Particle.news
Download on the App Store
22 ARTICLES
·
2h ago

Overhauled CDC Panel Backs Limits on MMRV for Under-4s, Tables Hepatitis B Shift

The advisory votes cite a small seizure risk and now go to Acting CDC Director Jim O’Neill, leaving programs and insurers weighing what to cover.

Image
WALSENBURG, CO - AUGUST 05: Medical assistant Elissa Ortivez draws an MMR vaccination at the Spanish Peaks Outreach Clinic on August 5, 2009 in Walsenburg, Colorado. The Spanish Peaks Regional Health Center treats rural Coloradans who come for medical care from throughout southern Colorado, where hospitals and clinics are scarce. The outreach clinic is designed for patients with little or no health coverage. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
Committee member, Dr. Joseph Hibbeln, listens during a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices at the CDC on Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025, in Chamblee, Ga. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Image

Overview

  • ACIP voted 8–3, with one abstention, to recommend using separate MMR and varicella shots rather than the combined MMRV for children younger than 4, citing a roughly twofold rise in febrile seizures after the first MMRV dose in 12–23 month-olds.
  • CDC presenters reported an absolute risk of about 8 seizures per 10,000 after the first MMRV dose versus about 4 per 10,000 with separate shots, and pediatric experts noted such seizures are typically brief and not linked to long-term harm.
  • After initial confusion, a follow-up vote left Vaccines for Children coverage unchanged for early MMRV doses, even as broader coverage decisions by Medicaid and private plans remain under review.
  • A planned change to the timing of the hepatitis B birth dose was delayed and then tabled following questions about safety, effectiveness and wording; the panel did endorse universal hepatitis B testing in pregnancy.
  • The reconstituted committee—installed by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and criticized by major medical groups—also adopted a narrower COVID-19 stance urging people to consult clinicians rather than a universal recommendation, with practical access implications still unclear.