Diphtheria

The national vaccine exemption rate among children entering kindergarten in the 2019-2020 school year was 2.5% from at least one vaccine, the same rate as the previous year, new data published in MMWR showed.

COVID-19 has brought up the use of the old remedy convalescent serum. What is it? Did it work? This series walks us through the history of the serum, how it was discovered, how it was first used, and how it inspired the field of immunology.

The Global Vaccine Summit, hosted virtually this week by the government of the United Kingdom, raised $8.8 billion in funding for programs to vaccinate 300 million children by 2025, according to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

Adults do not need to receive tetanus or diphtheria booster shots if they have completed the childhood vaccination series, according to the results of an observational cohort study.

Healio’s coverage of the unanimous CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices vote that recommended Tdap be used for the decennial Td booster and other medical purposes was one of the top stories in infectious disease last week.

The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted unanimously today to recommend that either Td or Tdap may be used for the decennial Td booster, as tetanus prophylaxis for wound management in nonpregnant patients who previously received Tdap, and as additional doses of the catch-up immunization series for tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis in patients 7 years of age or older, including those who are pregnant.