PUBLIC HEALTHAmid Growing Numbers of Measles Cases, Chaos Continues at HHS

Pandora Report writes:

The disbandment of the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods and the National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection, massive NIH grant terminations, a $25,000 buyout offer made to HHS employees, and a still-growing measles outbreak are all in a week’s work for the Department of Health and Human Services under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.. While continuing to peddle alternative remedies to those suffering from measles, Secretary Kennedy also did an interview in which he implied that contracting measles is better than being vaccinated for it.

Unfortunately for Secretary Kennedy and everyone else, vitamin A and cod liver oil are not going to cut it in responding to this expanding outbreak. Rural Texas and other areas like it do not have the infrastructure in place needed to effectively respond to measles on their own. In fact, 64 counties in Texas do not have a hospital, and 25 counties lack primary care physicians. Places like these counties often have sparse resources for public health awareness campaigns, and they certainly do not have the necessary number of medical professionals available to provide one-on-one education. In places like Seminole, Texas, the kindergarten vaccination rate for MMR is at 82%, while the CDC says that outbreaks tend to occur when a community’s vaccination rate drops below 95%.

In the absence of sustained federal funding and strong leadership from offices like that of the Secretary of HHS, places like rural Texas will not be able to effectively respond to outbreaks like the one that is happening right now. The reality is that continuing to promote unproven remedies and sharing incorrect information about vaccines and natural immunity will only harm these communities. People have already died because of this outbreak, including a child who could not choose whether or not to get vaccinated, and Secretary Kennedy still has not made the necessary efforts to address this situation.

Further Reading:

· “‘America Can’t be Great Without Great Science. That is Where the Academies Can Help,” Molly Galvin, NASEM

· “Thousands “Stand Up for Science” Across the Country,” Jackie Flynn Mogensen, Mother Jones

· “NIH Grants Fueled $95 Billion in FY 2024 Economic Activity, Finds New Report,” Michael T. Nietzel, Forbes

· “How the NIH Dominates the World’s Health Research – in Charts,” Nisha Gaind, Nature

· “RFK Says Most Vaccine Advisers Have Conflicts of Interest. A Report Shows They Don’t,” Pien Huang, NPR

· “During the Last Major Measles Outbreaks in the US, It Took Extraordinary Measures to Stop the Spread,” Deidre McPhillips, CNN

Comment by Meredith Fletcher, Pandora Report Associate Editor:
RFK Jr. and the Backside to Bird Flu Vaccines
It comes to no surprise that RFK Jr., the US Secretary of Health and Human Services, feels there is the possibility of backfire for vaccinating poultry against H5N1. Kennedy noted that there is no indication that “those vaccines” provide sterilizing immunity and voiced his concerns that vaccinating poultry without such immunity would result in the birds becoming “mutant factories”. Creators of the vaccine and other scientists tried to lessen these concerns by stressing the use of extra biosecurity measures to ensure the virus doesn’t mutate faster. The other suggestion of Kennedy and the Trump administration for the USDA is to, “let it run through the flock so that we can identify the birds and preserve the birds that are immune to it.” H5N1 continues to mutate, and scientists are concerned that the continued inaction could give the influenza A virus time to mutate and increase pandemic potential. Vaccinating birds in the millions also gives farmers practicality concerns and many of them would prefer to give the vaccine via their feed or water. With the average price of eggs being $5.90 across the US, many Americans are struggling to keep up with the devastation of the virus and calling for action from US politicians.

This article is published courtesy of the Pandora Report.