Multiple vaccinations and the risk of medically attended fever.

Recent increases in the number of vaccinations recommended for infants have triggered concerns about the safety of multiple vaccinations. This study evaluated rates of medically attended fever after infant vaccination using computerized data from 1991 to 2000 from two large U.S.

Variation in hepatitis B immunization coverage rates associated with provider practices after the temporary suspension of the birth dose.

Background: In 1999, the American Academy of Pediatrics and U.S. Public Health Service recommended suspending the birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine due to concerns about potential mercury exposure.

Four different study designs to evaluate vaccine safety were equally validated with contrasting limitations.

Objective: We conducted a simulation study to empirically compare four study designs [cohort, case-control, risk-interval, self-controlled case series (SCCS)] used to assess vaccine safety.

Study Design And Methods: Using Vaccine Safety Datalink data (a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-funded project), we simulated 250 case sets of an acute illness within a cohort of vaccinated and unvaccinated children. We constructed the other three study designs from the cohort at three different incident rate ratios (IRRs, 2.

Effectiveness of the 2003-2004 influenza vaccine among children 6 months to 8 years of age, with 1 vs 2 doses.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of 1 and 2 doses of the 2003-2004 influenza vaccine in preventing medically attended influenza-like illness (ILI) among children 6 to 23 months and 6 months to 8 years of age.

Design And Methods: Outpatient and emergency department visits and immunization records were used to conduct a retrospective cohort study among children 6 months to 8 years of age. ILI and pneumonia and influenza (P&I) outcomes were defined on the basis of International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, codes.