There are shortages of an RSV vaccine for infants due to supply issues.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a notice last week citing “limited availability” of the long-acting monoclonal antibody immunization Beyfortus (nirsevimab).
The product is recommended by the CDC for preventing disease from respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in children up to 24 months of age.
With health experts recommending Americans get two (or even three) different vaccines this cold and flu season, you may find yourself rolling up your sleeve a couple of times soon.
You may also notice your arm hurts for a day or two after getting your shots. Why is that?
Fortunately, you aren’t alone.
For all three of the vaccine health experts are recommending this season — the flu shot, the newest COVID booster, and the RSV vaccine for older Americans — the CDC notes pain, redness, and swelling at the injection site are among the most common side effects.
Older adults who received last year’s COVID booster and a high-dose version of the flu vaccine in the same visit may have a potential increased risk of stroke, according to a new FDA-funded study.
Experts urged that the results were preliminary and may be explained by other factors such as the fact that older adults are already at a higher risk for stroke due to their age.
“There is no need for panic, and emphatically no need to stop giving COVID and flu shots at the same time to older adults,” said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious diseases specialist at the University of California, San Francisco, while he reiterated that more research is needed.
There are many good reasons to get a flu shot this fall, but here’s one that might surprise you: It could protect your brain.
Recent research suggests that regular vaccinations against influenza and other infectious diseases such as shingles, pneumococcal pneumonia, and tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis (whooping cough) may reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.
“Vaccines are the great public health success story of our generation,” said Paul E. Schulz, professor of neurology and director of the Neurocognitive Disorders Center at the McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, who led several of the studies. “They keep you safe from any number of infections, many of which can be life-threatening. And now it appears there is another tremendous benefit, this one against a disease that is among the most feared.”
While the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that everyone 6 months and older should receive the annual flu vaccine, most people haven’t – at least not yet. Only 22.7% of adults and 20.8% of children have gotten the flu shot this fall, according to CDC data from October 14.
Why is it important for everyone eligible to receive the flu shot? How effective is it? Do people who have had the flu before still need a shot? Why is it necessary every year? When is the best time to get it? And what else should people do to stay healthy as the weather gets colder?
To help us with these questions, I spoke with our CNN Wellness medical expert, Dr. Leana Wen. Dr. Wen is an emergency physician and professor of health policy and management at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health. She previously served as Baltimore’s health commissioner.
The risks of severe neonatal morbidity, neonatal death, and admission to the neonatal intensive care unit were all significantly lower during the first month of birth in infants whose mothers were vaccinated against Covid-19, and protection against the virus continued for up to six months after birth, according to a new study published Monday in JAMA Pediatrics.
“We hypothesized that this might be because we know that severe Covid in pregnancy is associated with pregnancy complications and so by protecting the mom, you would expect that perhaps incidence would be at a lower risk for some of those severe outcomes,” said Sarah Jorgensen, a researcher and pharmacist at the Institute of Medical Science at the University of Toronto and the first author on the study.
Flu season has officially begun in Colorado. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) is tracking flu hospitalizations on the Colorado Viral Respiratory Disease Data Dashboard; since October 1, there have been 20 flu-related hospitalizations reported in the state. Last year’s flu season landed over 3,000 Coloradans in the hospital. In the U.S., flu causes millions of illnesses each year. These illnesses result in hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations and tens of thousands of deaths. The good news? Flu is preventable with the annual flu vaccine. The best way to ensure you don’t become one of these statistics is to get your flu vaccine!
This Team Vaccine Blog post is part two in a three-part series addressing vaccines for respiratory illnesses. Today, we share the importance of getting a flu vaccine. Our next blog in the series will shed light on new RSV vaccines and treatments. Look for it in the coming weeks.
The CDC recommends everyone six months of age or older get vaccinated against flu by the end of October. This provides the best protection throughout the flu season, which typically lasts through the spring. If you miss getting the flu vaccine in October, you should still get vaccinated; late protection is better than none. Flu vaccines are available throughout the entire flu season. You can get them at your local pharmacy, local public health agency, doctor’s office, and more. You can even get your COVID-19 vaccine at the same time as your flu vaccine. Once you’re vaccinated, it will take two weeks for you to be fully protected.
