Vaccine News & Notes — December 2023

Former first lady Rosalynn Carter was a staunch supporter of vaccines

On Nov. 19, 2023, former first lady, Rosalynn Carter, died. While many media reports covered her important impact on mental health, her role in the Carter White House and at The Carter Center, and her lifelong commitment to helping those in need, few reports mentioned Mrs. Carter’s impact on vaccines in the U.S.

Following years of work promoting childhood immunizations, a measles outbreak in the early 1990s, compelled Mrs. Carter and Mrs. Betty Bumpers, a former first lady of Arkansas, to create an organization called “Every Child By Two” (ECBT). Within two years, they had traveled to all 50 states in the U.S. to foster immunization efforts. Their conversations during these trips brought the barriers to vaccination throughout the nation into focus and, ultimately, led to changes at the federal level in the form of the Vaccines for Children (VFC) program. Today, ECBT is known as Vaccinate Your Family, an organization that continues the legacy started by Mrs. Carter and Mrs. Bumpers. As a direct result of the efforts of Betty Bumpers and Rosalynn Carter, measles was first eliminated from the United States in 2000. It has come back, to some extent, because a critical number of parents have chosen not to vaccinate their children.

Find out more about Mrs. Carter's legacy.

For their efforts, Rosalynn and Betty were featured in the Vaccine Education Center’s game for kids, Vax Pack Hero. See their hero page or share the game with kids.

Pediatric hospitalizations and deaths from influenza

Each year, a small number of children die from influenza. During the 2022-2023 influenza season, almost 200 children died and the rate of hospitalizations was the highest since the 2010-2011 influenza season. Because “the flu” is often considered to be nothing more than an inconvenience among the public, pediatric hospitalizations and deaths often come as a surprise, especially when people learn that some of these children were previously healthy.

On the other hand, healthcare providers who treat children with severe influenza infections every year realize that while most children recover without issue, that is not always the case. These providers typically promote the vaccination of children and make sure their own children (or grandchildren) are vaccinated annually.

Recently, a study evaluated the vaccination status of children between 6 months and 17 years of age who went to the emergency room or urgent care and those who were hospitalized during the 2022-2023 influenza season. The authors used medical records with laboratory-confirmed testing for influenza and compared rates of vaccination. They found that vaccination reduced the chance of visiting an emergency room or urgent care center for influenza by almost half (48%) and of being hospitalized by 40%.

It’s not too late to get yourself or your family vaccinated against influenza! Influenza season typically lasts through the spring. But, remember that it will take about two weeks for the individual’s immune response to develop, so get those vaccines as soon as possible — especially if you are traveling or spending time in crowds during the upcoming holidays.

Find out more.

Did you or someone you know have polio?

The Polio Network is a national and international support group for polio survivors. Often, these individuals are suffering the effects of a syndrome called “post-polio syndrome,” in which muscle weakness, pain and other symptoms recur decades after the initial polio infection. In their most recent newsletter, the team shared personal stories of several individuals who were “Polio Pioneers,” individuals who participated in the Salk vaccine trials in the 1950s. A few of the stories are unique in that the individuals were also polio survivors; they describe how important it was for their families to participate because they had personally experienced the ravages of this virus.

Check out the newsletter.

And, if you are a polio survivor who is not aware of this group, check out the group today as they offer a wealth of information and support as well as connect survivors to researchers and healthcare providers. For example, the recent newsletter included a call for people who experienced negative-pressure ventilation, such as iron lungs or chest cuirasses.