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Parents Who Veto Vaccinations Often Seek Like-Minded Opinions

Posted 15 Apr 2013 by Drugs.com

MONDAY, April 15 – Friends and family may be key in parents' decisions on whether to vaccinate their young children, a small study suggests. The study, of about 200 parents, found that those who had opted not to follow the standard vaccine schedule often sought advice from anti-vaccine friends and family. Experts said it's not certain that the advice actually steered parents in an anti-vaccine direction: Parents who were already prone to shunning vaccines may have turned to like-minded people for reinforcement. "It's the chicken-and-egg question," said researcher Emily Brunson, an assistant professor of anthropology at Texas State University, in San Marcos. "The answer is, we don't know which came first." To be more sure, Brunson said, parents would have to be followed over time, to see whether undecided parents actually base vaccine decisions on advice from other people. But Brunson ... Read more

Too Few Adults Get Recommended Vaccines: CDC

Posted 29 Jan 2013 by Drugs.com

TUESDAY, Jan. 29 – Vaccines aren't just for kids, and most American adults aren't getting their recommended vaccinations, federal health officials said Tuesday. "In general, too few adults are taking advantage of the protection of vaccines, leaving themselves and those around them at greater risk of vaccine-preventable diseases," Dr. Howard Koh, assistant secretary for health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said during a news conference. For example, Koh said, in 2011, the most recent year for which data are available, there were some 37,000 cases of preventable pneumococcal pneumonia that resulted in 4,000 deaths. The majority of deaths occurred among adults 50 and older, and the highest rates were seen among those 65 years and older. Almost everyone who gets invasive pneumococcal disease needs treatment in the hospital, and that's why people 65 and older should ... Read more

Study Finds Nearly Half of U.S. Kids Are Under-Vaccinated

Posted 21 Jan 2013 by Drugs.com

MONDAY, Jan. 21 – In recent years, nearly half (49 percent) of U.S. children under the age of 2 did not receive all the recommended vaccinations or received some vaccinations late, a new study shows. All these children are considered under-vaccinated, according to the Kaiser Permanente researchers who analyzed the immunization records of more than 320,000 children born between 2004 and 2008. The investigation revealed a significant increase in the number of under-vaccinated children during the study period, and also found that one in eight under-vaccinated children's parents decided not to follow Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) childhood vaccination guidelines, according to a Kaiser news release. Those decisions meant that children went a longer time between vaccinations or received fewer vaccinations in a single office visit, leaving them under-vaccinated, ... Read more

Childhood Vaccine Schedule Is Safe, Report Says

Posted 16 Jan 2013 by Drugs.com

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 16 – The standard vaccine schedule for young children in the United States is safe and effective, a new review says. The report, issued Wednesday by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) at the request of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the first to look at the entire vaccine schedule as opposed to just individual vaccines. The current vaccine schedule entails 24 vaccines given before the age of 2, averaging one to five shots during a single doctor visit. "The committee found no evidence that the childhood immunization schedule is not safe," said Ada Sue Hinshaw, chair of the committee that produced the report and dean of the Graduate School of Nursing at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md. "The evidence repeatedly points to the health benefits of the schedule, including preventing children and their communities from ... Read more

Follow-Up Lacking for Babies After Hepatitis B Vaccination: CDC

Posted 27 Sep 2012 by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, Sept. 27 – Many U.S. babies born to mothers infected with hepatitis B do not receive recommended follow-up testing after vaccination, a new study finds. About 25,000 infants are born to hepatitis B-infected mothers each year in the United States, according to background information in the study. Without vaccination, 40 to 90 percent of those infants would become infected. Up to 90 percent of those who contracted the virus would develop chronic infection and possibly die from cirrhosis or liver cancer. Infants born to mothers infected with hepatitis B should receive the hepatitis B vaccine and hepatitis B immune globulin within 12 hours of birth, the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommends. Infants should complete the three-dose hepatitis B series, which is up to 95 percent effective in preventing infections. Between ages 9 months and 18 months, these ... Read more

