Live-attenuated vaccines are generally contraindicated during pregnancy; inactivated vaccines can be given if indicated. A more detailed review of routine immunizations for adults will be available in the December issue of Treatment Guidelines from The Medical Letter.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommends use of certain vaccines in adults residing in the US. Routine childhood immunization has reduced the overall incidence of some of these vaccine-preventable diseases, but many adults remain susceptible. Recommendations for vaccination against COVID-19, seasonal influenza, and monkeypox and vaccination of travelers have been reviewed separately.

Persons planning to travel outside the US should be up to date on routine vaccines and, depending on their destination, duration of travel, and planned activities, may also receive certain travel-specific vaccines. Tickborne encephalitis and dengue vaccines, which are not available in the US, are reviewed in a separate article available online. Detailed advice for travel to specific destinations is available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) at www.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/list. Recommendations for administration of vaccines as part of routine...

An outbreak of mumps has occurred among students at Fordham University in New York. All of those who developed mumps had been vaccinated against the disease.

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A large mumps outbreak that began in Iowa in December 2005 has spread. About 40% of the cases have been in people 18-25 years old, many of whom are college students and had been vaccinated against the disease.

The FDA has granted regular approval to dostarlimabgxly (Jemperli – GSK), an immune checkpoint inhibitor, for treatment of adults with mismatch repair deficient (dMMR) recurrent or advanced endometrial cancer that has progressed on or following a prior platinum-containing regimen in any setting and who are not candidates for curative surgery or radiation. Dostarlimab received accelerated approval in 2021 for treatment of adults with dMMR recurrent or advanced endometrial cancer or nonendometrial solid tumors that progressed on or following prior treatment and who have no...

A live attenuated varicella vaccine (Varivax - Merck) has been approved for marketing by the US Food and Drug Administration. The Oka/Merck strain used in the vaccine is attenuated by passage in human and embryonic guinea pig cell cultures.

The immune checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab (Keytruda – Merck), a programmed death receptor-1 (PD-1) inhibitor, has been granted accelerated approval by the FDA for use in adults and children who have unresectable or metastatic microsatellite-instability-high (MSI-H) or mismatch-repair-deficient (dMMR) solid tumors that have progressed following treatment, and do not have any satisfactory alternative treatment options. For metastatic colorectal cancer, the indication is limited to tumors that have progressed following combination treatment with a fluoropyrimidine, oxaliplatin, and...

The immune checkpoint inhibitor dostarlimab-gxly (Jemperli – GSK) has been approved by the FDA for use in combination with carboplatin and paclitaxel for treatment of adults with mismatch repair deficient (dMMR) or microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) primary advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer. Dostarlimab was recently granted regular approval for treatment of adults with dMMR recurrent or advanced endometrial cancer that progressed on or following a prior platinum-containing regimen in any setting and who are not candidates for curative surgery or radiation.