Vaccine News

The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) has reported four new measles cases in 2024, bringing the total to 30 across three counties. Marion County has the most cases, followed by Clackamas County and Multnomah County.

As of August 21, 2024, all measles patients were unvaccinated, and twelve were younger than ten.

These counties and OHA have been sharing information with the public so “we can let members of the public know they may have been exposed to measles,” Clackamas County Health Officer Sarah Present, M.D. said in a recent press release.

Dr. Present noted that since measles is so contagious, an estimated 96% of the population needs to have received two doses of measles vaccine to protect the community's most vulnerable members via community or “herd” immunity.

In Oregon, measles vaccines are available at health clinics and local pharmacies.

As of August 15, 2024, the U.S. CDC confirmed that 27 U.S. jurisdictions reported 219 measles cases this year. In 2023, 20 jurisdictions reported 59 measles cases for the entire year.

A recent study found that the Fluad® MF59-adjuvanted influenza vaccine (aTIV) was more effective than the high-dose flu vaccine (HD-TIV) at preventing severe respiratory complications in older adults with risk factors.

Published in Open Forum Infectious Diseases on August 16, 2024, the study included 1,115,725 aTIV and 2,561,718 HD-TIV recipients. For the primary outcome, the analysis found comparable effectiveness between aTIV and HD-TIV (rVE [95% CI]: 5.2% [-5.9–15.1]) among those with 0 risk factors, whereas aTIV was more effective than HD-TIV among patients with ≥1, 1–2, or ≥3 risk factors (12.5% (10.0–15.0), 18.4% (13.7–22.9), and 10.4% (7.4–13.3), respectively).

The same trends were observed for the secondary outcomes.

Previous studies have found the two vaccines to be similar in effectiveness in older adults.

The Fluad vaccine has an extensive clinical legacy and has been licensed in 30 countries since its first approval in 1997. Fluad is available at most pharmacies in the U.S. for the 2024-2025 flu season.

The World Health Organization (WHO) today announced temporary (one-year) recommendations for States Parties experiencing the upsurge of monkeypox virus (MPXV) clade 1 detections, including, but not limited to, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda.

The upsurge of mpox cases in the DRC in 2024 and its neighboring countries is driven by outbreaks associated with two sub-clades of clade I MPXV: clade Ia and clade Ib.

These WHO recommendations include establishing or strengthening cross-border collaboration arrangements for surveillance and management of suspect mpox cases and providing information to travelers and conveyance operators without resorting to general travel and trade restrictions unnecessarily impacting local, regional, or national economies.

As of August 19, 2024, the WHO Committee considered the event “extraordinary” because of the increase in mpox clade I disease occurrence in the DRC and the emergence of the new MPXV clade Ib.

Clade I mpox was classically described in studies conducted by WHO in the 1980s to have a mortality rate of approximately 10%, with most deaths occurring in children.

MPXV clade Ia is endemic in the DRC. The disease primarily affects children. Data available for 2024 show an aggregated case fatality rate of 3.6%, and the spread is likely sustained through multiple modes of transmission, including person-to-person transmission following zoonotic introduction in a community.

MPXV clade Ib is a new strain of MPXV that emerged in the DRC. It is transmitted between people, presumed via sexual contact, which has been spreading in the eastern part of the country.

Although first characterized in 2024, estimates suggest it emerged around September 2023.

The outbreak associated with clade Ib in the DRC primarily affects adults and is spreading rapidly, sustained largely, but not exclusively, through transmission linked to sexual contact and amplified in networks associated with commercial sex and sex workers.

Furthermore, these African countries are to initiate plans to advance mpox vaccination activities targeting people at high risk of infection. As of August 19, 2024, various reports indicate that (10 million) mpox vaccines are being produced to meet potential outbreak demand.

In early August 2024, the U.S. CDC issued a Level 2 - Practice Enhanced Precautions, Travel Health Advice, recommending various mpox protection tactics, including (JYNNEOS) vaccination. 

These new WHO recommendations are intended to be implemented by those States Parties in addition to the current standing recommendations for mpox, which will be extended until August 20, 2025.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recently reported that measles outbreaks continue in various countries in 2024, such as India.

To alert international travelers, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) republished a global Watch-Level 1, Practice Usual Precautions, Travel Health Notice on August 14, 2024, identifying measles outbreaks in 56 countries.

Within the United States, the CDC has reported 219 measles cases in 27 jurisdictions this year, led by the states of Illinois and Oregon. Most of these cases are related to unvaccinated travelers.

The CDC writes that 'all international travelers should be fully vaccinated against measles with two doses of the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine, including an early dose for infants 6–11 months.

However, the CDC does not recommend a third dose of MMR vaccination during or when visiting measles outbreaks.

