Issue 1752: April 17, 2024

National Infant Immunization Week (NIIW), April 22–29, highlights the importance of protecting infants from vaccine-preventable diseases. Since 1994, hundreds of communities have celebrated the crucial role vaccination plays in protecting our children, communities, and public health.

CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommend that children stay on track with their well-child appointments and routine vaccinations. Completing the recommended childhood immunizations by age 2 years is the best way to protect young children from 16 potentially life-threatening diseases.



CDC makes it simple to plan your NIIW activities by using their promotional materials including English and Spanish logos, sample social media content, social graphics, and key messages. Please share your posts using the hashtag #ivax2protect.

AAP resources will be released on April 18 at aap.org.

Related Links

• CDC: National Infant Immunization Week main page
• CDC: Promotional Materials main page
• Immunize.org: Parent Handouts main page

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For week 14, ending April 6, CDC’s Weekly U.S. Influenza Surveillance Report, FluView shows that seven jurisdictions experienced moderate activity and one state experienced high activity. Nationwide, 2.8% 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 2.9%. Five pediatric influenza-associated deaths were reported this week, bringing the total to 138 children who died of influenza thus far during the 2023–24 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
CDC recommends everyone age 6 months and older get annual influenza vaccination.

This story represents the final routine story on influenza-like-illness activity for the 2023–24 season. Late-season influenza vaccination may be helpful, especially for young infants just turning 6 months of age, as long as influenza is circulating.

Don't forget that some children need a second dose in their first season of influenza vaccinations.

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

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This week, our featured episode from the Ask the Experts Video Series is Some parents resist HPV vaccination of their 11- and 12-year-olds because they are not sexually active. How should I counter this position? The video briefly describes how to talk to parents about the importance of starting and completing HPV vaccination prior to exposure to the virus.

The 1-minute video is available on our YouTube channel, along with our full collection of quick video answers to popular Ask the Experts questions.

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

• TIME: Whooping Cough Is Surging in China with Tens of Thousands of Cases and Over a Dozen Deaths (4/10/24)
• Detroit Free Press: Detroit Child with Measles Exposed Others at Children’s Hospital, Urgent Care, Pharmacy (4/10/24)
• U.S. News: Measles Infections Cross 100 in U.S., Nearly Double 2023 Cases (4/8/24)

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CDC now offers simple, parent-friendly, and downloadable versions of the childhood immunization schedules:

• 2024 Recommended Immunizations for Birth through 6 Years Old
• 2024 Recommended Immunizations for Children 7–18 Years Old

   

Related Links

• CDC: Immunization Schedules: For You and Your Family main page
• CDC: CIIW Webinars: 2024 Updates to the Child/Adolescent and Adult Immunization Schedules (3/6/24)

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CDC published Measles—United States, January 1, 2020–March 28, 2024 on April 11 in MMWR. A portion of the summary appears below.

Although endemic U.S. measles was declared eliminated in 2000, measles importations continue to occur. Prolonged outbreaks during 2019 threatened the U.S. measles elimination status. . . .

During January 1, 2020–March 28, 2024, a total of 338 U.S. measles cases were reported; 29% of these cases occurred during the first quarter of 2024, almost all in persons who were unvaccinated or whose vaccination status was unknown. As of the end of 2023, U.S. measles elimination status was maintained. . . .

Risk for widespread U.S. measles transmission remains low because of high population immunity. Enhanced efforts are needed to increase routine U.S. vaccination coverage, encourage vaccination before international travel, identify communities at risk for measles transmission, and rapidly investigate suspected measles cases to reduce cases and complications of measles.

Access the MMWR article in HTML or PDF.



Related Link

• CDC: MMWR main page providing access to the MMWR family of publications

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CDC published Assessment of Risk for Sudden Cardiac Death among Adolescents and Young Adults after Receipt of COVID-19 Vaccine—Oregon, June 2021–December 2022 on April 11 in MMWR. For context, 979,289 doses of COVID-19 vaccines were administered to Oregonians aged 16–30 years from May 1, 2021 through December 31, 2022. A portion of the abstract appears below.

In April 2021, cases of myocarditis after COVID-19 vaccination, particularly among young male vaccine recipients, were reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System. To assess this possibility, investigators searched death certificates for Oregon residents aged 16–30 years who died during June 2021–December 2022 for cardiac or undetermined causes of death. For identified decedents, records in Oregon’s immunization information system were reviewed for documentation of mRNA COVID-19 vaccination received ≤100 days before death. Among 1,292 identified deaths, COVID-19 was cited as the cause for 30. For 101 others, a cardiac cause of death could not be excluded; among these decedents, immunization information system records were available for 88, three of whom had received an mRNA COVID-19 vaccination within 100 days of death. Of 40 deaths that occurred among persons who had received an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine dose, three occurred ≤100 days after vaccination. Two of these deaths were attributed to chronic underlying conditions; the cause was undetermined for one. No death certificate attributed death to vaccination. These data do not support an association between receipt of mRNA COVID-19 vaccine and sudden cardiac death among previously healthy young persons [emphasis added]. COVID-19 vaccination is recommended for all persons aged ≥6 months to prevent COVID-19 and complications, including death.

Access the MMWR article in HTML or PDF.

Related Link

• CDC: MMWR main page providing access to the MMWR family of publications

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World Vaccination Week (WIW) is traditionally celebrated the last week of April. A portion of WHO's press release about WIW appears below.

This year's campaign aims to:

• Celebrate 50 years of children growing up protected against vaccine-preventable diseases.
• Promote demand for immunization and conduct catch-up vaccination, wherever applicable, to reach zero-dose and under-immunized children in the Western Pacific.
• Increase recognition and awareness of the value of vaccines across the life-course, and mitigate risk of vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks.

Related Links

• WHO: World Vaccination Week (WIW) web page
• WHO: 50th Anniversary of the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) web page
• WHO: WHO’s Expanded Programme on Immunization: Averting More than Four Million Deaths Every Year YouTube Video

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CDC published COVID-19 Vaccination Coverage—World Health Organization African Region, 2021–2023 on April 11 in MMWR. A portion of the summary appears below.

The World Health Organization African Region did not receive enough COVID-19 vaccine doses to vaccinate everyone for whom vaccination was recommended and lagged behind other regions. . . .

During 2021–2023, the cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses received in the African Region increased from 321 million to 860 million, and 646 million doses were administered. Cumulative total population coverage with ≥1 dose ranged by country from 0.3% to 89%. By the end of 2023, coverage with a primary COVID-19 vaccination series increased from 7% to 32% for the total population, and increased to 52% among older age groups and to 48% among health care workers in a subset of countries in the African Region. . . .

Additional outreach is needed to increase COVID-19 vaccination coverage among priority high-risk populations. Integrating COVID-19 vaccination into routine immunization and primary health care services could strengthen adult vaccination platforms and improve pandemic preparedness.



Access the MMWR article in HTML or PDF.

Related Link

• CDC: MMWR main page providing access to the MMWR family of publications

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