Vaccines are among the most effective prevention tools available to clinicians. However, the success of an immunization program depends on high rates of acceptance and coverage. There is evidence of an increase in vaccine refusal in the United States and of geographic clustering of refusals that results in outbreaks. Children with exemptions from school immunization requirements (a measure of vaccine refusal) are at increased risk for measles and pertussis and can infect others who are too young to be vaccinated, cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons, or were vaccinated but did not have a sufficient immunologic response. Clinicians can play a crucial role in parental decision making. Health care providers are cited as the most frequent source of immunization information by parents, including parents of unvaccinated children. Although some clinicians have discontinued or have considered discontinuing their provider relationship with patients who refuse vaccines, the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Bioethics advises against this and recommends that clinicians address vaccine refusal by respectfully listening to parental concerns and discussing the risks of nonvaccination.

Continued efforts must be made to educate parents about the utility and safety of vaccines, especially parents requesting nonmedical exemptions to school immunization requirements.

Forty years after effective vaccines were licensed, measles continues to cause death and severe disease in children worldwide. Complications from measles can occur in almost every organ system. Pneumonia, croup, and encephalitis are common causes of death; encephalitis is the most common cause of long-term sequelae. Measles remains a common cause of blindness in developing countries. Complication rates are higher in those <5 and >20 years old, although croup and otitis media are more common in those <2 years old and encephalitis in older children and adults. Complication rates are increased by immune deficiency disorders, malnutrition, vitamin A deficiency, intense exposures to measles, and lack of previous measles vaccination. Case-fatality rates have decreased with improvements in socioeconomic status in many countries but remain high in developing countries.

Objective. To examine immunization responses in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) treated with rituximab and to investigate the effects of rituximabinduced CD20؉ B cell depletion on immune responses to tetanus toxoid (T cell-dependent antigen), pneumococcal polysaccharide (T cell-independent antigen), and keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) (neoantigen) and on delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH).Methods. In a controlled trial, we enrolled 103 patients with active RA receiving a stable dose of methotrexate (MTX). Tetanus toxoid, pneumococcal polysaccharide, and KLH vaccines as well as a Candida albicans skin test were administered to 1 group of patients receiving rituximab plus MTX (called rituximab-treated patients) for 36 weeks and to 1 group of patients receiving MTX alone for 12 weeks. The primary end point was the proportion of patients with a Ն4-fold rise in antitetanus IgG levels. Antitetanus, antipneumococcal, and anti-KLH serum IgG levels were measured prior to and 4 weeks following vaccine administration. The DTH response to C albicans was measured 2-3 days following placement.Results. Responses to tetanus toxoid vaccine (Ն4-fold rise) were similar in both groups (39.1% of rituximab-treated patients and 42.3% of patients treated with MTX alone). The ability to maintain a positive DTH response to the C albicans skin test was comparable in both groups (77.4% of rituximab-treated patients and 70% of patients treated with MTX alone), showing no effect of rituximab treatment. Rituximab-treated patients had decreased responses to pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (57% of patients had a 2-fold rise in titer in response to >1 serotype, compared with 82% of patients treated with MTX alone) and to KLH vaccine (47% of patients had detectable anti-KLH IgG, compared with 93% of patients treated with MTX alone).Conclusion. Recall responses to the T celldependent protein antigen tetanus toxoid as well as DTH responses were preserved in rituximab-treated RA patients 24 weeks after treatment. Responses to neoantigen (KLH) and T cell-independent responses to pneumococcal vaccine were decreased, but many patients were able to mount responses. These data suggest that polysaccharide and primary immunizations should be administered prior to rituximab infusions to maximize responses.ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00282308.

School immunization requirements are important in controlling vaccine-preventable diseases in the United States. Forty-eight states offer nonmedical exemptions to school immunization requirements. Children with exemptions are at increased risk of contracting and transmitting vaccine-preventable diseases. The clustering of nonmedical exemptions can affect community risk of vaccine-preventable diseases. The authors evaluated spatial clustering of nonmedical exemptions in Michigan and geographic overlap between exemptions clusters and clusters of reported pertussis cases. Kulldorf's scan statistic identified 23 statistically significant census tract clusters for exemption rates and 6 significant census tract clusters for reported pertussis cases between 1993 and 2004. The time frames for significant space-time pertussis clusters were August 1993-September 1993, August 1994-February 1995, May 1998-June 1998, April 2002, May 2003-July 2003, and June 2004-November 2004. Census tracts in exemptions clusters were more likely to be in pertussis clusters (odds ratio = 3.0, 95% confidence interval: 2.5, 3.6). The overlap of exemptions clusters and pertussis clusters remained significant after adjustment for population density, proportion of racial/ethnic minorities, proportion of children aged 5 years or younger, percentage of persons below the poverty level, and average family size (odds ratio = 2.7, 95% confidence interval: 2.2, 3.3). Geographic pockets of vaccine exemptors pose a risk to the whole community. In addition to monitoring state-level exemption rates, health authorities should be mindful of within-state heterogeneity.

Because of the advent of a new influenza A H1N1 strain, many countries have begun mass immunisation programmes. Awareness of the background rates of possible adverse events will be a crucial part of assessment of possible vaccine safety concerns and will help to separate legitimate safety concerns from events that are temporally associated with but not caused by vaccination. We identified background rates of selected medical events for several countries. Rates of disease events varied by age, sex, method of ascertainment, and geography. Highly visible health conditions, such as Guillain-Barré syndrome, spontaneous abortion, or even death, will occur in coincident temporal association with novel influenza vaccination. On the basis of the reviewed data, if a cohort of 10 million individuals was vaccinated in the UK, 21·5 cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome and 5·75 cases of sudden death would be expected to occur within 6 weeks of vaccination as coincident background cases. In female vaccinees in the USA, 86·3 cases of optic neuritis per 10 million population would be expected within 6 weeks of vaccination. 397 per 1 million vaccinated pregnant women would be predicted to have a spontaneous abortion within 1 day of vaccination.

Objective The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of physician recommendation of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination in early (ages 11-12), middle (13-17), and late adolescent/young adult (18-26) female patients by physician specialty, and to identify factors associated with recommendation in early adolescents. Methods A 38-item survey was conducted April 2009 through August 2009 among a nationally representative random sample of 1,538 Family Physicians, Pediatricians, and Obstetricians and Gynecologists obtained from the American Medical Association Physician Masterfile. A multivariable model was used to assess factors associated with frequency of physician recommendation of HPV vaccination (“always”=76-100% of the time vs. other=0-75%) within the past 12 months. Results Completed surveys were received from 1,013 physicians, including 500 Family Physicians, 287 Pediatricians, and 226 Obstetricians and Gynecologists (response rate = 67.8%). Across the specialties, 34.6% of physicians reported they “always” recommend the HPV vaccine to early adolescents, 52.7% to middle adolescents, and 50.2% to late adolescents/young adults. The likelihood of “always” recommending the HPV vaccine was highest among Pediatricians for all age groups (P < .001). Physician specialty, age, ethnicity, reported barriers, and Vaccines for Children provider status were significantly associated with “always” recommending HPV vaccination for early adolescents. Conclusions Findings suggest missed clinical opportunities for HPV vaccination, and perceived barriers to vaccination may drive decisions about recommendation. Results suggest the need for age and specialty targeted practice and policy level interventions to increase HPV vaccination among US females.

BackgroundRoutine immunization, one of the most effective public health interventions, has effectively reduced death and morbidity due to a variety of infectious diseases. However, allergic reactions to vaccines occur very rarely and can be life threatening. Given the large numbers of vaccines administered worldwide, there is a need for an international consensus regarding the evaluation and management of allergic reactions to vaccines.MethodsFollowing a review of the literature, and with the active participation of representatives from the World Allergy Organization (WAO), the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI), the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology (AAAAI), and the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology (ACAAI), the final committee was formed with the purpose of having members who represented a wide-range of countries, had previously worked on vaccine safety, and included both allergist/immunologists as well as vaccinologists.ResultsConsensus was reached on a variety of topics, including: definition of immediate allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis, approaches to distinguish association from causality, approaches to patients with a history of an allergic reaction to a previous vaccine, and approaches to patients with a history of an allergic reaction to components of vaccines.ConclusionsThis document provides comprehensive and internationally accepted guidelines and access to on-line documents to help practitioners around the world identify allergic reactions following immunization. It also provides a framework for the evaluation and further management of patients who present either following an allergic reaction to a vaccine or with a history of allergy to a component of vaccines.