Top in ID: CDC updates recommendations for RSV, COVID-19, pneumococcal vaccines

The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices unanimously voted to recommend respiratory syncytial virus vaccinations for all adults aged 75 years and older, as well as those aged 60 to 74 years at high risk for severe disease.

“There was very strong desire to move away from shared clinical decision-making after hearing a lot of comments that it made it difficult for physicians and pharmacists to implement RSV vaccines,” Healio | Infectious Disease News Editorial Board Member William Schaffner, MD, a professor of preventive medicine and infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and former medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, told Healio. “So, they looked over their data and went to the highest risk group and voted to make it routine that everybody age 75 and older receive a single dose.”

It was the top story in infectious disease last week.

Another top story was about additional guidance from the CDC’s advisory committee, which voted to recommend updated COVID-19 vaccines that target SARS-CoV-2 variants circulating in the United States ahead of the 2024-2025 respiratory season, as well as the 21-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine for adults aged 19 years and older.

Read these and more top stories in infectious disease below:

CDC universally recommends RSV vaccines for oldest US adults

The CDC’s vaccine advisors voted unanimously to recommend that everyone aged 75 years or older get vaccinated against RSV. Read more.

CDC recommends new COVID-19, pneumococcal vaccines

The CDC recommended updated COVID-19 vaccines for the 2024-2025 respiratory season, and a newly approved 21-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine for adults. Read more.

Q&A: What to know about the SARS-CoV-2 ‘FLiRT’ variants

Together, a group of viruses nicknamed “FLiRT” have emerged to become the most common SARS-CoV-2 variants in the country. Read more.

Adjuvanted hepatitis B vaccine effective among nonresponsive HCWs

A two-dose series of a hepatitis B vaccine with a CpG adjuvant resulted in a more than 90% response rate among health care workers previously classified as nonresponders, researchers found. Read more.

Q&A: What is the ID clinician’s role in end-of-life care?

Patients receiving infectious diseases consultation over the past decade were increasingly complex, generally sicker and more likely to die soon after a consultation was performed, according to a study. Read more.