Childhood Vaccination Rates Remain High, CDC Says

Posted 6 Sep 2012 by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, Sept. 6 – Almost all toddlers in the United States are getting their recommended childhood vaccinations, despite some parents' concerns about giving so many shots to the very young in such a short period of time. A new government report shows immunization rates for many routine vaccines in 2011 were 90 percent or more among kids aged 19 months to 35 months. The breakdown: Coverage for the birth dose of hepatitis B increased from 64.1 percent in 2010 to 68.6 percent in 2011, coverage for the recommended two doses of hepatitis A vaccine increased from 49.7 percent to 52.2 percent in the same period, coverage for rotavirus vaccines increased from 59.2 percent to 67.3 percent and coverage for the full series of Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) vaccine increased from 66.8 percent to 80.4 percent. Vaccination coverage remained above the Healthy People 2020 target of 90 percent ... Read more

Vaccinations Belong on Parents' Back-to-School Checklists

Posted 20 Aug 2012 by Drugs.com

MONDAY, Aug. 20 – Vaccinations among school-aged children can save lives and parents should be sure their children are fully immunized as part of their back-to-school preparations, according to a pediatric infectious disease specialist. "These vaccines save children's lives; parents interested in keeping their child alive should have them vaccinated," Dr. David Kimberlin, a University of Alabama at Birmingham professor of pediatrics, said in a university news release. "At any given time, all of these vaccine-preventable diseases are at most 18 hours away. For example, one of the few remaining places where polio circulates is Afghanistan, and U.S. troops return home from there daily; anyone exposed could inadvertently pass polio to a child." Kimberlin is also president-elect of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports there ... Read more

Poor Sleep Hampers Vaccine Effectiveness: Study

Posted 1 Aug 2012 by Drugs.com

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 1 – Lack of sleep can reduce the effectiveness of vaccinations, according to a new study. Researchers measured the sleep patterns of 125 adults who received the three-shot course of the vaccine to protect against hepatitis B. The immune systems of participants who slept less produced fewer antibodies in response to the vaccine and blood tests showed that they did not meet the standard of protection from the virus. People who slept less than six hours per night were nearly 12 times more likely to be left unprotected by the vaccine than those who slept more than seven hours per night. Only the amount of sleep, not the quality of sleep, affected the amount of antibodies produced in response to the vaccine. "Given that more and more Americans are grappling with chronic sleep deprivation, these findings should be a wake-up call to the public health community about the clear ... Read more

Many U.S. Adults Not Vaccinated for Hepatitis B

Posted 22 Jan 2012 by Drugs.com

FRIDAY, Jan. 20 – More than half (51.4 percent) of American adults at risk for hepatitis B infection have not been vaccinated, a new study says. People at risk for hepatitis B infection, which can lead to liver disease, include those who share needles when using injectable drugs and those who engage in certain risky sexual practices. Previous research shows that 95 percent of new hepatitis B infections occur among people with these types of behavioral risk factors. The finding about vaccination rates comes from researchers at Brown University in Providence, R.I., who analyzed data from 15,000 adults who took part in the 2007 U.S. Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey. The study also found that more than half of those who weren't vaccinated had the potential to receive the vaccine. These missed opportunities are a reason why hepatitis B infections persist, the researchers said. ... Read more

Hepatitis B Vaccine Recommended for Adults With Diabetes

Posted 22 Dec 2011 by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, Dec. 22 – Hepatitis B vaccination is recommended for all unvaccinated adults with type 1 and type 2 diabetes aged 19 to 59, say new guidelines from the U.S. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). The vaccination should be done as soon as possible after adults in this age group are diagnosed with diabetes. Unvaccinated adults with diabetes who are older than 59 can receive hepatitis B vaccination at the discretion of their doctor, the ACIP advises. The recommendations are outlined in the Dec. 23 issue of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Between 700,000 and 1.4 million people in the United States are infected with the hepatitis B virus (HBV), according to background information in the report. Chronic HBV infection damages the liver and can lead to serious illness and death. More than 15 ... Read more

Childhood Vaccination Rates Remain High in U.S.

