October 11, 2001

Institute of Medicine

Immunization Safety Review

This posting is to announce that the fourth open public meeting of the Institute of Medicine’s Immunization Safety Review Committee will be held on November 12, 2001 at Aljoya Conference Center, 3920 NE 41^st Street in Seattle, Washington.  The topic of this meeting will be on the “Possible Association between Multiple Immunizations in Newborns and Infants and Immune System Dysfunction”.  The meeting will be part of the information gathering process of the committee as it explores two questions:  1) Does the number of vaccines administered ‘overload’ the capacity of the infant’s immature immune system, perhaps impairing immunity to other infections or altering the body’s tolerance to self-antigens, and thereby contributing to a greater risk for allergic or autoimmune diseases?  2) Is there a relationship between any of these proposed outcomes and the number, the route of administration, or the nature of the vaccines and vaccine antigens?

A draft agenda will be posted on our website at www.iom.edu/imsafety by October 29, 2001. The space provided for the meeting is limited, so please RSVP by November 5, 2001. You may RSVP by calling (202) 334-1342 or emailing us at imsafety@nas.edu. Please provide your name and contact information (organization name, phone number, fax number, and email address). You will receive a confirmation of your reservation. For your reference, contact information for hotels near the conference center are listed below.

Ramada Inn Seattle at Northgate

2140 N. Northgate Way

(800) 435-0754

University Plaza Hotel

400 NE 45^th Street

(800) 343-7040

University Motel

4731 12^th Ave NE

(800) 522-4720

Best Western University Tower Hotel

4507 Brooklyn Ave NE

(800) 899-0251

Chambered Nautilus Bed & Breakfast Inn

5005 22^nd Ave NE

(800) 545-8459

University Silver Cloud Inn

5036 25^th Ave NE

(800) 205-6940

University Travelodge

4725 25^th Ave NE

(800) 578-7878

College Inn Guest House (B&B)

4000 University Way NE

(206) 633-4441

University Inn

4140 Roosevelt Way NE

(800) 733-3855

Eastlake Inn

2215 Eastlake Ave E.

(206) 322-7726