Vaccine News

The U.S. Embassy in Paris recently issued another Security Alert regarding demonstrations in the greater Paris region and other major urban centers in France.

As of June 30, 2023, the embassy is aware of potential security risks surrounding events expected to occur in Paris and the Paris region.

The embassy urges U.S. citizens to avoid these events and follow general guidelines regarding gatherings.

Previous Security Alerts can be found on this website.

The U.S. Embassy in Paris can be contacted at +33 (1) 43 12 22 22 or [email protected]. Additionally, U.S. citizens are encouraged to enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program to receive security updates from the Department of State.

As of June 2, 2023, the U.S. Department of State's Level 2 advisory says visitors to France should exercise increased caution due to civil unrest.

And incidents such as pickpocketing and phone snatchings occur frequently and can happen anywhere, especially in crowded areas such as airports, train stations, subway and train cars, and near tourist attractions.

As always, it is a good practice to notify friends or family of your whereabouts, says the U.S. government.

From a health perspective, the CDC suggests various travel vaccinations when visiting France in 2023.

This article was updated on June 3, 2023, with State Department reference and link.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) recently reported the global cholera outbreak continues into the summer of 2023. While cholera in travelers is sporadic, outbreak settings do pose health risks.

The ECDC confirmed 412,137 cholera cases, including 2,130 related deaths, have been reported worldwide as of June 21, 2023.

In comparison, only 400 cholera deaths were reported during the same period in 2022.

In the Region of the Americas, Haiti continues to lead in cases and deaths.

Since January 2023 and as of early June 2023, over 26,000 cases, including 253 deaths, have been reported in Hati.

In comparison, in 2022, no cases were reported.

The good news is the island of Hispanola's eastern neighbor, the Dominican Republic, has reported very few cholera cases in 2023.

Visitors to Haiti should avoid unsafe food and water and wash their hands often to help prevent cholera, says the U.S. CDC.

Cholera is a vaccine-preventable disease. However, vaccination against cholera is not routinely recommended because most travelers do not visit areas of active transmission.

During 2023, cholera vaccines are in limited supply in the U.S.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says polio is a vaccine-preventable disease that often impacts children. And to reduce poliovirus transmission, 31 countries have been administering a new vaccine in Africa.

Since 2022, the World Health Organization has recommended the nOPV2 vaccine when responding to circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 outbreaks in Africa.

As of late June 2023, over 670 million people have been vaccinated with this vaccine.

This single-dose vaccine has been 'triple-locked' using genetic engineering to prevent it from becoming harmful. As a result, nOPV2 is reported to be genetically more stable than existing oral polio vaccines, with a lower risk of reversion to neurovirulence.

As of July 1, 2023, the nOPV2 vaccine is not offered in the U.S.

The Global Polio Eradication Initiative recently published nOPV2 Frequently Asked Questions, Fact Sheet, and polio outbreak country list. 

And the WHO reconfirmed on May 12, 2023, poliovirus outbreaks remained a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

The Dallas County Health and Human Services (DCHHS) laboratory has confirmed mosquito samples that have tested positive for West Nile Virus (WNV).

As of June 27, 2023, the mosquito samples were collected from the 75019 zip code in Coppell, 75146 in Lancaster, and 75159 in Seagoville, TX.

Unfortunately, there are no vaccines to prevent or medications to treat WNV in people.

“It’s important to prevent mosquito bites that can cause West Nile Virus infection. As people are getting outside more, remember the four Ds: DEET, Dress, Drain, and Dusk to Dawn”, commented Dr. Philip Huang, Director of DCHHS, in a press release.

In response to these detections, weather permitting, DCHHS has scheduled ground spraying.

Spraying will not be conducted in wind speeds over ten mph or inclement weather.

Click on the link to view a map of the spraying areas as of June 30, 2023: http://www.dallas.leateamapps.com/PublicMap/.

Dallas area residents should remain inside during the time sprayers are in the area.

furthermore, WNV is a major health risk in Europe.

As of June 30, 2023, European Union, European Economic Area, and EU-neighbouring countries have confirmed 1,340 locally acquired human cases of West Nile virus, including 104 related deaths, in 2022.

According to the U.S. CDC, WNV is the leading cause of mosquito-borne disease in the continental United States. 

It is most commonly spread to people by the bite of an infected mosquito. Cases of WNV occur during mosquito season, which starts in the summer and continues through fall.

Fortunately, most people infected with WNV do not feel sick. About 1 in 5 infected people develop a fever and other symptoms.

About 1 out of 150 infected people develop a serious, sometimes fatal, illness.

