CDC advisory panel endorses Shingrix for immunocompromised adults age 19 and older
The US CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted unanimously to recommend two doses of Shingrix (GlaxoSmithKline's zoster vaccine recombinant, adjuvanted) for the prevention of shingles and its complications in adults 19 years of age and older who are or will be immunodeficient or immunosuppressed due to disease or therapy.
The recommendation was based on data from clinical safety and efficacy trials of Shingrix in adults age 18 and older who had undergone an autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplant and those undergoing treatment for hematologic malignancies. Further supporting data were provided by studies including adults who were immunodeficient or immunosuppressed due to known disease or therapy, including patients with HIV, solid tumors, and renal transplants.
The recommendations will be reviewed for approval by the director of the CDC and the Department of Health and Human Services.
Deaths from cervical cancer down since HPV vaccine introduced
Women and girls 15 to 24 years of age have a decreased incidence of cervical cancer since the introduction of the human papillomavirus vaccine, according to recent research published in JAMA Pediatrics.
Researchers analyzed data from January 2001 to December 2017 for women and girls 15 to 39 years of age, comparing percentage changes in cervical cancer incidence and mortality from January 2001 to December 2005 (prevaccination) to January 2010 to December 2017 (postvaccination) for those ages 15 to 24, 25 to 29, and 30 to 39.
Cervical cancer incidence rates for women and girls 15 to 24, 25 to 29, and 30 to 39 years of age were 0.68, 5.47, and 12.60 per 100,000, respectively, and mortality was 0.06, 0.57, and 1.89 per 100,000, respectively, from January 2001 to December 2017. From 2001 to 2005 and from 2010 to 2017, the decreases in cervical cancer incidence and mortality were greater among those 15 to 24 years of age compared with those 25 to 29 and 30 to 39 years of age. The researchers conclude that the study provides suggestive evidence for a vaccine-associated decrease in cervical cancer mortality.
Thirty percent of US hospital workers remain unvaccinated
A CDC survey suggests that about 30% of US healthcare personnel who worked at hospitals were not fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as of the survey date of mid-September 2021. Data were based on voluntary weekly reports from 2,086 hospitals (41% of all hospitals) covering 3.35 million workers between January 20, 2021, and September 15, 2021.
Workers were more likely to be vaccinated if they worked at a children's hospital (77%), lived in metropolitan counties (71%), or worked in a hospital with lower cumulative admissions of patients with COVID-19 or lower cumulative COVID-19 cases. If the surrounding community had lower vaccination rates, the odds of hospital workers being fully vaccinated were also lower. Workers in nonmetropolitan (63.3%) and rural (65.1%) counties were also less likely to be fully vaccinated, as were those in critical access hospitals (64%) or long-term acute care hospitals (68.6%).
CDC Associate Director for Healthcare-Associated Infection Prevention Programs Arjun Srinivasan, MD, said, "The take-home message is that there is a lot of work to do...in order to get all of our healthcare personnel vaccinated" to protect themselves and their patients.