Author Interviews, CDC, Infections, JAMA, Pediatrics / 15.01.2019
Group B Streptococcus Remain Significant Threat to US Infants
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Srinivas Acharya Nanduri, MBBS, MD, MPH
Respiratory Diseases Branch, National Center for Immunizations and Respiratory Diseases
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Roybal Campus
Atlanta, GA 3033
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is a leading cause of serious illness such as meningitis and sepsis in infants. Among infants, there are two main types of GBS disease. Early-onset GBS disease occurs during the first week of life and late-onset GBS disease occurs from the first week through three months of life. Rates of early-onset disease in the United States have decreased significantly since the 1990s through widespread implementation of intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis (IAP) guidelines. However, IAP does not prevent late-onset disease. Maternal immunization represents a nonantibiotic strategy to prevent both early and late-onset disease. Multivalent polysaccharide-protein conjugate vaccines are under development against GBS capsular types, with candidate vaccines in phase I and II trials.
Active Bacterial Core surveillance (ABCs) conducts active surveillance for early and late-onset GBS disease among infants in select counties of 10 states, covering about 10% of live births across the United States. We analyzed data from early and late-onset GBS cases identified from ABCs between 2006 and 2015 to describe their epidemiology, incidence trends, and associated strain characteristics. (more…)
Kathryn M. Edwards, M.D.
Sarah H. Sell and Cornelius Vanderbilt Chair in Pediatrics
Professor of Pediatrics
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Dr. Edwards discusses the statement from the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) regarding the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s new data on child vaccine rates across the United States.
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: To monitor the uptake of vaccines the CDC conducts a National Immunization Survey each year. This survey is conducted by random-digit dialing (cell phones or landlines) of parents and guardians of children 19-35 months of age. The interviewers ask the families who provides the vaccines for their children and if these providers can be contacted to inquire about the immunizations received. The overall response rate to the telephone survey was 26% and immunization records were provided on 54% of the children where permission was granted. Overall 15, 333 children had their immunization records reviewed.
When comparing immunization rates for 2017 and 2016, the last two years of the study, several new findings were discovered.
First the overall coverage rate for 3 doses of polio vaccine, one dose of MMR, 3 doses of Hepatitis b, and 1 dose of chickenpox vaccine was 90%, a high rate of coverage. Children were less likely to be up to date on the hepatitis A vaccine (70%) and rotavirus vaccine (73%). Coverage was lower for children living in rural areas when compared with urban areas and children living in rural areas had higher percentages of no vaccine receipt at all (1.9%) compared with those living in urban areas (1%).
There were more uninsured children in 2017 at 2.8% and these children had lower immunization rates. In fact 7.1% of the children with no insurance were totally unimmunized when compared with 0.8% unimmunized in those with private insurance. Vaccine coverage varies by state and by vaccine. 