In severe cases, patients often need to be hospitalized to receive supportive treatment, such as intravenous fluids, pain medication, and nursing care, says the CDC.

Vaxxinity, Inc. recently announced positive results from Part B of its Phase 1 clinical trial of UB-312, an investigational vaccine for Parkinson's disease (PD).

On June 22, 2023, the Company confirmed in a press release that UB-312 was well-tolerated and induced anti-alpha-synuclein (aSyn) antibody responses in participants with early PD, meeting the trial's primary objectives.

UB-312 is an investigational synthetic peptide vaccine targeting toxic aggregated aSyn forms to address PD and other synucleinopathies. Alpha-synuclein plays a central role in synaptic functions and regulation of neurotransmitter release.

The accumulation and aggregation of misfolded aSyn in the brain are key factors in PD's development and progression.

"This positive Phase 1 results demonstrate several important features necessary for an immunotherapy against Parkinson's disease and other synucleinopathies to be successful and represent a further proof-of-principle for Vaxxinity's platform in chronic disease," said Mei Mei Hu, CEO of Vaxxinity.

"UB-312 was observed to safely break immune tolerance, inducing antibodies against toxic aggregated forms of alpha-synuclein."

"Importantly, these antibodies crossed the blood-brain barrier, and the data also suggest potential target engagement in the periphery, where pathological alpha-synuclein is known to be concentrated."

"Together, these results support the further development of UB-312 in a Phase 2 clinical trial."

"We continue to view UB-312 as a promising candidate for the prevention or disease modification of Parkinson's disease globally."

This announcement is important since PD affects approximately one million people in the U.S. and more than 10 million worldwide.

The U.S. NIH says PD is a chronic brain and progressive neurodegenerative disorder that affects predominately dopamine-producing neurons in the substantia nigra area of the brain. 

Additionally, The Michael J. Fox Foundation is funding a 2-year collaborative project between Vaxxinity, the Mayo Clinic, and the University of Texas Houston. This work evaluates the potential of protein misfolding cyclic amplification to assess target engagement and will also aim to characterize the anti-aSyn antibodies produced after UB-312 administration.

As the new flu season approaches this fall, influenza viruses from last season continue negatively impacting people.

On June 30, 2023, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published the Weekly U.S. Influenza Surveillance Report confirmed respiratory illness, often called influenza-like illness, severely impacts people.

According to National Center for Health Statistics Mortality Surveillance data on June 29, 2023, 6.2% of the deaths during week #25 were due to pneumonia, influenza, and/or COVID-19 (PIC).

Among the 1,342 PIC deaths reported for this week, 240 had COVID-19 listed as an underlying or contributing cause of death on the death certificate, and eight listed as influenza.

The majority of deaths were related to pneumonia.

Furthermore, one additional influenza-associated pediatric death occurring during the 2022-2023 season was reported to CDC during week 25.

Throughout the 2022-2023 flu season, the total number of pediatric deaths totaled 160.

In the 2019-2020 flu season, 199 children died from influenza infections.

With the new flu season starting soon, the CDC recently announced good news regarding vaccines.

The U.S. CDC adopted the 2023-2024 recommendations on annual influenza vaccination for everyone six months and older on June 27, 2023.

Additionally, flu vaccinations in July and August are not recommended for most people, but there are several considerations for specific groups.

The Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) reconfirmed on June 27, 2023, it is investigating a recent increase in mpox cases among Chicago residents. 

Between June 4 and June 22, 2023, there were six additional mpox cases reported.

The CDPH's dashboard indicates over the past three months, there have been 46 mpox cases and three related hospitalizations. And Chicago did not disclose the number of vaccine-breakthrough cases reported.

From a prevention perspective, 146 people were vaccinated in Chicago last week with the JYNNEOS® (MVA-BN) vaccine.

Since May 2022, 49,351 doses have been administered. 

Chicagions with mpox questions can contact the HIV/STI Resource Hub at 844-482-4040  or the CDPH Call Center at 312-746-4835.

Throughout Illinois, including CDPH's data, 1,488 mpox cases have been reported during the global outbreak.

As of June 28, 2023, the U.S. CDC reported 30,531 mpox cases and 43 related fatalities since May 2022.

While Bavarian Nordic's vaccine has been the primary mpox vaccine offered in the U.S., a Cincinnati-based firm Blue Water Biotech, Inc., announced on June 28, 2023, preliminary preclinical data supporting the use of its norovirus shell and protrusion virus-like particle platform to develop a novel mpox vaccine candidate.