At least 200 million people worldwide have struggled with long COVID: a slew of symptoms that can persist for months or even years after an infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID. But research suggests that that number would likely be much higher if not for vaccines.

A growing consensus is emerging that receiving multiple doses of the COVID vaccine before an initial infection can dramatically reduce the risk of long-term symptoms. Although the studies disagree on the exact amount of protection, they show a clear trend: the more shots in your arm before your first bout with COVID, the less likely you are to get long COVID. One meta-analysis of 24 studies published in October, for example, found that people who’d had three doses of the COVID vaccine were 68.7 percent less likely to develop long COVID compared with those who were unvaccinated. “This is really impressive,” says Alexandre Marra, a medical researcher at the Albert Einstein Israelite Hospital in Brazil and the lead author of the study. “Booster doses make a difference in long COVID.”

Read more at Scientific American.

Personal health is often among the top New Year’s resolutions each January. Beyond diet and exercise, Dr. John Presutti, a Mayo Clinic family medicine physician, says the start of a new year is a good calendar reminder to update adult vaccinations.

Whether it’s the annual flu shot, latest COVID-19 booster, or milestone shots that cover pneumonia, shingles or tetanus, staying up to date on immunizations is just one way to protect your health.

Read more at Medical Xpress.

Only 4.5% of a cohort of pediatric COVID-19 patients admitted to US hospitals during the period of Omicron predominance had completed their primary COVID-19 vaccine series, and 7.0% had started but didn’t finish the series, The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal reports.

The study team, led by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) researchers, enrolled 597 vaccine-eligible COVID-19 inpatients aged 8 months to 4 years at 28 hospitals participating in the Overcoming COVID-19 network from September 2022 to May 2023. A total of 62.1% of patients were aged 8 months to 1 year, and 37.9% were aged 2 to 4 years.

Read more at CIDRAP.

It was only a matter of time. As pediatricians, we are concerned by the first measles case in Colorado since 2019. We have anxiously watched for three years as measles vaccination rates have fallen in our state while cases have risen around the world.

Colorado was spared in 2019 during our nation’s largest measles outbreak in 30 years. However, 1 in 8 Coloradan kindergarteners are not fully vaccinated against measles today, and our state is overdue for an outbreak.

Measles is extremely dangerous.

Read more at The Denver Post.

Colorado has a confirmed case of measles for the first time since 2019,

Public health experts immediately sounded the alarm and are working to prevent a large outbreak since measles is so infectious.

The infected patient, whom health officials described as “an adolescent,” traveled through Denver International Airport on Dec. 13 and may have been infectious while attending a large gathering in Colorado Springs and later while visiting Children’s Hospital Colorado in Aurora on Dec. 18, according to experts at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE).

The patient’s vaccination status is unknown, according to CDPHE experts.

Measles is one of the world’s most dangerous illnesses because it so contagious.

Read more at UC Health Today.

The coronavirus subvariant JN.1 is now the fastest growing strain of the virus in the United States. The strain now constitutes about 20% of new Covid-19 infections, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In the Northeast, JN.1 has become the dominant variant.

Meanwhile, the CDC has issued an alert to clinicians about the need to increase immunizations for influenza, Covid-19, and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV. The public health agency reported that in the past four weeks, hospitalizations across all age groups increased by 200% for influenza, 60% for RSV and 51% for Covid-19.

Read more at CNN.

Colorado has its first confirmed case of measles in four years, and unvaccinated people who visited Denver International Airport or the emergency room at Children’s Hospital Colorado may need to look out for symptoms.

Vaccination is highly effective, so people who completed the sequence of the measles, mumps and rubella shot don’t need to worry, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. In some cases, giving the shot to an unvaccinated person within 72 hours of exposure can prevent them from getting sick. While most people recover from measles without complications, it can cause brain damage or death.

Read more at The Denver Post.

The World Health Organization on Tuesday declared coronavirus subvariant JN.1 a variant of interest “due to its rapidly increasing spread.”

It made up about 3 percent of all coronavirus cases in early November, but 27.1percent a month later globally, the WHO said. It anticipates JN.1’s emergence may cause an increase in cases, especially in countries experiencing winter.

The WHO designation came after emergency room visits in the United States for covid-19, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus collectively reached their highest levels since February, The Washington Post reported last week, ahead of the holiday period.

Read more at The Washington Post.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says there is an “urgent need” for vaccinations to fight respiratory illnesses this winter.

Earlier this week, the organization issued a health alert to doctors across the United States, calling on them to encourage their patients to get shots to protect them from COVID, the flu and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) for the remainder of the season.

“Low vaccination rates, coupled with ongoing increases in national and international respiratory disease activity caused by multiple pathogens, including influenza viruses, SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) and RSV, could lead to more severe disease and increased healthcare capacity strain in the coming weeks,” the CDC said.

Read more at People.