Vaccine News

The September KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor recently asked the public about their intention to get an influenza vaccine, new respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccines, and the updated COVID-19 vaccine during the 2023-2024 respiratory season.

A “tripledemic” scenario in which all three viruses peak together could impact millions of people simultaneously.

According to the KFF poll announced on September 27, 2023, most adults (58%), including three-quarters of adults 65 and older, say they will get a flu shot this year.

And about half of adults say they either will “definitely get” (23%) or “probably get” (23%) the new vaccine for COVID-19 that was approved on September 12.

In addition, 58% of adults 60 and older say they will either “definitely get” or “probably get” the new RSV vaccine recommended for their age group.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently recommended that most people get vaccinated this year.

From a trust perspective, this poll offered good news for healthcare providers.

Healthcare providers were ranked as the most trusted sources of information about vaccines again, as most adults (68%) say they usually keep up-to-date with the vaccines their provider recommends.

Unfortunately, government sources of vaccine information like the CDC, local public health departments, and the U.S. FDA fare much lower.

The complete KFF poll results are linked here.

This article's headline was updated on Sept. 28, 2023.

A novel rabies vaccine candidate designed to produce a more robust immune response in an accelerated timespan compared to existing rabies vaccines today announced it has progressed to late-stage clinical research.

YS Biopharma Co., Ltd. confirmed on September 26, 2023, that it has enrolled the first subject in its Phase 3 clinical trial of the PIKA Rabies Vaccine candidate.

The trial will assess the safety, immunogenicity, and lot-to-lot consistency of the PIKA Rabies Vaccine and is expected to include an estimated 4,500 subjects.

Dr. Muhammad Ahmad, the Principal Investigator at Central Park Teaching Hospital in Lahore, Pakistan, where the first subject has been enrolled, commented in a press release, "This marks an important step forward in our collective efforts to develop a novel and powerful vaccine which leverages recent immunological advancements."

"We are optimistic that these results will help shape the future of vaccine interventions and aid in treating a pressing global public health issue."

This experimental vaccine may add clinical value to the currently approved rabies vaccines as sporadic breakthrough infections (i.e., rabies cases in people vaccinated) have been reported, according to The Lancet Infectious Disease in December 2022.

Rabies is a viral disease characterized by an almost 100% mortality rate upon the onset of clinical symptoms.

The virus is responsible for approximately 59,000 human fatalities annually in over 150 countries, primarily in Asia and Africa. 

In the U.S., bites from bats, not dogs, are the leading source of rabies infections.

The U.S. CDC says before visiting high-risk rabies destinations, discuss vaccination options with a healthcare provider.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently announced it had granted 13 funding awards to establish a first-of-its-kind national network, the Outbreak Analytics and Disease Modeling Network (OADMN).

The OADMN's goal is to improve speed, accuracy, and use of data & analytics during health emergencies, which is an important step towards ensuring Americans have the information they need to keep themselves and their families safe during outbreaks.

Many of these awardees are leading a consortium of collaborators to design, prototype, test, and scale up advances in data modeling tools and technology that can be used to support public health decision-makers at all levels of government.

"The collaboration with our public health, private, and academic partners over the last year to advance the science of disease forecasting and deliver decision support to leaders has been instrumental in improving outbreak response," said Dr. Dylan George, Director, Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics, in a press release on September 22, 2023. 

The grantees will be organized into three categories of performance, supporting three priority program actions:

• Innovators: these grantees will develop methods, tools, technologies, and other products to support emergency response.
• Integrators: these grantees will take lessons learned and techniques from Innovators and test them in small-scale deployments.
• Implementors: these grantees will take tested best practices and scale up to larger jurisdictions and partners.

The funding 13 recipients comprising OADMN in September 2023 include:

Emory University

Northeastern University

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Kaiser Permanente Southern California

Carnegie Mellon University

University of Michigan School of Public Health

University of California, San Diego

University of Minnesota

Clemson University

University of Utah

International Responder Systems

The University of Texas at Austin

The Johns Hopkins University

Note: The OADMN effort is in addition to the U.S. government's Disease X initiative.

BioArctic AB and Eisai announced today that LEQEMBI® Intravenous Infusion had been approved in Japan as a treatment for slowing the progression of mild cognitive impairment and mild dementia due to Alzheimer's disease (AD).

