Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the timeliness of pertussis-containing vaccination: A cohort study in Shanghai, China

This study, jointly conducted by Prof. Hong Jiang’s team from Fudan University and the Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, was published in the Journal of Clinical Pediatrics. Using data from the Shanghai Birth Medical Information System (2012–2022), the researchers analyzed trends and determinants of influenza vaccination among pregnant women and its association with preterm birth.The Study found that multiple sociodemographic factors are significantly associated with influenza vaccination behavior among pregnant women in Shanghai between 2012 and 2022, and influenza vaccination during pregnancy may be related to a reduced risk of preterm birth. It is recommended to further strengthen public education and service support, continuously promote vaccination efforts, and effectively safeguard maternal and infant health.

This study, led by Prof. Jing Li from Sichuan University and Prof. Dan Wu from Nanjing Medical University, was published in PLOS Medicine. Conducted in four community health centers in Chengdu, western China, this randomized controlled trial evaluated the impact of a “pay-it-forward” intervention on HPV vaccination among girls aged 15–18 years. Participants in the intervention arm received a community subsidy for their first HPV vaccine dose and were invited to donate and write encouragement postcards for future recipients, while the control arm self-paid at market price. The pay-it-forward approach increased first-dose uptake from 17.5% to 34.2%, significantly reduced vaccination delay, and enhanced vaccine confidence. Most families in the intervention arm engaged in donations and message sharing, and the cost per person vaccinated was lower than in the control group. Findings suggest that this community-engaged, reciprocity-based model is an effective and sustainable strategy to improve HPV vaccination coverage among catch-up age girls, with potential for broader implementation.

This study from the Beijing Center for Disease Prevention and Control and the Beijing Research Center for Respiratory Infectious Diseases was published in Vaccine. In 2022, 2,333 healthy children under five from four sites in Hainan Province yielded 737 pneumococcal isolates. Grouped by individual PCV13 vaccination status and regional coverage, analyses showed significantly lower carriage of vaccine-type serotypes among vaccinated children (e.g., 6B: 7.0% vs 2.7%, P<0.01; 6A: 4.2% vs 1.2%, P<0.05; 23F: 2.2% vs 0.3%, P<0.05). Overall Spn non-susceptibility was high to erythromycin (92.3%), azithromycin (87.5%), clindamycin (81.2%), tetracycline (91.2%), penicillin (38.9%), and cefuroxime (64.7%), with 82.9% of isolates being multidrug-resistant (notably 92.4% among vaccine-type strains). Isolates from high-coverage areas exhibited lower resistance and MDR than those from low-coverage areas, indicating that expanding PCV13 coverage could reduce vaccine-type carriage and the community resistance burden.