In the U.S., MMR vaccines are available at most clinics and community pharmacies.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today issued a Health Alert Network Health Advisory (CDCHAN-00515) to notify clinicians and public health authorities of an increase in Oropouche virus disease cases confirmed in the Americas region.

The CDC issued this alert because the initial clinical presentation of the Oropouche virus may confuse providers as the symptoms are similar to those of dengue, Zika, and chikungunya.

Between January and August 1, 2024, more than 8,000 cases of Oropouche virus disease were reported, including two deaths and five cases of vertical transmission associated with fetal death or congenital abnormalities.

These Oropouche cases originate from endemic areas in the Amazon basin and regions in South America and the Caribbean.

The virus was first detected in 1955 in Trinidad and Tobago and is endemic in the Amazon basin. 

As of August 16, 2024, Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, and Cuba were among the countries reporting cases. As testing and surveillance for Oropouche virus disease increase in the Americas, reports of cases from additional countries are expected.

Throughout 2024, travel-associated cases have been identified in travelers returning to the United States and Europe from Cuba and Brazil.

This CDC Health Advisory offers advice on evaluating and testing travelers who have been in impacted areas with signs and symptoms consistent with Oropouche virus infection.

It also raises awareness of the possible risk of vertical transmission (e.g., from gestational parent to fetus during pregnancy) and associated adverse effects on pregnancy.

The CDC issued a Level 2 Travel Health Notice in August 2024, suggesting pregnant women reconsider non-essential travel to areas with Oropouche virus outbreaks, such as Brazil and Cuba.

The new alert also highlights prevention measures to mitigate the additional spread of the virus and potential importation into unaffected areas, including the U.S.

Oropouche virus belongs to the Simbu serogroup of the genus Orthobunyavirus in the Peribunyaviridae family.

According to the CDC, approximately 60% of people infected with the Oropouche virus become symptomatic. The incubation period is typically 3–10 days. Providers should contact state, tribal, local, or territorial health departments to facilitate diagnostic testing.

As of August 2024, there are no approved Oropouche vaccines available.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) today announced the likelihood of infection with mpox virus (MPXV) clade I for EU/EEA citizens traveling to or living in the affected areas and having close contact with affected communities is high, while the likelihood of infection is low when contacts with affected communities are avoided.

The severity of the mpox disease is expected to be low.

Overall, the ECDC's updated risk assessment for these populations is moderate and low, respectively.

“As a result of the rapid spread of this (mpox) outbreak in Africa, ECDC has increased the level of risk for the general population in the EU/EEA and travelers to affected areas. Due to the close links between Europe and Africa, we must be prepared for more imported clade I cases,” says Pamela Rendi-Wagner, Director of ECDC, in a press release.

As of August 16, 2024, the ECDC says to contain any possible clade 1 mpox outbreak in Europe, detecting cases and preventing secondary transmission is vital. This goal can be achieved through:

• Providing advice to travelers to affected areas on national guidance for vaccination against mpox before traveling. In many countries, the JYNNEOS® (MVA-BN®) vaccine is available. And offering travel advice to people visiting or returning from African countries with confirmed MPXV clade I outbreaks.
• Rapidly isolating suspected cases until proven negative and, if positive, until symptom resolution. And implementing contact tracing and testing close contacts of confirmed cases following ECDC testing protocols.
• Continuing risk communication activities and working with civil society organizations to engage population groups at higher risk of infection.

On August 14, 2024, the WHO Director-General determined that the increase of mpox clade 1 virus cases in African countries constitutes a new public health emergency.

In the United States, no clade 1 mpox cases have been detected by the U.S. CDC, and the JYNNEOS vaccine remains available.

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the National Institutes of Health announced topline results from a preliminary PALM 007 phase 2 clinical trial analysis.

The NIAID reported on August 15, 2024, that the study did not meet its primary endpoint of a statistically significant improvement in time to lesion resolution within 28 days post-randomization for patients with mpox who were administered SIGA’s oral tecovirimat (TPOXX®) a highly targeted antiviral treatment, versus placebo.

However, a meaningful improvement was observed in patients receiving tecovirimat whose symptoms began seven days or fewer before randomization and those with severe or more significant disease.

This study's finding is essential given Africa's ongoing clade 1 mpox virus outbreak.

“These data showing maximum benefit in patients treated early and with severe disease are entirely consistent with the mechanism of action of tecovirimat and with the studies in animals that led to U.S. FDA approval of this medicine for smallpox..... We believe these data warrant further investigation and support our view that post-exposure prophylaxis will be vital for the treatment of severe cases of mpox and all cases of smallpox,” stated Dennis Hruby, Chief Scientific Officer, in a press release.

On July 22, 2024, the U.S. government exercised a procurement option to deliver approximately $113 million in TPOXX treatment courses. 

TPOXX is currently available in the U.S., United Kingdom, Canada, and Europe.