‘We have to be worried’: Top pediatric vaccine news of 2024
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Routine childhood immunizations have prevented 1.1 million deaths in the United States since the CDC’s Vaccines for Children program launched in 1994, according to researchers.
However, trust in vaccines has eroded, leading to the reemergence of highly infectious diseases like pertussis and measles. During the 2023-2024 school year, DTaP and MMR vaccine coverage dipped below 93%, and 14 states reported exemption rates above 5%, according to the CDC.
Although vaccine hesitancy is a major issue impacting vaccine coverage, “for many children who have no vaccines, it is not that their parents are refusing — it is that they do not have access to care,” Sean O’Leary, MD, MPH, FAAP, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and chair of the AAP’s Committee on Infectious Diseases, told Healio.
Below are the top pediatric vaccination stories of 2024, featuring comments from O’Leary and others.
Childhood vaccines prevented 1.1 million deaths in US over past 30 years
Routine childhood vaccinations prevented more than 1.1 million deaths among children born during the past 30 years in the U.S., CDC researchers found. Read more.
Survey: Trust in vaccines declines among teenagers, parents
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. Read more.
Q&A: Kindergarten vaccination rates continue to decline; exemptions exceed 3% nationally
Vaccination coverage among kindergarteners in the U.S. is still declining from pre-pandemic levels, and some states are reporting exemption rates of more than 5%, according to the latest CDC data. Read more.
Childhood vaccine coverage lower among uninsured, children living below poverty level
Children born from 2011 to 2020 who were uninsured or living below the federal poverty level had lower vaccination coverage than insured children or those living at or above the federal poverty level, according to the CDC. Read more.
Q&A: ‘We have to be worried’ about decline in measles vaccination
As vaccination coverage declines globally, pediatricians need to prepare to encounter more measles cases in their communities, according to a presentation at the Infectious Diseases in Children Symposium. Read more.
Q&A: How to talk to families about vaccines
Vaccine hesitancy is only one factor leading to a decrease in vaccine coverage in the United States, so pediatric providers may need to try multiple strategies to improve vaccine uptake, O’Leary told Healio. Read more.
Pediatric urgent care clinicians evaluate ways to fill routine immunization gaps
Incorporating immunization screening and adding a designated nurse vaccinator appeared to improve vaccine uptake at a pediatric urgent care clinic in San Francisco, according to a single-center study published in Pediatrics. Read more.
US has 'embarrassment of riches' to protect children from RSV
This is the second respiratory disease season with two new powerful tools to protect infants from severe RSV disease, and experts are optimistic that uptake will improve from last season. Read more.
Merck’s RSV shot for infants shows promise, could be available in 2025
Another monoclonal antibody for preventing RSV disease in infants could enter the market as early as next year, based on the results of two studies presented at IDWeek, Merck said. Read more.
FDA committee asks for more data on RSV vaccine safety in infants
An FDA advisory committee said it wants to see more data to understand the implications of what the FDA called an “imbalance” in cases of severe RSV among infants participating in an early-stage RSV vaccine trial. Read more.
Collapse
Healio coverage
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts