Search API
While the Texas Department of Health and Human Services (DSHS) has reported 317 measles cases this year, the state's overall vaccination rate is very positive.
As of March 22, 2025, Texas says, 'Texas schools have reported high coverage rates for each vaccine included in the survey.'
For example, the Texas Kindergarten Annual Report of Immunization Status for the School Year 2023-2024 shows 94.34% of children were vaccinated with the MMR vaccine.
In seventh grade, immunization coverage was above 95% for all vaccines except Tdap and meningococcal MCWY vaccines.
Furthermore, vaccinations appear to be increasing in Texas.
According to DSHS, about 173,000 MMR doses were administered in 2025, compared to at least 158,000 over the same timeframe last year. Media reporting indicates that MMR access has increased at national and community pharmacies as of March 2025.
An unanswered question is why the DSHS's unvaccinated/unknown category lists 307 people with no documented doses of measles vaccine more than 14 days before symptom onset when the state has an immunization registry.
Public health leaders would better understand this measles outbreak if this innovative technology were adequately utilized.
To inform everyone, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Health Advisory notifying clinicians, public health officials, and potential travelers to Texas about this year's measles outbreak.
The CDC recommends anyone visiting measles outbreak areas to protect against this highly transmissible virus.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services today filed a [Docket No. CDC-2025-0017] notice regarding a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), the vaccine advisory committee of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The ACIP advises the Director of the CDC on the use of immunizing agents.
As of March 21, 2025, this newly scheduled ACIP meeting will be held on April 15 and April 16, 2025, and will be digitally open to the public.
The agenda will include discussions on chikungunya, COVID-19, cytomegalovirus, Human papillomavirus, influenza, Lyme disease, meningococcal, mpox, pneumococcal, Respiratory Syncytial Virus vaccines for adults, and maternal and pediatric populations.
An update on the current measles outbreak in the U.S. will also be provided.
ACIP recommendation votes are scheduled for meningococcal, chikungunya, and RSV vaccines for adults.
Of note, VIMKUNYA® became the first chikungunya vaccine approved in the U.S. for people aged 12 and older as of March 18, 2025, without an ACIP recommendation.
A Vaccines for Children vote is also scheduled for meningococcal vaccines.
The agenda for this ACIP meeting is similar to the rescheduled February 2025 session.
To increase trust in the vaccine authorization process, the CDC launched a website in early March 2025 identifying ACIP member conflicts of interest, if any. Revealed on March 7, 2025, people can use this free CDC digital tool to quickly find previous conflicts of interest by ACIP members from 2000 to 2024.
The Philippines Department of Health has reported acute watery diarrhea cases in various provinces in 2025, where typhoid fever has become endemic.
As of March 19, 2025, local media reported that the Province of Negros Occidental, located in the Negros Island Region, 344 typhoid fever cases and three related deaths have been confirmed this year.
An estimated 11–21 million cases of typhoid fever occur worldwide each year.
To alert international travelers visiting the Philippines, the U.S. CDC recommends typhoid vaccination for most people, especially those staying with friends or relatives or visiting smaller cities or rural areas.
About 5.5 million people visited the Philippines last year.
In the United States, travel clinics and pharmacies offer typhoid vaccines in 2025. The CDC says that typhoid vaccines protect 50%–80% of recipients and reinforce safe food and water precautions.
Furthermore, the CDC has included the Philippines in recent Dengue and Measles Travel Health Advisories.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the seven cholera epidemic is considered to have started in 1961 and continues in March 2025.
So far, in 2025, a cumulative total of 70,488 cholera cases and 808 deaths were reported from 23 countries across three WHO regions.
In February 2025 alone, 459 cholera-related fatalities were confirmed, representing a 32% increase in January.
To help reduce cholera outbreaks, Oral Cholera Vaccine (OCV) production has remained high, reflecting significant efforts by the supplier and partners. The average OCV stockpile has recently stabilized at 5.5 million doses in February.
However, the WHO's external situation report #24 stated on March 20, 205, that the growing global demand continues to exceed supply, hindering efforts to control cholera outbreaks, respond rapidly to the disease’s spread, and implement preventative campaigns.
Cholera is an acute intestinal infection that spreads through food and water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae, often from feces.
While cholera vaccination is not generally recommended for all international travelers, it is what the U.S. CDC suggested when visiting cholera outbreak zones.
In the United States, travel clinics and pharmacies currently have an ample supply of OCVs.
Since the Mpox virus swept around the world in May 2022, Germany's Standing Commission on Vaccination has recommended that people at an elevated risk of infection receive a preventive vaccination.
