The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently released the National Public Health Strategy to Prevent and Control Vector-Borne Diseases in People.
These diseases, Lyme, Zika, West Nile virus, dengue, and malaria, have doubled their negative impact on society over the last two decades.
To combat this public health threat, a comprehensive and sustained national effort to protect people is required.

As a global leader in the protection of public health, CSL Seqirus announced today that it is working to change the formulation of its influenza vaccine portfolio.
On February 8, 2024, Seqirus confirmed the B/Yamagata influenza virus strain will be removed from its influenza vaccines distributed in the United States, preferably in time for the 2024-2025 flu season. 
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that over 157 million influenza vaccines were already distributed during the 2023-2024 flu season. 

According to the U.S. government, the current respiratory season is ending with less impact on hospitalization than last year.
The combined weekly hospitalization rate for COVID-19 and influenza from the National Healthcare Safety Network during the week of December 30, 2023, was 87.5% of 2022's peak (16.8 vs 19.2 admissions per 100,000).

A recently published review aimed to assess the necessity of a booster vaccination based on the long-term immunogenicity of primary yellow fever vaccination.
Overall, these researchers found that most primary vaccine recipients maintain neutralizing antibodies above protective thresholds ten or more years post-vaccination.
In healthy adults in non-endemic settings, who were primarily travelers, this systematic review and meta-analysis observed high rates of seroprotection 10–60 years post-vaccination (overall seroprotection rate 94%).

When New York Senate Bill 2994A was passed in June 2019, nonmedical vaccine exemptions for attending school were eliminated. This action was related to a previous measles outbreak in unvaccinated residents.
An analysis of the 2018-2019 measles outbreak in New York City estimated that around a quarter of young children in an affected community were susceptible to the measles virus, likely due to under-vaccination.

An innovative therapy that addresses the need for a safe, effective therapeutic option for bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine-unresponsive non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) patients posted additional good news today.

Following the announcement in December 2023 that the PrEPVacc study team was discontinuing vaccinations following a review that determined a minimal chance the vaccine candidates being tested could stop human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) acquisition, many were disappointed.
With an estimated 1.3 million people worldwide becoming infected with HIV annually, there is a tremendous unmet need for a preventive vaccine.

The latest data released by the U.S. government offers the most complete insights for nationally notifiable Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs).
On January 30, 2024, the U.S. CDC published an annual report underscoring that STIs must be a public health priority.
In 2022, more than 2.5 million cases of syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia were reported in the U.S.
One of these STIs was highlighted by the CDC.

When measles was eliminated in the United States in 2000, most public health leaders pointed to effective vaccination efforts.
However, when measles cases began to appear in 2010, unvaccinated international travelers visiting the U.S. were identified as a global challenge in eliminating this airborne virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In recent years, measles outbreaks have become a worldwide health risk.

Scientists at the Houston Methodist Research Institute recently received $3.8 million to develop further a promising type of disease-defense technology that could pave the way for new 'circular RNA' vaccines.
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) announced on January 25, 2024, that it is teaming up with the Houston Methodist vaccinology team to advance its 'circRNA' vaccine development platform.