Posted 16 Sep 2010 by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, Sept. 16 – U.S. childhood immunization rates remain high, with coverage for most routine vaccines at or over 90 percent, a new federal report shows. Among children aged 19 to 35 months, less than 1 percent had not received any vaccinations, according to the 2009 National Immunization Survey of more than 17,000 households with children born between January 2006 and July 2008. Coverage for vaccination against poliovirus, hepatitis B, chickenpox, and measles, mumps and rubella remained relatively stable and near or above the national Healthy People 2010 target of 90 percent or higher, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study. Rates of vaccination for hepatitis A and the birth dose of hepatitis B increased by more than 6 percent and 5 percent, respectively, from the previous year. Forty-four percent of the children had received rotavirus vaccine ... Read more

Vaccination, Prevention Is Beating Back Hepatitis

Posted 10 Mar 2010 by Drugs.com

WEDNESDAY, March 10 – Decades of vaccination and prevention efforts may have the hepatitis viruses on the run, according to a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC researchers tracked individuals' levels of antibodies to various hepatitis strains. Antibodies are a kind of immune system record of exposure to a particular pathogen, either through infection or vaccination. Since the late 1980s, there's been a significant increase in the number of U.S.-born American children and teens with hepatitis A antibody and a decrease in the number of adults aged 40 and older with the antibody, the study found. The recent trends likely result from increased immunity in children due to immunization and a resulting decrease of hepatitis A virus (HAV) exposure and infection among adults, according to the CDC researchers. The investigators also found that hepatitis ... Read more

1 in 5 At-Risk U.S. Babies Doesn't Get Hepatitis B Vaccine

Posted 8 Mar 2010 by Drugs.com

MONDAY, March 8 – About one in five babies born to mothers with hepatitis B aren't getting treatments that have been shown to prevent the infection in newborns, a new study finds. Given within 24 hours of birth, the hepatitis B vaccine and hepatitis B immunoglobulin can protect 85 percent to 95 percent of newborns from becoming infected, even if they were exposed at birth. Researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reviewed medical records of 4,762 mothers and 4,786 infants. The records represented about 25 consecutive live births from 190 U.S. hospitals, each of which was surveyed about their hepatitis B prevention policies in their labor and delivery departments. Records showed that 18 women tested positive for hepatitis B at the time of admission to the hospital. While 62 percent of their newborns received the hepatitis B vaccine and immunoglobulin, nearly ... Read more

Hepatitis B Vaccination Protects Against Liver Cancer

Posted 2 Feb 2010 by Drugs.com

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 16 – Vaccination at birth against hepatitis B virus greatly reduces the risk of liver cancer in young adulthood, new research suggests. In a 20-year study that followed infants who were vaccinated against the liver disease in Taiwan beginning in 1984, when a universal vaccination program went into effect, Dr. Mei-Hwei Chang, of the Department of Pediatrics at the National Taiwan University Hospital in Taipei, and colleagues looked at young people who had developed liver cancer. The researchers found that only a few people who had been vaccinated developed liver cancer, and there were possible explanations in most cases, such as insufficient doses of the vaccine. The findings appear in the Sept. 16 online edition of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. "These data suggest that the effectiveness of the universal hepatitis B virus immunization program to prevent ... Read more

Health Tip: Vaccinations for Adults

Posted 5 Dec 2008 by Drugs.com

-- Vaccinations aren't just for kids. There are periodic vaccines that adults should get to stay healthy, too. The Cleveland Clinic lists these vaccines recommended for people aged 18 and older: Get a tetanus booster shot every 10 years. A pneumonia vaccine is suggested at age 65. People with a chronic illness should get it before age 65. An annual flu shot is recommended for anyone 65 or older, health-care workers, people with chronic illness, pregnant women, and people who care for very young children. A hepatitis B shot is suggested for health-care workers, homosexual men, people with multiple sex partners, I.V. drug users, people on hemodialysis, and anyone with a weakened immune system. A measles-mumps-rubella vaccine is suggested for women of child-bearing age, college students, health-care workers, and people who travel internationally. All of those people – plus teachers and ... Read more

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