(CNN)At least 1,300 people have died from the flu so far this season, according to a preliminary estimate released Friday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There have been at least 2.6 million flu illnesses and 23,000 flu-related hospitalizations, according to the analysis. So far this season, the CDC has received reports […]

(Reuters Health) – Even with measles outbreaks common in many parts of the world, doctors and parents are often not opting to have children vaccinated before international travel, a new study suggests. Nearly 60% of children who could have benefited from the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccination did not get it during pre-travel doctor’s […]

(Reuters Health) – The first field trial of a new typhoid vaccine that can be used in young children provides protection for 81.6% of recipients, opening the door to better control of a disease that affects 11 million people each year and kills roughly 117,000. The test in Nepal “provides the first evidence of the […]

LONDON (Reuters) – Measles infected nearly 10 million people in 2018 and killed 140,000, mostly children, as devastating outbreaks of the viral disease hit every region of the world, the World Health Organization said on Thursday. WHO said most of last year’s measles deaths were in children under five years old who had not been […]

By Anne-Gerard Flynn There is a 40 percent chance flu season could peak this month, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s FluSight Forecasting initiative. The CDC’s flu surveillance report for the week ending Nov. 30 shows the percentage of visits to outpatient providers for influenza-like illnesses has been at or above the national baseline for four weeks. […]

By Stephen Huba A whooping cough outbreak in Indiana County prompted the state Department of Health to host a walk-in vaccination clinic. The clinic will be open from 2-6 p.m. Thursday at the Indiana County State Health Center, 75 N. Main St., Indiana. It is in response to an ongoing outbreak in which 45 confirmed […]

NBC News (11/21) reports, “Doctors have known that mothers pass on measles immunity to their babies…leading to the belief that infants are protected against the disease for most of their first year of life.” Meanwhile, a study of blood samples from 200 babies “found insufficient levels” of measles antibodies “in 20 percent of newborns, 92 […]

(HealthDay News) — The safety of the 9-valent human papillomavirus vaccine (9vHPV) has been confirmed, according to two studies published online Nov. 18 in Pediatrics. Tom T. Shimabukuro, M.D., M.P.H., from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, and colleagues searched the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) for reports of adverse […]

Study finds links between disease outbreaks, vaccination laws By Brian P. Dunleavy When it comes to vaccine-preventable diseases like measles and mumps, outbreaks lead to political action — often to widen vaccine exemptions, according to an analysis published Monday in the journal JAMA Pediatrics. In reviewing trends in vaccine-preventable diseases reported to the U.S. Centers […]

By Steven Reinberg HealthDay Reporter FRIDAY, Nov. 15, 2019 (HealthDay News) — Whether you have caught the flu yet this season might depend on where you live. Flu levels are already climbing throughout the South, particularly in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina, and Puerto Rico, according to the latest statistics from the U.S. […]

Only 19 percent of children were up to date on immunizations by IDSA accelerated schedule. (HealthDay News) — Many pediatric liver transplant recipients are undervaccinated, according to a research letter published in the Nov. 12 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Amy G. Feldman, M.D., from the University of Colorado Denver, and colleagues […]

By Jacqueline Stenson Skipping the measles vaccine may put children at risk in more ways than one, new research suggests. Not only could kids contract measles and suffer its direct effects, they also may sustain measles-induced damage to their immune systems, causing them to experience “immune amnesia” and making them susceptible to other infections they previously were […]

The percentage of children starting kindergarten whose parents claim that vaccination conflicts with their religious beliefs has ticked up in recent years, even while the portion of Americans who profess to be part of an organized religion has fallen. A new study suggests some of the increase may be related to a tightening of school-entry […]

In a “historic achievement for humanity”, two of three wild poliovirus strains have been eliminated worldwide, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Thursday, following the conclusion by a group of experts that WPV3, type three of the disease, has been eradicated completely. The deadly viral disease is “very close” to disappearing altogether, with the number of […]

By Anna Rothschild  When I set out to make a video series about vaccines, I didn’t know just how much history I would uncover. I figured this would be a straightforward science story that answered some of the big questions that worry parents. Questions such as “Why is there aluminum in vaccines?” and “Is it […]

New parents have barely had a chance to “meet” their baby before they are asked to permit that baby to get a hepatitis B vaccine. Then, often while still on maternity leave, a slew more — up to six doses at 8 weeks of age. By the baby’s first birthday, more than 20 doses. Many […]

HPV serotypes included in the quadrivalent vaccine, or 4vHPV, decreased 86% among adolescents aged 14 to 19 years a decade after its introduction in the United States, according to research published in The Journal of Adolescent Health. Researchers wrote that a 71% decrease also occurred among those aged 20 to 24 years. “Three highly effective HPV […]

After almost 20 years, the United States can still say that measles has been eliminated here, after the New York State Department of Health declared an end to that state’s almost year-long measles outbreak, which threatened to topple that claim, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). “We are very pleased that the […]

By Molly Walker, Associate Editor, MedPage Today WASHINGTON — There was no difference in antibody response, including hemagglutination inhibition assay (HAI) and microneutralization titers, between egg-based and cell-cultured influenza vaccine in children, a researcher said here. A randomized trial found no significant differences in response to a variety of strains, including influenza A H1N1 and H3N3 […]

WASHINGTON — Influenza vaccination reduced the risk for influenza-related hospitalization in children by nearly half and the odds of death in adults by about 36% over several recent influenza seasons, according to CDC data from two studies presented at IDWeek. In the first study, Angela P. Campbell, MD, MPH, a medical officer in the CDC’s Influenza Division, and […]

(CNN) With the end of the New York state measles outbreak, “the United States anticipates maintaining its measles elimination status,” a statement from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday. There are no longer any active measles cases in New York state associated with the outbreak that began in October 2018, […]

TUESDAY, Oct. 1, 2019 (HealthDay News) — A tuberculosis vaccine commonly used in other parts of the world might reduce a person’s risk of developing lung cancer if given early in childhood, a six-decade-long study reports. The Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine is the only vaccine approved for preventing tuberculosis (TB) — a potentially fatal infectious […]

(Reuters Health) – More than a decade after the rotavirus vaccine was added to the roster of routine shots recommended for all infants in the U.S., vaccination is still reducing hospitalizations for severe infections, researchers say. Researchers tracked hospitalizations for children under age 5 from 2009 to 2016, a period following the debut of two […]

(CNN) While 60% of adults think that the flu vaccine is the best preventive measure against flu-related deaths and hospitalizations, only 52% said they planned to get one this season, according to a survey by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID). NFID and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention held a press conference […]

HONOLULU – Beginning in the 2020-2021 school year, additional immunizations will be required for students entering preschool, kindergarten through grade 12, and colleges/universities in Hawai‘i. The new state requirements for school entry will begin on July 1, 2020. Students who are up-to-date with their vaccinations in accordance with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention […]