At least 364 pertussis infections were reported to health authorities last week, according to figures published Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, marking the worst Thanksgiving week for whooping cough in recent decades.
This tops the previous Thanksgiving record of 228 cases of pertussis which were reported for the week ending Nov. 27, 2010. That year there were 27,550 cases reported by the end of 2010, below the 28,167 already tallied so far this year.
Cervical cancer deaths among women younger than 25 have plummeted in recent years, the likely result of vaccinating adolescents against human papillomavirus, or HPV, high-risk strains of which cause the cancer, researchers said.
“This is a huge public-health success story,” said Ashish Deshmukh, co-leader of the cancer prevention and control research program at the Medical University of South Carolina’s (MUSC) Hollings Cancer Center, and senior author of research recently published in JAMA Network. “Vaccination is the only explanation for this startling and substantial decline.”
A large multistate study, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) VISION Network, has found that COVID-19 vaccination given during pregnancy offered 52% protection, cutting risk of a COVID-19-associated emergency department or urgent care visit in half. This is especially significant because there is an increased risk of severe COVID-19 during pregnancy requiring hospitalization and potentially causing adverse pregnancy outcomes.
Despite a relatively slow start to respiratory disease season, low vaccination rates threaten that trend and the rapid rise of some illnesses is already putting children at increased risk.
Overall, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicts that this season could be similar — or even better — than the last, but the peak rate of respiratory virus hospitalizations will likely be well above what they typically were in years before the Covid-19 pandemic.
During the fall and winter months, respiratory infections such as flu, COVID-19, and RSV can surge. People who are vaccinated lower their risk of getting seriously ill and needing medical care if they get infected. About 70% of adults in the United States say they probably or definitely will get a flu shot, and over 50% say they probably or definitely will get an updated COVID-19 vaccine. While many people are ready to get this season’s vaccines, others might still have questions.
With the cold weather and the holidays, you’re likely spending more time indoors with family and friends. It’s also likely you or someone you’re celebrating with hasn’t gotten the flu vaccine or the COVID-19 shot.
“When people are out of work and out of school and sort of congregating, it’ll promote the spread of it,” said Dr. Michelle Barron, the senior medical director of Infection Prevention at UCHealth.
Waning vaccine coverage has fueled a 20% spike in measles cases worldwide, with 10.3 million people struck by the preventable illness in 2023, health officials reported Wednesday.
“Inadequate immunization coverage globally is driving the surge in cases,” of what was once a common childhood disease, the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a joint statement issued by both agencies.
“The number of measles infections are rising around the globe, endangering lives and health,” CDC Director Dr. Mandy Cohen said in the statement. “The measles vaccine is our best protection against the virus, and we must continue to invest in efforts to increase access.”
Current guidelines recommend that pregnant people receive a vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)—which typically causes mild, cold-like symptoms in most adults but can be deadly for infants—during weeks 32–36 of pregnancy. New research led by investigators at Mass General Brigham suggests that vaccination earlier in that timeframe, closer to 32 weeks, could provide the best protection for newborns against RSV. The findings are published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
More than 1 in 5 Americans likely suffer from long COVID, a new AI-assisted review has found.
The analysis suggests that nearly 23% of U.S. adults experience the symptoms of long COVID, according to results published Nov. 8 in the journal Med.
That’s much higher than the 7% prevalence of long COVID that’s been suggested by other studies, researchers said.
“Questions about the true burden of long COVID — questions that have thus far remained elusive — now seem more within reach,” said senior researcher Hossein Estiri, head of AI research at Mass General Brigham in Boston.
The first pediatric flu death of the season has been reported, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The youth was infected with influenza A and died in mid-October. Last season, 204 children died of flu, breaking the record for a non-pandemic season.
Flu activity is low nationally, but there have been slight increases among children and adolescents. Washington, D.C., is experiencing high levels of flu.
