Vaccination and Immunization

Autodialer centralized reminder and recall messages have been used to improve the rate of childhood vaccination. A new study examines whether they could improve human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination rates as well.

COVID-19 has led to many changes in health care, including how children receive care. A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention examines how these changes have impacted vaccination.

Current US vaccine policy recommends that children receive 2 influenza vaccine doses during their first influenza season. A new study indicates that this helps reduce influenza burden among the vulnerable population.

The US FDA has approved Sanofi’s meningococcal (groups A, C, Y, W) conjugate vaccine (MenQuadfi) to prevent invasive meningococcal disease in children aged 2 years or older.

A few major changes are included in this year’s update to the Child and Adolescent Immunization Schedule, including improved flexibility for tetanus- and pertussis-related vaccines.

Following the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices schedule for vaccination is the best way to protect young children from preventable diseases. However, parents may not follow that schedule for a number of reasons. A new study examines just how many children aren’t receiving vaccines on a timely basis.

Following a unanimous vote by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, a hexavalent vaccine with diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and acellular pertussis adsorbed, inactivated poliovirus, Haemophilus influenzae type b conjugate (meningococcal protein conjugate), and hepatitis B (HepB) (recombinant) has been included in the federal Vaccines for Children program.

Group B meningitis poses a serious health risk to children, but the disease is vaccine preventable. A recent study evaluated the efficacy of vaccination with the multicomponent meningococcal group B (4CMenB) vaccine in young children with positive results.

Discussing vaccination against influenza can go a few different ways. For parents who are either unconcerned with the influenza immunization or who had children who received it in previous seasons but still got influenza, a targeted, evidence-based patient education supported by the influenza immunization and hospitalization data could turn the tide.

To address the different fears motivating vaccine-hesitant parents versus antivaccine parents, one must understand the historical resistance to vaccination.

As state policies regarding vaccination for children entering kindergarten eliminate exemptions for personal beliefs, parents turn to claiming exemptions on religious grounds.

The anti-vaccination movement has led to large pockets of the country that are unvaccinated and vulnerable to outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases, but large-scale education could undo the damage.

The evidence is clear: Practitioners who fail to administer immunizations according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices schedules results in adverse outcomes for children and adolescents who are needlessly exposed to vaccine preventable diseases.

The 13-valent pneumococcal vaccine (PCV13) is performing well since its 2010 introduction but still has some flaws, according to a recent report.

Clinicians must advocate for pediatric patients receiving immunomodulation therapies to also receive timely vaccinations for vaccine-preventable diseases.

New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reveal how well influenza vaccine works in reducing hospitalization rates for serious disease among children.

The number of completely unvaccinated children may not be large, but they pose a challenge to the pediatric practice. A recent C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health asked a sample of parents how their child’s primary care office deals with children who are completely unvaccinated and how they believe primary care offices should tackle the issue.

Preterm infants may face an increased risk for infections that are vaccine-preventable along with associated complications. A recent study indicates that preterm infants may also be at risk of not being vaccinated in a timely manner.

A noticeable gender gap exists between boys and girls when it comes to vaccination rates for human papillomavirus (HPV). Here’s why healthcare providers need to up their game when it comes to HPV vaccine for boys.

August is National Immunization Awareness Month, and the annual observance promotes the benefits of on-time vaccination for patients of all ages. Here are free materials to help you spread the word.

The rotavirus vaccine is working, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) concludes in a new report, but there is still room for improved vaccine coverage.

Pediatricians spend precious time talking with parents whether they’re vaccine hesitant or vaccine opposed. Yet the time pediatricians spend trying to understand and educate families who are hesitant or against vaccinating their children is important and can be effective, according to Tina Q. Tan, MD.

Mark R. Schleiss, MD, discusses the differences between parents who are vaccine hesitant and those that are outright vaccine refusers. One can be reached and the other cannot.

Most humans are not moved by data. So, when John V. Williams, MD, talks with vaccine-hesitant or opposed parents, he’ll often talk about what he has seen as a pediatrician and done as a parent.

To me, it seems that we are trapped traveling around the world within ‘non-connected circles’ that encompass viewpoints adversely affecting significant scientific immunization advances developed to improve the health and well-being of infants, children, adolescents, their families, and all individuals who interact with them.