Infection Control News

Efforts to raise flagging childhood vaccination rates increased in 2023 as new shots hit the market.

The FDA in 2023 approved treatments for several hospital-associated infections and fully approved a long-used COVID-19 medication, among other non-vaccine-related regulatory decisions.

Rates of STDs continue to rise in the United States, with CDC data showing increases year after year.

Major vaccine developments in 2023 included the approvals of the first two vaccines against respiratory syncytial virus, the first chikungunya vaccine, a new vaccine against malaria, and a move to new monovalent COVID-19 vaccines.

Young children with respiratory syncytial virus were hospitalized at a higher rate in the years after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic than in the six seasons before it, according to a study in JAMA Pediatrics.

On Dec. 14, the CDC issued an urgent warning calling for health care providers to increase vaccination coverage for COVID-19, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus.

As the COVID-19 pandemic enters its 5th year, its effect on children continues to be widely studied. We compiled a list of stories about pediatric COVID-19 that we reported over the course of the past year.

Similar to SARS-CoV-2, which can cause long COVID, people hospitalized with influenza are at an increased risk for health issues long after they have cleared the infection, according to a study.

Wastewater surveillance can effectively detect upticks in viral respiratory infections, which could help identify outbreaks, another study has shown.

A recombinant influenza vaccine offered additional protection against PCR-confirmed influenza and community-acquired pneumonia hospitalization among adults aged 50 to 64 years compared with a standard-dose vaccine, study results showed.