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Covid Shots For Children

Much of the world has decided that most young children do not need to receive Covid booster shots. It's true in Britain, France, Japan and Australia.

Some countries, like India, have gone further. They say that otherwise healthy children do not need even an initial Covid vaccination. In Germany, public health experts don't recommend vaccines for any children, including teenagers, unless they have a medical condition.

Scientists in these countries understand that Covid vaccines are highly effective. But the experts have concluded that the benefits for children often fail to outweigh the costs.

The benefits are modest because children are extremely unlikely to become seriously ill from Covid and are less likely to transmit the virus than an adult is. The costs include the financial price of mass vaccination, the possibility that a shot's side effects will make a child sick enough to miss school, the tiny chance of more serious side effects and the inherent uncertainty about long-term effects.

The U.S. — as American readers have probably realized by this point in the newsletter — is a global outlier. The C.D.C. Urges booster shots for all children six months and older.

Yet the recommendation has failed to accomplish much. Instead, most American parents have chosen to overrule the C.D.C. Only about 40 percent of children under 12 have been vaccinated against Covid, and only about 5 percent are up to date on their boosters.

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Increase In Measles Cases Tied To Drop In Vaccination Rates

Feb. 23, 2024 – The recent growth in measles cases in the United States and the world is linked to declining vaccination rates for children, medical experts say.

The CDC issued an alert last month saying 23 confirmed cases of measles had been detected in the United States between Dec. 1, 2023, and Jan. 23. That included seven cases imported by international travelers and two outbreaks with more than five cases each.

"Most of these cases were among children and adolescents who had not received a measles-containing vaccine (MMR or MMRV), even if age eligible," the CDC said.

Vaccination rates have been declining for several years.

National coverage for measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) was 93.1% for the 2022-2023 school year, a 2% drop from the 95% rate in the 2019-2020 school year, the CDC reported. That was the third straight year the rate fell below 95%, which is the level needed for herd immunity.

"We're not just seeing cases, we're seeing transmission, which means vaccine levels aren't what we'd like them to be," Saskia Popescu, PhD, an assistant professor of epidemiology and public health at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, told PBS. 

Another expert said that vaccine hesitancy fueled during the pandemic has also affected measles vaccination rates. 

 "In addition, because children were quarantined during the pandemic, many missed out on well-child visits and didn't catch up on their vaccines. That has meant 61 million fewer doses distributed nationwide between 2020 and 2022," said Priya Soni, MD, a pediatric infectious disease specialist with Cedars-Sinai Guerin Children's. 

The same trends are occurring globally. From 2021 to 2022, worldwide measles cases increased by 18%, and deaths have increased by 43%, the CDC and the World Health Organization reported.

"The increase in measles outbreaks and deaths is staggering, but unfortunately, not unexpected given the declining vaccination rates we've seen in the past few years," said John Vertefeuille, PhD, director of the CDC's Global Immunization Division. 

"Measles cases anywhere pose a risk to all countries and communities where people are under-vaccinated. Urgent, targeted efforts are critical to prevent measles disease and deaths."


What To Know About The HPV Vaccine And Cancer Prevention

Nearly 20 years after the first vaccine against human papillomavirus became available, many eligible Americans still are not getting the shot — even though it provides powerful protection against the leading cause of cervical cancer and a strong risk factor for anal cancer.

HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States, and while most infections are asymptomatic and clear up on their own within two years, a small number persist and can cause cancer. HPV causes nearly all cases of cervical cancer, and can also lead to penile, anal, oral, vulvar and vaginal cancers.

The HPV vaccine, delivered as two or three doses, can significantly cut the risk of infection. It "is really one of the most effective vaccines we have," said Dr. Lauri Markowitz, the HPV team lead in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's division of viral diseases. But uptake remains stubbornly low: A report released by the C.D.C. This month showed that in 2022, only 38.6 percent of children ages 9 to 17 had received at least one dose of the HPV vaccine. Other new research suggests that HPV vaccination rates stalled in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

A study published this week laid out some of the primary reasons cited by parents in the United States who don't plan to vaccinate their children against HPV, including safety concerns, a lack of knowledge about the vaccine and a belief that it isn't necessary.

"We are still facing an uphill battle from what I would call inappropriate messaging or incomplete messaging when the vaccine rolled out about why this is so important," said Karen Knudsen, chief executive of the American Cancer Society.

The HPV vaccine fools the body into thinking it has come into contact with the virus, marshaling antibodies in defense. Those antibodies can help clear the virus and prevent infection if someone is later exposed, which can happen through oral, anal and vaginal sex.

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