular disease.

CDC released a revised interim Vaccine Information Statement (VIS) for Tdap vaccine. It is identical to the previous interim version except for minor changes in Section 3 that reflect ACIP's evolving recommendations regarding use of Tdap during pregnancy.