LEQEMBI is a humanized immunoglobulin gamma 1 monoclonal antibody (mAbs) directed against aggregated soluble and insoluble forms of Aβ.

LEQEMBI is the first and only approved treatment shown to reduce the rate of disease progression and slow cognitive and functional decline by selectively binding to and eliminating the most toxic Aβ aggregates that contribute to neurotoxicity in AD.

Japan is the second country to approve LEQEMBI, following the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval in the U.S. in July 2023.

"The approval of LEQEMBI in Japan is another important step in the fight against Alzheimer's disease," said Gunilla Osswald, CEO of BioArctic, in a press release on September 25, 2023.

Eisai serves as the lead of LEQEMBI development and regulatory submissions globally, with both Eisai and Biogen co-commercializing and co-promoting the product and Eisai having final decision-making authority.

BioArctic has the right to commercialize lecanemab in the Nordic region, and currently, Eisai and BioArctic are preparing for joint commercialization in the region.

According to the Alzheimer's Association, AD is a degenerative brain disease caused by complex brain changes following cell damage, leading to dementia.

As of September 2023, The U.S. FDA, the European Medicines Agency, and the United Kingdom's NHS have not authorized preventive AD vaccines.

When comparing data from the past few influenza seasons, it appears the 2023-2024 flu season is starting slowly.

Globally, the World Health Organization's Influenza Update N° 454 confirmed influenza detections remained low. In the temperate zones of the northern hemisphere, indicators of influenza activity were reported at low levels or below the seasonal threshold in most reporting countries.

Within the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported on September 22, 2023, that seasonal flu rates last week were low nationally, with 315 (0.8%) positive specimens reported.

Last week, 820 patients with laboratory-confirmed influenza were admitted to a hospital, an increased number since the previous report.

Separately, the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics mortality surveillance data published on September 21, 2023, confirmed 13 additional influenza-related deaths.

The FluView week #37 report confirmed two additional children died from flu-related illness. A total of 176 influenza-associated pediatric fatalities were reported during the 2022-2023 flu season. 

The previous high was during the 2019-2022 flu season when 199 children died from influenza infections.

From a local perspective, the Walgreens Flu Index market-specific information indicates the top cities for influenza were led by the following:

1. Harlingen-Weslaco-Brownsville-McAllen, Texas
2. El Paso, Texas (Las Cruces, N.M.)
3. Columbus-Tupelo-West Point-Houston, Miss.
4. Corpus Christi, Texas
5. Puerto Rico

The CDC's new Director, Mandy K. Cohen, MD, MPH, recently posted a video on Instagram encouraging people to speak with a healthcare provider about flu shot options and when to be protected during the new flu season.

As of late September 2023, most pharmacies offer influenza vaccination appointments and walk-in services.

While Diphtheria is a vaccine-preventable disease, recent health alerts indicate various countries have under-vaccinated populations.

As of September 22, 2023, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued Travel Health Notices for Diphtheria outbreaks in the Republics of Guinea and Nigeria in Africa and Vietnam in East Asia.

As an example of recent outbreaks, during July and August 2023, a total of 5,898 suspected Diphtheria cases were reported from Local Government Areas in eleven Nigerian states.

The CDC says if you travel to any affected area, you should be up to date with your diphtheria vaccines. The U.S. agency recommends vaccinating everyone two months and older to protect against Diphtheria.

And if you have immunization questions, discuss the need for a booster dose with your healthcare professional before traveling abroad.

Diphtheria is a serious infection caused by strains of Corynebacterium diphtheriae bacteria that make a toxin that can cause people to get very sick.

This bacteria spread from person to person through respiratory droplets, like from coughing or sneezing, and from touching open sores or ulcers of people sick with Diphtheria.

For some people, respiratory Diphtheria can lead to death. Even with treatment, about 1 in 10 patients with respiratory Diphtheria die. Without treatment, up to half of patients can die from the disease, says the CDC.  

Globally, Diptheria cases have been declining since 2019, when 22,986 cases were reported by the World Health Organization (WHO). In 2022, 5,856 cases were confirmed. 

Furthermore, the WHO's current vaccination data indicates a high percentage for most countries, including the United States.