Vaccine News

After being named by Travel + Leasure as 'Destination of the Year' in 2024, when Costa Rica welcomed about 2.6 million tourists, a few headwinds have confronted this Central American country.

A spokesman for the business group Turismo por Costa Rica recently estimated that tourist arrivals could drop by 15% to 20% by the end of 2025.

"The decline is multifactorial," Bary Roberts noted in a news article by the Tico Times on March 21, 2025.

Price competitiveness is one hurdle.

The appreciation of the Republic of Costa Rican colón has further eroded purchasing power. Each U.S. dollar now converts to fewer colones, making Costa Rica a pricier destination compared to regional peers.

Another tourism challenge is an increase in health alerts.

On March 18, 2025, the U.S. Embassy in San José issued an alert on the spike in histoplasmosis associated with caving activities in Costa Rica.

Histoplasmosis is a lung infection caused by a fungus in soil contaminated with bat or bird droppings. If left untreated, it can lead to serious and potentially life-threatening complications.

Additionally, over the past few years, local cases of mosquito-transmitted Chikungunya, Dengue, Malaria, and Zika have been confirmed at Costa Rica's beaches and mountain destinations.

Furthermore, from a safety perspective, the U.S. Embassy remains committed to ensuring the well-being of U.S. citizens when visiting Costa Rica. The State Department's Level 2 Travel Advisory issued in December 2024 says visitors should exercise increased caution due to crime.

In February 2025, The U.S. Embassy announced it had received reports regarding travel incidents near the Juan Santamaría International Airport.

Please take appropriate precautions and stay informed when visiting Costa Rica. To receive alerts, you can enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program, making locating you in an emergency easier.

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 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.

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.

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.

While a U.S. FDA-approved shingles vaccine has been well received in the market and numerous studies indicate it's effective and safe, a non-mRNA adjuvanted subunit vaccine candidate has completed a significant series B financing.

Announced on March 17, 2025, Curevo Vaccine closed a $110 million Series B round to advance the development of Amezosvatein, its vaccine for shingles (varicella-zoster virus).

"This Series B round will fund the extension of our successful Phase 2 program into an additional 640 participants, including the key population of adults over age 70, to finalize dose selection ahead of the Phase 3 program," said Curevo's CEO, George Simeon, MBA/MPH, in a press release.

"Designed based upon feedback from regulators and other stakeholders, this short extension trial will begin mid-2025 and set the company for clinical, strategic, and regulatory success."

The Phase 2 study (NCT05304351) 's primary completion date is March 31, 2025.

Like Shingrix®, amezosvatein, the assigned non-proprietary name for CRV-101, uses a subunit protein antigen called glycoprotein 'E' (gE). Targeting the gE antigen is proven to elicit a long‑term, protective immune response to prevent shingles.

Amezosvatein's adjuvant contains an optimized version of the TLR4 agonist proven by Shingrix to be biologically active in shingles vaccination.

Amezosvatein was engineered to maintain exceptional efficacy and have a best‑in‑class tolerability profile.

The SLA-SE adjuvant formulation was developed at Seattle‑based Access to Advanced Health Institute and amezosvatein was licensed from the Mogam Institute for Biomedical Research, a research institute funded by South Korea's GC Biopharma.

Until a phase 3 study is completed and approved by the FDA, this shingles vaccine candidate will not become commercially available in the U.S. Currently, the U.S. CDC recommends two doses of the recombinant zoster vaccine to prevent shingles and related complications in most people. This vaccine is offered at most pharmacies.

The Shingles Vaccine industry is projected to reach about $7 billion by 2032. 

In response to the ongoing Sudan Ebola virus outbreak in the Republic of Uganda, the U.S. government recently updated a Level 2 Travel Health Advisory for this rare and deadly disease.

On March 12, 2025, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed a Sudan virus disease (SVD) outbreak in the Kampala, Wakiso, Jinja, Mbale, Kyegegwa, Kabarole, and Ntoroko districts.

Since late January 2025, about 14 cases, including four related fatalities, have been reported.

The CDC says local health authorities in Uganda are working to identify infected people and transmission sources, conduct investigations, take action to prevent further transmission, and educate communities and the public about the risks and dangers of SVD.

If you travel to Uganda, the CDC published an extensive list of activities to avoid.

About 200,000 people visited Uganda in 2024. Traveler screening at Ugandan entry points remains active as of March 2025.

Unlike Zaire Ebola, which has approved vaccines and therapeutics, SVD vaccines and therapeutics remain under development as of mid-March 2025.

From a safety perspective, the U.S. Department of State recently updated its Level 3 Travel Advisory to reflect current information.

The State Department advises reconsidering travel to Uganda and exercising increased caution due to potential risks and the unpredictable nature of public demonstrations. The U.S. Embassy in Kampala is available to support U.S. citizens.