Issue 1747: March 13, 2024

March is Women's History Month and Immunize.org acknowledges the important contributions of women to vaccinology. Since the beginning of the vaccine era, women contributed to vaccine science and vaccination programs globally. We celebrate women who made trailblazing contributions in vaccinology, including:

• Lady Mary Wortley Montagu introduced smallpox inoculation to Britain and Western Europe in 1721
• Anna Wessels Williams isolated the reference strain of diphtheria used to develop the first diphtheria antitoxin and later a diphtheria toxoid in the 1890s. She developed a quick test to diagnose rabies in 1902.
• Margaret Pittman recognized in 1931 that type b of Haemophilus influenzae was a major cause of disease
• Ida A. Bengtson developed the complement fixation test in the 1920s, which was used to standardize units of biological activity for botulinum, gas gangrene, and other antitoxins
• Pearl L. Kendrick and Grace Elderling researched pertussis in the 1940s, tested their vaccine first on themselves, and ran a successful clinical trial, resulting in the first vaccine against pertussis. Loney Clinton Gordon aided their efforts.
• Dorothy Horstmann showed that poliovirus reaches the brain through the blood in the 1940s
• Clara I. Nigg codeveloped botulinum toxoids in 1947
• Isabel M. Morgan and her team proved that inactivated viruses could produce immunity in the 1940s; her work led the development of Salk's polio vaccine in 1955
• Brigitte Alice Askonas's work on antibodies and T-cells in the 1950s informed research to improve vaccines
• Ruth L. Kirshstein helped develop tests to assure the safety of viral vaccines against polio, measles, and rubella in the 1950s–1970s
• Deborah Wexler founded the Immunization Action Coalition (now Immunize.org) in 1991
• Katalin Karikó’s decades of scientific research into RNA made mRNA-based vaccines, beginning in 2020 with the first COVID-19 vaccines; she received the Nobel Prize in Medicine for this work
• Özlem Türeci coled the development of BioNTech/Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine in 2020 
• Kizzmekia Corbett helped develop COVID-19 mRNA vaccines in 2020
• Lisa Jackson led the world's first COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial in 2020

These are a few of the countless women contributing to vaccine development and the success of vaccination programs worldwide.



The contributions of all the women who work tirelessly to advance vaccine science, policy, and program implementation are deeply appreciated.  
 
 Related Links 

• Women's History Month website 
• Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance: The Women Who Made Modern Vaccines Work web page

Immunize.org recently updated Vaccines with Diluents: How to Use Them to incorporate Valneva's Ixchiq vaccine to prevent disease caused by the chikungunya virus.



Related Links

• Immunize.org: Clinical Resources: Storage & Handling main page
• Immunize.org: Clinical Resources A–Z main page, where you can filter by topic, vaccine, language, or other criteria

Immunize.org recently updated its parent handout, Screening Checklist for Contraindications to HPV, MenACWY, MenB, and Tdap Vaccines for Teens, to note that RSV vaccine is recommended during pregnancy, along with other vaccines indicated during pregnancy.



Related Links

• Immunize.org: Clinical Resources: Pregnancy and Vaccines main page 
• Immunize.org: Clinical Resources: Screening Checklists main page
• Immunize.org: Clinical Resources A–Z main page, where you can filter by topic, vaccine, language, or other criteria

Immunize.org is honored once again to be the beneficiary of the 16th annual charitable golf event, at The Golf Course at Terra Lago – North Course in Indio, CA, on April 6. Hosts Michelle and Casey Stewart, formerly with the National Meningitis Association, launched this major charitable event to raise awareness and funds for adolescent vaccination advocacy.

Those who want to participate virtually may purchase a golf ball for a chance to win. Every $10 tax-deductible donation buys you a golf ball and a chance to win up to $2,500 if your ball lands closest to the hole after it drops from the helicopter.



Visit Stews Shootout and Golf Ball Drop web page for more information. 