Flu is no joke, and we shouldn’t take it lightly. Some people who catch the flu may experience only mild cold-like symptoms. Others will get severely ill. Even people who are otherwise healthy can become hospitalized or die from flu infection. Last year, those under age 18 experienced high hospitalization rates, and there were 154 flu deaths in children across the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), two of every three children hospitalized with flu had not been vaccinated. While those under six months of age and adults over 65 are at greatest risk for severe infection and complications, this does not mean other age groups are safe from the risk of severe illness. Additionally, schools and childcare centers offer prime opportunities for viruses to spread. When kids are vaccinated, we keep transmission down.
If you’re pregnant, you are at greater risk for complications, hospitalization, and even death if you catch the flu. Your body is working double time providing for both your and your child’s needs. With all the added demands of pregnancy, your immune system is not as strong.
If you get infected with the flu, your likelihood of pregnancy complications increases. Preterm birth, low birth weight, and birth defects are some of the risks you take by not getting your flu vaccine. Plus, getting a flu vaccine during pregnancy provides passive immunity to your baby. This is important during the first six months of life when they’re too young to be vaccinated. Getting the flu vaccine during pregnancy is not only safe, it’s essential for both of you!
Your decision to get vaccinated against flu may be a personal choice, but it doesn’t end with you. When you’re vaccinated, you protect yourself from severe illness and you also help stop the spread of the virus to others. Flu is highly contagious and very common. Vulnerable people in our communities rely on us to help protect them. This includes infants under six months, adults over 65, people with chronic illness, and people with compromised immune systems. Each of us share a responsibility to protect ourselves, our loved ones, and our communities. It’s no different from being a safe driver on the road.
Flu vaccines have been in use since 1945. They are extremely safe and cannot give you the flu. In addition to maintaining other healthy habits, they offer the best defense against severe illness, hospitalization, and death. Help keep Colorado healthy and make the flu stop with you. Find flu and COVID-19 vaccine providers at bit.ly/FindCOVaxProvider. Have more questions about the flu? View our Flu Fact Sheet or speak to your medical provider for reliable answers.
Immunize Colorado was formed in 1991 in response to alarmingly low vaccination rates across the state. At the time, only about 50% of Colorado’s children were adequately vaccinated. A group of physicians and other concerned individuals came together to strategize how to protect Coloradans from vaccine-preventable diseases and increase vaccine uptake. Much work remains. You can donate or discover other ways to get involved in supporting our commitment to healthy Colorado communities today!
As mothers who have both lost a child, we often say we’re in a club that we want no one else to ever join.
We started our individual foundations and the Meningitis B Action Project after we each lost our young, healthy daughters too soon to a now vaccine-preventable disease, Meningitis B.
Kimberly (Patti’s daughter), 17, died one week before her high school graduation. College sophomore Emily (Alicia’s daughter), 19, died just 36 hours after her first symptoms.
Meningococcal disease is one of the most common types of bacterial meningitis. It is a life-threatening bacterial infection that can affect the lining of the brain and spinal cord, or it can cause an infection in the bloodstream – or both. Ten to 15 percent of those who contract meningitis die. For those who survive, 20 percent will suffer permanent disabilities such as brain damage, hearing loss, loss of kidney function or limb amputations.
Here we go again: respiratory virus season. For the first time this year, though, we have vaccines against our big three threats: flu, RSV and COVID. But vaccines in vials do not equal vaccinations in arms. Only 17 percent of Americans got last fall’s COVID vaccine. What do we do in a time of extreme fatigue, loss of trust, disinformation, politicization and lack of public health funds for education and outreach?
There is a solution. All of us—friends, family, neighbors, schools, pharmacies, doctor offices, health departments—need to be laser-focused on reaching a group called “passive positives.” These people have gotten COVID shots in the past and generally approve of vaccination. But they are unlikely to expend energy to find out where they can get another shot and are likely ambivalent about receiving one. They may feel good about the protection it confers but not so good about the prospect of side effects (yet again). Many of them are actively trying not to think about viruses this fall.
COVID infection can raise the risk of a rare immune system attack on the body’s nerves — but vaccination might protect against it, a large new study suggests.
The study, of more than 3 million Israeli adults and teenagers, found that COVID infection was linked to a substantially increased risk of developing Guillain-Barre syndrome in the next six weeks.
GBS is a rare condition where the immune system launches a misguided attack on the body’s own nerve tissue. It causes symptoms like weakness and tingling in the limbs, difficulty walking and even paralysis.
