ABSTRACT
Based on its quasi-predictable genetic markers, we urgently promoted vaccination, stocked up on Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments-waived test kits, and prescribed antiviral medications for patients and their families to protect our communities and reduce the potential for spread. When discussing COVID-19 infection with families, pediatricians will often include a caution for the infrequent possibility for multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), but probably the most common and actionable concern is cardiac, especially for adolescent athletes. Since June 2020, there have also been several reported cases of MIS in adults3). Email them to llevine@mjhlifesciences.com О For references and additional resources, go to ContemporaryPediatrics.com/ crossover-symptoms-COVID-19influenza Russell Libby is founder and president of the Virginia Pediatric Group in Fairfax, Virginia;assistant clinical professor of pediatrics atthe University of Virginia and George Washington University schools of medicine;a board member of the Physicians Foundation;and a member of the Contemporary Pediatrics® Editorial Advisory Board.
ABSTRACT
No aspect of pediatric medicine has been as impactful on the health and wellbeing of our patients and communities as the vaccines that now routinely prevent 16 diseases that were once commonplace.1 Current vaccines include those based on live attenuated viruses (eg, varicella, rotovirus), killed whole organism (eg, rabies, hepatitis A), polysaccharide or native proteins (eg, pneumococcal, meningococcal), and recombinant or whole molecular modification (eg, hepatitis B, herpes zoster). Many of these are directed at infectious diseases, but many novel vaccines are being developed to treat or prevent allergies, autoimmune disorders, cancers, and even Alzheimer's disease.1 Following the emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003 and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) in 2012, both deadly coronavirus infections, investigators spent subsequent years developing and perfecting innovative vaccines including adenovirus vector vaccines and messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines. [...]Altimmune has developed an adenovirus-vectored intranasal vaccine, now in phase I clinical trials, that generates a broad IgG, mucosal IgA, and Tcell response to SARS-CoV-2 and is stable at room temperature.5 Altimmune is also in clinical trials for intranasal vaccines for anthrax and influenza.
ABSTRACT
Government funding for immunization registries became available when President Bill Clinton included immunization registries in his Childhood Immunization Initiative in 1993.1 There are currently 63 registries, now called immunization information systems (IlSs), in the United States. IISs have many advantages;they can improve immunization rates, reduce vaccination errors, identify opportunities to vaccinate, provide epidemiological insights when there is a community outbreak of a vaccine-preventable disease, and allow access by patients, families, schools, and other health care providers. There are federal requirements for documenting vaccines established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which includes the specific vaccine, manufacturer, lot number, the date and location, and that the patient and/or family was given a vaccine information statement (VIS) to review with its publication date.3 Most IISs will permit noting if the vaccine was refused and the description of any adverse reactions.