New Monoclonal Authorized to Prevent COVID in Immunocompromised People
The FDA issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for pemivibart (Pemgarda) as COVID-19 pre-exposure prophylaxis in immunocompromised individuals who are unlikely to mount a sufficient immune response following vaccination, the agency announced on Friday. A long-acting monoclonal antibody, pemivibart is specifically authorized for people ages 12 years and older (and weighing 40 kg or more) […]
How Often Should Immunocompromised People Get a COVID Booster?
Preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection in immunocompromised people hasn’t gotten any easier as the pandemic trundles on into its fifth year. The monoclonal antibody tixagevimab-cilgavimab (Evusheld) has long gone by the wayside for pre-exposure prophylaxis and no replacements are on the horizon. Other prevention strategies among the general population, such as mask-wearing, have all but disappeared. Vaccination […]
FDA Allows Extra Doses of Bivalent COVID Vax for Immunocompromised Tots
The FDA has authorized additional doses of Pfizer/BioNTech’s bivalent COVID-19 vaccine for young immunocompromised children, the agency announced on Friday. In kids ages 6 months to 4 years with certain types of immunocompromising conditions (i.e., solid-organ transplant recipients, or those considered to have a similar level of immunocompromise), and who previously received three primary 0.2-mL […]
CDC Warns of Severe Monkeypox in People With HIV, the Immunocompromised
Be alert for potentially severe manifestations of monkeypox in patients who are immunocompromised or co-infected with HIV, the CDC told healthcare workers on Thursday. “People who are immunocompromised due to HIV or other conditions are at higher risk for severe manifestations of monkeypox than people who are immunocompetent,” the agency said in a health advisory […]
Texas Reports Nation’s First Possible Death From Monkeypox
A severely immunocompromised man in Texas has died after being diagnosed with monkeypox, state and local health officials announced Tuesday, marking what may be the nation’s first death related to the disease. Harris County Judge Linda Hidalgo said in a statement that the Houston-area man, who died Sunday, “faced various severe illnesses” and that his […]
Over 10% of COVID Hospitalizations Involve Immunocompromised People
Immunocompromised individuals made up 12.2% of all COVID-related hospitalizations, despite accounting for only about 3% of the U.S. population, a CDC report showed. And once hospitalized, there was no difference in the risk for death between vaccinated and unvaccinated immunocompromised patients, reported Jason Robert Singson, MPH, of the California Emerging Infections Program in Oakland, and […]
How High Is Breakthrough Infection Risk for People With Arthritis, HIV?
Among immunocompromised individuals vaccinated against COVID-19, solid organ transplant recipients as well as those with HIV and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were significantly more likely to experience breakthrough infections versus people without immune dysfunction, a retrospective study found. In a national database analysis involving over 650,000 people who received at least one vaccine dose, the highest […]
Two Doses of mRNA COVID Vax Not Enough for the Immunosuppressed
COVID-19 vaccines worked fairly well in keeping immunocompromised patients out of the hospital from the infection, but still less than for those with a competent immune system, a study showed. After two vaccine doses, immunocompromised patients saw 77% vaccine effectiveness (95% CI 74%-80%) against hospitalization for confirmed COVID-19, with a 3.9% rate of SARS-CoV-2 test […]
CDC Panel Backs Third COVID Shot for the Immunocompromised
Moderately to severely immunocompromised people who received mRNA vaccines for COVID-19 should receive an additional dose, the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) said on Friday. In a unanimous 11-0 vote, the ACIP recommended an additional dose of the Pfizer (ages 12 and up) or Moderna vaccine (ages 18 and up) following a primary […]