March 2024: Vaccines and Infectious Diseases in the News

Published on

Find information about the latest vaccines and infectious diseases that have been in the news.

COVID-19

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently issued new isolation guidelines and updated the vaccine recommendations for COVID-19 booster dosing in some people.

Isolation guidelines

Due to the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines and the high rate of population immunity, the CDC has adapted its guidance related to isolating when infected to better align with that of other respiratory viruses.

Hear Dr. Paul Offit discuss the recent changes relating to isolating during a COVID-19 infection.

Booster recommendations

The CDC recently expanded their recommendations related to the 2023-2024 COVID-19 vaccine to allow those 65 years and older to get a second dose if they opt to.

Watch this video by Dr. Offit to find out more about this change.

You can also find info about COVID-19 and the vaccine from these VEC resources:

Influenza vaccine — 2024-2025 season

The 2024-2025 influenza vaccine will include protection against three types of influenza (trivalent) instead of four (quadrivalent), as used in previous years.

Watch “What Is Changing in 2024-2025 Influenza Vaccines?” to hear Dr. Offit discuss why this change is being made.

Measles

Cases of measles continued to be identified in Philadelphia and the surrounding area during January, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently alerted healthcare providers across the country to monitor for measles.  

Find out more about the current outbreaks:

To find out more about measles and the vaccine, check these VEC resources: