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Fewer people are being vaccinated against respiratory diseases

Just 34% of US adults have gotten a flu shot, 25% have had a COVID vaccine, 8% have received the pneumococcal vaccine, and 6% have been vaccinated against RSV.

Liz Szabo
Young woman and vaccine tray

Relatively calm afternoon ACIP session still cauldron of ‘misinformation, disinformation, and information taken out of context’

CDC vaccine advisers turned their focus to the childhood vaccine schedule, though no votes were cast.

Laine Bergeson
Mary Van Beusekom
Liz Szabo
Baby in hospital
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188

Episode 188: Finding the Light

In "Finding the Light," Dr. Osterholm and Chris Dall discuss a recent study on aluminum in childhood vaccines, the latest COVID variant data, and the recent approval of the Moderna COVID vaccine for children at risk of severe disease. Dr. Osterholm also provides an update on CIDRAP's Vaccine Integrity Project and shares the latest "This Week in Public History" segment.

Report: No link between aluminum-adjuvanted childhood vaccines, conditions such as autism (Van Beusekom, CIDRAP News)

State, local public health officials grapple with fallout from funding, job cuts (Dall, CIDRAP News)

Resources for vaccine and public health advocacy:

Voices for Vaccines

Families Fighting Flu

Vaccinate Your Family

Shot@Life

Medical Reserve Corps

Learn more about the Vaccine Integrity Project

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July 24, 2025

Tainted-drug deaths, weak regulation corrode confidence in Indian drugs

… home to unregulated, cash-only drug companies that ship medications, including some of dubious quality, within India … shut down, although Indian officials denied that the medications were tainted and complained that the WHO's accusations tarnished the image of Indian medications. The Gambian and Uzbek deaths, plus those from …
Mary Van Beusekom
Made in India ship

Study: Pandemic contributed to gastrointestinal cancer underdiagnosis

Stage 1 diagnoses dropped by 4% in 2020, but stage 4 diagnoses increased 7%.

Stephanie Soucheray
cancer diagnosis

Health workers, laypeople differ on how to allocate limited medical resources amid a crisis

On average, healthcare providers more strongly agreed that scarce resources shouldn't be allocated to patients less likely to survive.

Mary Van Beusekom

After UK lifted COVID test mandates at admission, hospital cases outpaced community spread

The utility of universal admission testing has been questioned due to limited resources, care delays, and sparse data showing it cuts hospital infections.

Mary Van Beusekom
Close-up of nasal swab

WHO unveils priority pediatric antibiotic formulation list

… bacterial infections, including lack of access to existing medications and to high-quality microbiology lab services, … a prioritized medicine portfolio on the most needed medications for kids can help streamline researchers' and …
Lisa Schnirring
child antibiotic

3 doses of mRNA COVID vaccine show advantage against severe outcomes

Fourteen to 60 days postvaccination, third-dose relative vaccine effectiveness against hospitalization was 77% for Moderna and 73% for Pfizer. 

Mary Van Beusekom
COVID vaccination

GAO report shows Strategic National Stockpile challenges during COVID, mpox

24% of jurisdictions did not know whom to contact to access the SNS in the first months of the pandemic.

Stephanie Soucheray
SNS

Survey: Already-isolated older adults fared better than socially connected peers early in COVID pandemic

Less socially connected adults may have been accustomed to coping on their own, the authors say.

Mary Van Beusekom
Isolated older man

Study finds no evidence COVID-19 causes childhood asthma

SARS-CoV-2 positivity on PCR tests had no significant effect on the risk of a new asthma diagnosis.

Stephanie Soucheray
boy asthma

Men more likely than women to develop COVID-19 pneumonia, research suggests

Sex-based disparities in COVID-19 severity may be influenced by a complex interaction of genetic, hormonal, immunologic, and other factors, the authors say.

Mary Van Beusekom
Man coughing on bed

High-dose, adjuvanted flu vaccines better protect seniors from symptoms, hospital stays, study finds

Adjusted comparative vaccine effectiveness against medical visits in the high-dose, adjuvanted, and standard-dose cell-based vaccine groups were 9%, 17%, and −6%, respectively.

Mary Van Beusekom

Reports describe good maternal RSV vaccine, drug uptake in their first season

Several factors were associated with high maternal uptake of the vaccine, including older age of the mother.

Stephanie Soucheray
rsv vax

AI tool can help identify patients who may have H5N1 avian flu, researchers say

Requiring only 26 minutes of human input and 3 cents per patient note, the AI tool identified 76 records that mentioned a risk factor for H5N1.

Mary Van Beusekom

Long-COVID symptoms in young kids can vary by age

Preschool-aged children were more likely to have a dry cough and daytime tiredness or low energy.

Stephanie Soucheray
sick boy cough

Top virologists urge world leaders to act on rising avian flu threat

Global Virus Network scientists highlight the need for robust surveillance, enhanced biosecurity, and readiness for potential human-to-human viral transmission.

Mary Van Beusekom

US measles total jumps by 80, fueled by travel and more outbreaks

In other developments, Canada reported its first measles death of the year, a premature infant born to an infected mother.

Lisa Schnirring
airport line

Analysis shows higher COVID hospitalization rates for Black, Hispanic kids

Black and Hispanic children had higher rates of ICU admission than Asian or Pacific Islander children.

Stephanie Soucheray
sick icu boy

New data reveal impact of RSV on kids with chronic conditions, plus high adult exposure

Second-season hospitalization rates among kids with Down syndrome or those who were born prematurely were fivefold higher than for all children in the first season.

Jim Wappes
RSV under microscope

Germ-killing UV lights modestly cut overall rates of respiratory infection in nursing homes

The appliances didn't cut infections per zone, but modeling showed that they did reduce overall incidence by 12%.

Mary Van Beusekom

In call with clinicians, CDC recommends flu vaccines widely

Both the CDC and WHO say preliminary UK data show the current flu vaccine offers strong protection against subclade K.

Stephanie Soucheray
flu mom

Patients, experts take center stage at Senate long-COVID hearing

… fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). Mostly homebound, she is on 12 medications and receives weekly intravenous medical …
Lisa Schnirring
senate hearing room

Another drop in routine vaccine coverage among US kindergarten students

Coverage with state-required vaccines fell to 93% among kindergartners during the 2021-21 school year, down 2 percentage points from 2019-20.

Chris Dall
Child vaccination

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