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A panel of advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention unanimously voted Thursday to recommend wide use among infants and some high-risk children of an antibody designed to protect against RSV, the country’s leading cause of infant hospitalization. The 10-0 recommendation from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices was adopted hours later by CDC Director Mandy Cohen. (Mast, 8/3)

The arrival of two shots that protect infants against respiratory syncytial virus could give parents some peace of mind from the leading cause of hospitalization of U.S. children under the age of 1. But that's only if the new treatments don't get caught up in broader vaccine skepticism — or just cause confusion by expanding childhood immunization options. (Reed and Moreno, 8/4)

Bavarian Nordic has received a US government contract for $120 million to manufacture more of its Jynneos smallpox/mpox vaccine, the company said in a news release today. The order comes from the US Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response at the Department of Health and Human Services. It primarily covers the manufacturing of new vaccine. (Wappes, 8/3)

While cases of mpox continue to decline across the United States and Europe, infections are steadily rising in China. For the week ending July 21, 117 cases were confirmed in China, according to data from the World Health Organization. Between the week ending May 5 and the week ending July 21, 315 cases were reported. This comes after just six cases were confirmed throughout all of 2022, WHO data shows. (Kekatos, 8/2)