The Meningitis B Action Project is now the American Society for Meningitis Prevention (ASMP).
 
Patti Wukovits and Alicia Stillman, who each lost young, healthy daughters to meningitis B, cofounded the Meningitis B Action Project in 2017. Since then, the meningitis prevention landscape has evolved in the United States with several complex policy changes, new vaccination options, and growing educational needs across a wide range of stakeholders. These changes spurred the launch of ASMP to bring clarity to increasingly complex meningitis prevention issues.  



ASMP aims to empower people to take action to prevent meningococcal meningitis with comprehensive vaccination against five types of meningococcal bacteria that cause meningococcal meningitis: A, B, C, W, and Y.

ASMP focuses on: 

• Educating adolescents, young adults, and their parents about how to prevent meningitis
• Mobilizing providers to prioritize comprehensive meningitis prevention
• Achieving comprehensive national, state, and school meningitis prevention policies
• Improving equitable access to meningitis prevention
• Catalyzing a national network of meningitis advocates

Visit the ASMP website at meningitisprevention.org for more information. The website includes new educational materials, including those for the new meningitis pentavalent vaccine, available for download and ordering.
 
If you are interested in partnering with ASMP, contact info@meningitisprevention.org. 

• PR Newswire: The American Society for Meningitis Prevention (ASMP) Launches to Address Growing Need for Meningitis Prevention Education in the United States (3/7/24)

CDC’s Weekly U.S. Influenza Surveillance Report, FluView, provides a valuable picture of laboratory-confirmed influenza and influenza-like illness activity state by state.

Influenza Surveillance
For week 9, ending March 2, CDC’s Weekly U.S. Influenza Surveillance Report, FluView shows that 20 jurisdictions experienced persistent high or very high activity. Nationwide, 4.1% of patient visits reported through the Outpatient Influenza-Like Illness Surveillance Network (ILINet) were due to respiratory illness that included fever plus a cough or sore throat (i.e., ILI). The national baseline is 2.5%. Ten pediatric influenza-associated deaths were reported this week, bringing the total to 103 children who died of influenza thus far during the 2023–2024 season. 



RESP-NET
Visit the CDC Respiratory Virus Hospitalization Surveillance Network (RESP-NET) for weekly reports of hospitalizations across the United States due to three vaccine-preventable seasonal respiratory viruses: COVID-19, influenza, and RSV. 

Influenza Vaccination Dashboard
CDC's Weekly Flu Vaccination Dashboard shows that as of February 24, coverage estimates for all children for the 2023–2024 season are 2.9 percentage points lower this season compared with the same time last season (50.7% compared with 53.6%). Coverage this season so far is 9.1 percentage points lower compared with pre-pandemic coverage at the same time in February 2020 (60.3%).

CDC recommends everyone age 6 months and older get annual influenza vaccination. Influenza and other vaccines (including COVID-19 and RSV vaccines) may be given at the same visit, if indicated. Infants age 6 months and older may receive influenza and COVID-19 vaccines at the same visit when they receive the RSV preventive antibody, nirsevimab.

Locate influenza and COVID-19 vaccines in your area by entering your zip code in the VaccineFinder on Vaccines.gov or Vacunas.gov. To be listed as a provider by VaccineFinder, see the information on this website.

Related Links

• CDC: Weekly National Flu Vaccination Dashboard main page
• CDC: FluView main page
• CDC: RESP-NET main page
• Immunize.org: free clinical resources and patient handouts related to influenza
• Immunize.org: Vaccines: Influenza main page
• Immunize.org: Ask the Experts: Influenza main page

This week, our featured episode from the Ask the Experts Video Series is May Influenza Vaccines Be Given at the Same Time as Other Vaccines, including COVID-19 Vaccines? The video briefly describes CDC’s clinical guidance for the use of COVID-19 vaccines with other vaccines. Any vaccine may be given on the same day or any day before or after COVID-19 vaccination, at a different anatomic site.

