Neonatal Medicine News

The rate of vaccine exemptions rose slightly among children entering kindergarten in the 2018-2019 school year, with 2.5% having an exemption from at least one vaccine, according to new data published in MMWR. But researchers suggested an additional target to improve vaccine coverage rates in the United States: underimmunized children who begin school under grace periods or provisional enrollment.

A set of interventions aimed at increasing provider knowledge of routine newborn immunizations and addressing parental vaccine hesitancy improved vaccination rates in one NICU from 56% to 93%, according to a quality improvement study published in Pediatrics.

In August, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force issued a draft recommendation that encourages clinicians to screen all adults aged 18 to 79 years for HCV infection, including pregnant women. According to the USPSTF, HCV prevalence doubled among women aged 15 to 44 years between 2006 and 2014. Due to the increasing prevalence of the disease in this age group, the task force said clinicians “may want to consider screening pregnant persons aged younger than age 18 years.”

In August, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force issued a draft recommendation that encourages clinicians to screen all adults aged 18 to 79 years for HCV infection, including pregnant women. According to the USPSTF, HCV prevalence doubled among women aged 15 to 44 years between 2006 and 2014. Due to the increasing prevalence of the disease in this age group, the task force said clinicians “may want to consider screening pregnant persons aged younger than age 18 years.”

In a study conducted among nearly 500 influenza vaccine-naive mother-infant pairs in Malawi, researchers found that maternal HIV infection was associated with lower antibody responses to influenza A viruses in both mothers and their infants, suggesting that influenza vaccines “may have variable efficacy in sub-Saharan Africa” where there is a high burden of HIV, researchers said.

Preterm and very low-birth-weight infants fed in faster and slower increments had comparable neurodevelopmental outcomes at age 24 months, according to findings from a randomized controlled trial published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

WASHINGTON — Findings from a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial presented at IDWeek sparked hope for the use of antiviral medications, specifically valacyclovir, for the prevention of congenital cytomegalovirus, or CMV, infection.

Only 34.8% of pregnant women have received both the influenza and Tdap vaccines, missing a chance to protect themselves and their infants from potential hospitalization and death, according to CDC data.

Higher air pollution exposure during a second pregnancy was associated with a greater risk for preterm birth, according to findings published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

Use of a clinical risk stratification tool called the neonatal early-onset sepsis, or EOS, calculator was associated with a substantial reduction in the use of empirical antibiotics for suspected EOS, according to findings from a systematic review and meta-analysis published in JAMA Pediatrics.