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A team has demonstrated in theory that a protein antigen from a childhood vaccine can be delivered into the cells of a malignant tumor to refocus the body's immune system against the cancer, effectively halting it and preventing its recurrence. (University of Massachusetts Amherst, 10/10)

Pertussis vaccination during pregnancy is routine because it can reduce pertussis in newborn infants through the first 2 months after birth. However, some concerns have been raised that this impedes the ability of infants to develop their own robust antibody response, which is referred to as a “blunting effect.” (please see references 4, 5, or 6 of the corresponding commentary by Dr. Kathryn Edwards linked below) How serious is this blunting effect? (First, MD, MS, 10/9)

A new study by researchers with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that despite a decrease in overall antibiotic use, most US adults hospitalized with COVID-19 continued to receive antibiotics beyond the first year of the pandemic. (Dall, 10/9)

Today in JAMA Network Open, an observational Canadian study ties the antiviral drug combo nirmatrelvir-ritonavir (Paxlovid) to a lower risk of hospitalization or death only in very high-risk COVID-19 patients with weakened immune systems. University of British Columbia researchers in Vancouver analyzed rates of severe COVID-19 outcomes among 6,866 adult COVID-19 patients by their vulnerability to severe disease and immune system status from February 1, 2022, to February 3, 2023, a period dominated by the Omicron variant. The team classified the patients into one of four groups given early priority for COVID-19 vaccination. (Van Beusekom, 10/2)

Only 20% of Americans eligible for COVID-19 boosters get them, and today in Vaccine, researchers published the results of a new survey of 2,000 US adults to understand why uptake is so low. Participants were part of the Arizona CoVHORT, a prospective trial that began in May 2020. All 2,196 participants had at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose and were asked about if they had received a bivalent (two-strain) COVID-19 booster. If respondents said they had not, they were asked why. (Soucheray, 10/3)

Moderna today reported positive interim results from a phase 1/2 trial of its mRNA combination vaccine against COVID and flu and said it would advance the vaccine, called mRNA 1083, to a phase 3 trial. In a statement, the company said researchers evaluated the vaccine's safety and immunogenicity compared to a standard dose of Fluarix flu vaccine in adults ages 50 to 64 and to a the high-dose Fluzone vaccine in adults ages 65 to 79. For both age-groups, they compared mRNA 1083 to its Spikevax COVID booster. (Schnirring, 10/4)

Children in a state with an influenza vaccine mandate during the 2020–2021 flu season were much more likely to be vaccinated than those in non-mandate states, according to a study published today in Pediatrics. (Van Beusekom, 10/10)