After millions of JYNNEOS® (MVA-BN®, IMVAMUNE®) doses were administered, an observational study published positive effectiveness data today.
The Lancet Infectious Diseases published results from a study conducted at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin on March 18, 2025, that found one dose of the JYNNEOS was 84% in people without HIV and 58% effective against mpox infection overall.
However, due to the significant drop in Mpox infections in the second half of 2022, the study could not determine the additional effect of a second vaccine dose.
Furthermore, Breakthrough infections were associated with reduced symptoms, compared with infections in unvaccinated individuals.
In a related press release, Prof. Leif Erik Sander, Director of the Department of Infectious Diseases and Critical Care Medicine at Charité and a research group leader at the Berlin Institute of Health at Charité, stated, "Our results confirm that a single dose of the vaccine provides good protection against Mpox, at least for a short time."
"That is a very good figure, which is likely increased further by the second vaccine dose."
"The reason is that developing immune protection after vaccination presumably requires specific immune cells called T cells. These T cells often appear at lower levels in people with HIV and are not fully functional, which translates to a weaker immune response. This also corresponds to our observation that these participants experienced fewer local and systemic side effects after receiving the vaccine."
"We assume that people living with HIV develop protection against Mpox after the second vaccine dose, and urgently advise these people to receive the two vaccine doses."
"The immune system typically develops longer-lasting immune protection when exposed to the vaccine on more than one occasion."
Further studies will be required to determine the precise extent of the protective effect in different groups following two vaccine doses.
As of March 29, 2025, the JYNNEOS vaccine is commercially available at many clinics and pharmacies in the United States.
Since Queensland recorded a locally acquired human case of Japanese encephalitis (JE) in January 2025, residents have been urged to avoid being bitten by infected mosquitoes, which are being found along Australia's east coast.
This JE case, the first since 2022, may have infected the Darling Downs region, near Goondiwindi and Wide Bay regions, and animal populations in other jurisdictions.
On March 15, 2025, local health authorities confirmed the first Japanese Encephalitis Virus (JEV) detection in Hemmant, an eastern riverside suburb of Brisbane.
Brisbane is the capital and largest city of the state of Queensland, with a population of over 2.7 million.
According to a press release, Chief Health Officer Dr. Heidi Carroll said this latest detection meant JEV posed an increased risk of infection in humans across several regions in Queensland."
"This latest detection is the first for Brisbane and tells us that more mosquito populations are likely carrying the virus."
"While most people infected with JEV experience only mild or no symptoms, those who develop more serious symptoms may experience fever, headache, abdominal pain, or vomiting, typically within five to 15 days of being bitten."
"Tragically, in some cases, it can cause severe neurological illness and even death."
Furthermore, this year, JEV detections have been confirmed in New South Wales (NSW).
On March 14, 2025, the fourth JE-related fatality was reported since the virus was first detected in NSW in 2022.
In 2022, the U.S. CDC updated a Level 2 Practice Enhanced Precautions Advisory regarding the JE outbreak in eastern and southeastern Australia to alert international visitors to this health risk.
The CDC recommends JE vaccination for at-risk travelers before visiting outbreak areas.
The JEV vaccine is available at over 100 vaccination providers across Queensland. It is free for eligible Queenslanders. Since 2022, more than 18,000 Queenslanders have been vaccinated against JEV.
While the Federative Republic of Brazil continues to lead the Americas during the Chikungunya outbreak in 2025, with over 53,000 cases and 27 related fatalities, a small city recently confirmed an unusually high case fatality rate.
According to local media reporting on March 18, 2025, the city of Xanxerê registered its second Chikungunya-related fatality of 2025.
According to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Chikungunya infections are seldom fatal. Estimates vary throughout the Americas, with case-fatality rates ranging between 0.5 and 1.3 deaths per 1000.
Located in Santa Catarina, southern Brazil, this city of just over 50 thousand inhabitants has recorded about 107 Chikungunya cases this year, indicating a very high fatality rate. This news article did not explain this data.
The PAHO says in Brazil, the mosquito that transmits Chikungunya to people is the same vector that transmits dengue fever and Zika virus, making Chikungunya easy to misdiagnose and appropriately treat.
From a disease prevention perspective, people have two options in March 2025.
The PAHO suggests avoiding being bitten by infected mosquitos.
And/or if you are departing abroad from the United States, the government suggests speaking with a travel vaccine expert about Chikungunya vaccination options before visiting an outbreak area.
The U.S. FDA has approved innovative Chikungunya vaccines for about two years. In 2025, they will be generally available at travel clinics and pharmacies.
