Emerging Diseases News

Children with tracheostomy and home ventilation had low COVID-19 vaccination rates, especially for boosters, despite higher than average influenza vaccination coverage, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open.

Given the nuances of COVID-19 vaccine protection, Kizzmekia Corbett-Helaire, PhD, an assistant professor of immunology and infectious diseases at Harvard's School of Public Health, said the U.S. “should remain diligent in reviewing efficacy and safety data of each COVID-19 vaccine update to make progressional recommendations.”

CDC advisors this year introduced the idea of transitioning the United States from a universal recommendation for COVID-19 vaccination to a recommendation based on individual risk factors.

The federal government will once again be distributing free at-home COVID-19 tests to households across the country starting next month, health officials announced Friday.

In new guidance, the Infectious Diseases Society of America suggested that immunocompromised patients take the monoclonal antibody pemivibart as pre-exposure prophylaxis to prevent severe COVID-19.

Healio’s infectious diseases and pediatrics news teams received an APEX award for a 2023 report on the CDC and FDA’s performances during the COVID-19 pandemic, which was part of a larger series called “Life during COVID.”

The incidence of heart attack and stroke is lower among people who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 compared with before vaccination and people who have not received a vaccine, according to a study.

Routine childhood vaccinations prevented more than 1.1 million deaths among children born during the past 30 years in the United States, CDC researchers found.

In March, Puerto Rico declared a public health emergency after recording 549 cases of dengue virus since the start of 2024. The number rose to more than 1,900 cases as of July 24, when the CDC issued a health alert for the United States.