The 2-minute video is available on our YouTube channel, along with our full collection of quick video answers to popular Ask the Experts questions.

Like, follow, and share Immunize.org’s social media accounts and encourage colleagues and others interested in vaccination to do likewise:

• Facebook at ImmunizeOrg
• Instagram at ImmunizeOrg
• LinkedIn at ImmunizeOrg
• YouTube at ImmunizeOrg

Journalists seek out Immunize.org experts to help explain vaccines to the public and policy makers. We help the media understand and communicate the complex work vaccinators do. Here is another recent citation.

• STAT: Florida Health Officials Provide Scant Details on Measles Cases, Worrying Health Experts (3/6/24)

These recent articles convey the potential risks of vaccine-preventable diseases and the importance of vaccination.

• NBC: Tennessee Vaccine Law Pits Parental Rights against Public Health (3/7/24)
• Washington Post: What Happened after a Man Got 217 Coronavirus Shots (3/5/24)
• NPR: With a Million Cases of Dengue So Far This Year, Brazil Is in a State of Emergency (3/4/24)
• CBS: The mRNA Miracle Workers (3/3/24)
• FDA: Vaccination Is the Best Protection against Measles (3/1/24)

In the February 26 issue, Pediatrics published Strategies for Improving Vaccine Communication and Uptake. A portion of the conclusion section appears below. 

Implementation of evidence-based techniques for increasing vaccination uptake may be all that is needed to convince many hesitant parents to vaccinate their children. . . . For parents who remain reluctant to vaccinate their child, a strong recommendation from the pediatrician may convince them of the importance of vaccination. For others, more detailed conversations may be necessary, and communication techniques such as motivational interviewing show promise as effective frameworks for the vaccine conversation. Ultimately, there are some parents who will refuse vaccination even after lengthy conversations. . . .

Improving vaccine uptake can best be accomplished in the course of clinical practice through open communication and discussion between the pediatrician and the parents. Because most parents agree to vaccinate their children, this dialogue, which can be started as early as the prenatal interview visit, is an ongoing process. Providing vaccine-related information before the first immunization visit may permit parents to clearly formulate their concerns so that they can be fully addressed by the pediatrician. Working with parents who have questions about vaccines is a wonderful opportunity to build rapport and trust with a family and, ultimately, protect their children from the scourge of vaccine-preventable diseases.

In the January/February 2024 issue, Public Health Agency of Canada published COVID-19 Outcome Trends by Vaccination Status in Canada in the Canada Communicable Disease Report (CCDR).  A portion of the CCDR abstract appears below. 

From mid to late-2021, incidence rates for cases and severe outcomes were consistently lowest among those with a completed primary series and highest among those who were unvaccinated. Unvaccinated individuals were much more likely to be hospitalized or to die compared to those with a completed primary series in all variant periods. . . .

Vaccination remains one of the most important public health interventions, particularly among older adults, to protect against COVID-19 severe outcomes as the pandemic evolves.

Related Link

• Health Canada: CCDR main page

In the March 4 issue, Lancet Infectious Diseases published Adaptive Immune Responses Are Larger and Functionally Preserved in a Hypervaccinated Individual. A portion of the article appears below. 

Here, we report on a 62-year-old male hypervaccinated individual from Magdeburg, Germany (HIM), who deliberately and for private reasons received 217 vaccinations against SARS-CoV-2 within a period of 29 months . . . our case report shows that SARS-CoV-2 hypervaccination did not lead to adverse events and increased the quantity of spike-specific antibodies and T cells without having a strong positive or negative effect on the intrinsic quality of adaptive immune responses. While we found no signs of SARS-CoV-2 breakthrough infections in HIM to date, it cannot be clarified whether this is causally related to the hypervaccination regimen. Importantly, we do not endorse hypervaccination as a strategy to enhance adaptive immunity.