Respiratory Medicine News

A dairy farm worker in Colorado became the fourth person to test positive for avian influenza in the ongoing outbreak affecting dairy cows in the United States, the CDC announced Wednesday.

Rather than telling a patient they should get a vaccine, the CDC’s shared clinical decision-making recommendations advise patients to speak to providers about certain vaccines and decide on an individual basis if they should receive them. 

HHS announced that it will give Moderna around $176 million to accelerate the development of a messenger RNA-based pandemic influenza vaccine amid an ongoing outbreak of avian influenza.

After decades of RSV vaccine development, the approvals and recommendations were seen as landmark events in preventive medicine. Uptake was low, however — not unusual for first-year approvals, experts told Healio.

Avian influenza continues to be detected among birds and dairy cows in the United States, raising questions about how to control the more than 2-year-old outbreak.

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

The CDC’s vaccine advisors voted unanimously Wednesday to recommend that everyone aged 75 years or older get vaccinated against respiratory syncytial virus.

The FDA has approved Capvaxive, Merck’s 21-valent pneumococcal vaccine, which is specifically made to protect adults.

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

After “an extensive scientific review,” the FDA announced that it has authorized the marketing of four menthol-flavored e-cigarette products through its premarket tobacco product application pathway.