Welcome to the latest episode of Infectious Insights, a trusted source for the latest updates in pediatric infectious diseases—designed specifically for pediatricians, by pediatricians.

In this episode, our host Tina Tan, MD, FIDSA, FPIDS, FAAP, editor-in-chief of Contemporary Pediatrics is joined by our very first guest, Candice Jones, MD, a board-certified general pediatrician based in Orlando, Florida. Jones is also an editorial advisory board member of Contemporary Pediatrics.

This episode is highlighted by a discussion surrounding several headlines in the infectious diseases and vaccine space, from changes to the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) to updated vaccine recommendations and vaccine hesitancy.

Tan and Jones highlight the challenges that health care providers have been faced with in both the practice setting and in communicating with patients and their families, who are also navigating unfamiliar information, at times misinformation, opinions, and distrust in the medical field.

"With the ACIP, we have a new committee, and I am worried, I'm frustrated, as many of us pediatric providers are, I'm sure," said Jones. "I don't know what is coming, and there is a total level of uncertainty about how my practice, how the care of my patients, can be impacted by these potential changes, by the things that are being recommended or not recommended."

More on our host, Tina Tan, MD, FIDSA, FPIDS, FAAP

Tan is a professor of pediatrics at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University and a pediatric infectious diseases attending at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. She also directs the International Adoptee Clinic and co-directs the Pediatric Travel Medicine Clinic. Her work has focused on pneumococcal infections, pertussis prevention, antibiotic resistance, and vaccine education—areas she continues to study through clinical care and research.

In addition to her clinical and academic roles, she serves as the current president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. She is also chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Infectious Diseases and serves on the Red Book Committee, while contributing to immunization and antimicrobial stewardship efforts nationally and globally.