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IMMIGRATIONExperts Cast Doubt on State’s Report That Undocumented Immigrants Cost Texas Hospitals $122M in a Month
Texas hospitals incurred $121.8 million in health care costs in November from patients who were not “lawfully” permitted to be in the country, according to data released by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. Policy experts say undocumented immigrants’ cost to hospitals is a small fraction of the total cost from uninsured Texans.
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PUBLIC HEALTHQ&A: Measles May Be Making a Comeback in the U.S.
Childhood vaccination rates have been falling in the United States, and as expected, lower levels of immunity have resulted in a resurgence of measles cases, including a recent outbreak in western Texas. If immunization rates drop further, measles and even other wiped-out diseases—such as rubella and polio—could make a comeback in the United States.
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TRGETING SCIENCETrump’s War on Measurement Means Losing Data on Drug Use, Maternal Mortality, Climate Change and More
By slashing teams that gather critical data, the administration has left the federal government with no way of understanding if policies are working — and created a black hole of information whose consequences could ripple out for decades.
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NUCLEAR SURVIVALWhat We’ve Learned from Survivors of the Atomic Bombs
Q&A with Dr. Preetha Rajaraman, New Vice Chair for the Radiation Effects Research Foundation in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.
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VACCINATIONSocial Networks Are Not Effective at Mobilizing Vaccination Uptake
The persuasive power of social networks is immense, but not limitless. Vaccine preferences, based on the COVID experience in the United States, proved quite insensitive to persuasion, even through friendship networks.
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ANTI-VACCINE THREAT Anti-Vaccine Advocates Battle Over Narrative in West Texas, Downplaying Role of Measles in Deaths
After Daisy Hildebrand died of measles, her death was made public first by Dr. Robert Malone, a vaccine skeptic who blamed the hospital for fumbling her care. Daisy’s father told The Texas Tribune he never to spoke to Malone.
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ANTI-VACCINE THREATCombatting the Measles Threat Means Examining the Reasons for Declining Vaccination Rates
Measles was supposedly eradicated in Canada more than a quarter century ago. But today, measles is surging. The cause of this resurgence is declining vaccination rates.
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CLIMATE CHALLENGESTrump’s EPA Plans to Stop Collecting Greenhouse Gas Emissions Data From Most Polluters
Climate experts expressed shock and dismay at the move. “It would be a bit like unplugging the equipment that monitors the vital signs of a patient that is critically ill,” one said.
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NUCLEAR WASTEHow and Where Is Nuclear waste stored in the U.S.?
Around the U.S., about 90,000 tons of nuclear waste is stored at over 100 sites in 39 states, in a range of different structures and containers. For decades, the nation has been trying to send it all to one secure location. Perhaps there will be a temporary site whose location passes muster with the Supreme Court. But in the meantime, the waste will stay where it is.
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PUBLIC HEALTH“Not Just Measles”: Whooping Cough Cases Are Soaring as Vaccine Rates Decline
Declining vaccination rates have caused the Texas measles outbreak, and vaccination rates for other childhood diseases have fallen as well. Deep cuts to public health jobs and funding, and HHS’s ambivalent messaging about vaccines, make it harder for agencies to fight outbreaks and prevent disease with vaccines.
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PUBLIC HEALTHSome Measles Response Plans Crash to a Halt after Trump Cuts
Cities and states fighting a historic measles outbreak find themselves undermined by the Trump administration as they struggle to provide crucial vaccinations and overcome disinformation.
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PUBLIC HEALTHPublic Health Groups Call for Kennedy to Resign or Be Fired as Biomed Sector Airs Concerns
In the wake of dramatic cuts to US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) staff, cutbacks for state public health efforts, and mixed messages on battling measles and other infectious diseases, two public health groups called for HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to resign or be fired.
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PUBLIC HEALTHA Deadly Mosquito-Borne Illness Rises as the U.S. Cuts All Climate-Health Funding
Climate change is driving an explosion in dengue cases. Studying that connection is about to get much harder.
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BIOSECURITYAI Tools Can Enhance U.S. Biosecurity; Monitoring and Mitigation Will Be Needed to Protect Against Misuse
A new report recommends ways for the U.S. to reap the benefits of artificial intelligence in biotechnology while minimizing risks that AI may be misused to develop harmful biological agents.
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VACCINESThe CDC Buried a Measles Forecast That Stressed the Need for Vaccinations
The move — along with the CDC’s explanation — is a sign that the nation’s top public health agency may be falling in line under HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime critic of vaccines.
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The long view
CLIMATE-CHANGE CHALLENGESHuge Areas May Face Possibly Fatal Heat Waves if Warming Continues
A new assessment warns that if Earth’s average temperature reaches 2 degrees C over the preindustrial average, widespread areas may become too hot during extreme heat events for many people to survive without artificial cooling.