New research projects increasing the US pediatric influenza vaccination rate to the Healthy People 2030 goal of 70% would avert more than 2.2 million outpatient visits, 30,494 hospitalizations, and 123 pediatric deaths during a high-incidence season, easing strain on health systems. 

The findings, presented at the recent Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) 2026 Meeting in Boston, highlight the potential consequences of the continued slide in pediatric flu vaccine uptake, such as increased healthcare visits and hospitalizations, said the authors, from flu vaccine maker CSL Seqirus.

Low vaccine uptake can speed flu spread among all ages

The modeling study was designed to estimate the effects of low flu vaccine coverage in children aged 6 months to 17 years. 

It projected that if the current pediatric flu vaccination rate of about 50% continued during a season of high flu incidence more than 4.4 million outpatient visits, 59,000 hospitalizations, and 234 deaths could be expected, with occupancy of 14,000 hospital beds and 2,000 intensive care unit (ICU) beds at the seasonal peak. 

During a season with low influenza circulation, a 50% pediatric flu vaccination rate would translate to roughly 1.5 million outpatient visits, 18,000 hospitalizations, and 70 deaths, with occupancy of 3,000 hospital beds and 457 ICU beds used at the peak of activity. 

New reporting from Politico says the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is holding up $600 million in funds that Congress has appropriated for the use of vaccines in low-income countries. The move is intended to put pressure on Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the report said.

Gavi said it has not received any funding for this year or last year, and the missing funds make up 15% of its operating budget. 

HHS told Politico, “Gavi has refused to provide the United States with the specific data, studies, or detailed accounting of how U.S. funds are used.” The funds will expire on September 30 if they are not used.

Kennedy wants thimerosal-containing vaccines gone

Gavi provides 20 vaccines, including measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine, to 30 low-income countries. The main issue likely is Gavi’s use of thimerosal-containing vaccines, which are commonly used in countries lacking adequate refrigeration for vaccines. 

In January, the Trump administration linked phasing out thimerosal-containing vaccines to future US funding. Last June, the Kennedy-reconstituted Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended that US patients avoid flu shots that contain thimerosal. And just last week, during congressional testimony, Kennedy incongruously raised the Gavi-thimerosal link when discussing environmental mercury exposure, which involves a serious, neurotoxic form of mercury, not the much safer thimerosal found in some vaccine.

Last week, Kennedy also told a Senate committee that Gavi uses a diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccine that had been discontinued in the United States because it was causing brain injury. That shot hasn’t been used in the United States since 1997, but the World Health Organization said there is no evidence the vaccine is linked to brain damage. 

Gavi said the vaccine is given to children in low-income countries because it offers long-lasting protection, and “is safe and effective and estimated to have saved 40 million lives in the past 50 years.”

A literature review suggests that increased resources for antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) are associated with improved antimicrobial use and costs, researchers reported today in JAC-Antimicrobial Resistance.

In a scoping review, US and Canadian researchers evaluated 32 studies examining ASP resourcing and outcomes. Most of the studies were hospital-based, observational, and conducted in high-income countries (including 19 in the United States, three in Canada, and three in Japan). Antibiotic use was the most studied outcome. The researchers grouped the findings into three categories: studies comparing different staffing coverage models, studies comparing zero versus some staffing, and studies comparing more staffing with less staffing.

The study authors note that while there is evidence that antimicrobial stewardship strategies are associated with lower rates of antimicrobial resistance and Clostridioides difficile infections, ASP staffing levels range widely across hospitals, and lack of staffing and resources are often cited as barriers to advancing ASP goals. But the impact of ASP resources on patient outcomes, and the level of staffing to achieve those outcomes, has not been widely studied.

“Efforts to optimize and improve ASP resourcing may require a more fulsome understanding of the association between ASP resourcing and programme outcomes,” they wrote.

More evidence needed

Among the 21 studies that assessed antimicrobial use after increasing ASP resources, 17 (81%) reported a reduction in at least one antimicrobial use metric. Increased ASP resourcing was also associated with improved process outcomes in eight of nine (89%) studies, reduced costs in four of four (100%) studies, and improved clinical or microbiologic outcomes in three of seven (43%) studies.

“Our findings echo the importance of adequately resourced ASPs and suggest increased resourcing can support ongoing efforts to reduce antibiotic overuse,” the authors wrote. But they add that “rigorous, prospective studies and evidence-based recommendations” are needed to guide optimal ASP staffing.