Respiratory Infections News

TORONTO — Trust in vaccines declined among parents and teenagers over a period of time that included the COVID-19 pandemic, according to survey results presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting.

H5N1 “bird flu” is widespread among wild birds and has caused sporadic outbreaks among poultry for more than a couple years. A recent outbreak among dairy cow herds in the United States has raised the virus’ profile.

TORONTO — An online training module that instructed clinicians to assess vaccination status and use strong language to recommend vaccines helped increased influenza vaccine uptake at 12 obstetrics clinics, according to researchers.

Incidence of Henoch-Schönlein purpura waned and waxed significantly with the implementation and relaxation of non-pharmaceutical interventions against COVID-19, according to data published in JAMA Network Open.

TORONTO — Pediatric hospital transfers due to bronchiolitis increased at a disproportionate rate in recent years compared with all causes of hospitalization, according to a study presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting.

Influenza-related hospitalization rates begin to increase in patients at a younger age than previously assumed, indicating that prevention strategies should be encouraged for younger patients, researchers found.

Two studies assessing the use of algorithm-driven prompts meant to improve antibiotic selection for patients hospitalized with pneumonia or UTIs showed the prompts were effective, researchers found.

A new tool could help pediatricians identify infants most at risk for severe respiratory syncytial virus, according to research published in Open Forum Infectious Diseases.

WHO recently updated its definition of airborne transmission, expanding the list of pathogens that can be spread through the air.

Older patients with respiratory syncytial virus have higher complication rates than those with influenza, although both illnesses had comparable mortality rates, researchers found.