Vaccines and treatments

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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VACCINATIONSocial Networks Are Not Effective at Mobilizing Vaccination Uptake
By Laura Reiley
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
By Pooja Salhotra and Terri Langford
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
By Catherine Carstairs and Kathryn Hughes
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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PUBLIC HEALTH“Not Just Measles”: Whooping Cough Cases Are Soaring as Vaccine Rates Decline
By Duaa Eldeib and Patricia Callahan
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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VACCINESThe CDC Buried a Measles Forecast That Stressed the Need for Vaccinations
By Patricia Callahan
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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PUBLIC HEALTHFlu Deaths Rise as Anti-Vaccine Disinformation Takes Root
By Tim Henderson
Americans are facing the highest death toll from influenza since 2018, just as more people become vulnerable because of growing vaccine skepticism taking hold in statehouses and the Trump administration.
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PUBLIC HEALTHAmid Growing Numbers of Measles Cases, Chaos Continues at HHS
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 Kennedy – and those who have contracted the disease — vitamin A and cod liver oil are not going to cut it in responding to this expanding outbreak.
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VACCINATIONTexas Reports New Measles Outbreak in West Texas
By Pavan Acharya
The outbreak in Gaines County, with a population of about 22,000, has grown since two cases were reported in January. All those who contracted measles were unvaccinated, health officials said.
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VACCINESCOVID Vaccination Saved More Than 5,000 U.S. Lives in 7 Months in 2023-24, CDC Estimates
By Mary Van Beusekom
COVID-19 vaccination averted more than 5,000 US in-hospital deaths, 13,000 intensive care unit (ICU) admissions, and 68,000 hospitalizations in 7 months in 2023-2024, researchers from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated late last week.
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VACCINESVaccine Misinformation Distorts Science – a Biochemist Explains How RFK Jr. and His Lawyer’s Claims Threaten Public Health
By Mark R. O'Brian
Vaccinations provide significant protection for the public against infectious diseases and substantially reduce health care costs, but it’s easy to forget why many infectious diseases are rarely encountered today: The success of vaccines does not always tell its own story. RFK Jr.’s potential ascent to the role of secretary of Health and Human Services will offer up ample opportunities to retell this story and counter misinformation.
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VACCINESVaccination Gaps Widen in English Kids, with Those in Poorest Areas 20 Times More Vulnerable to Measles
By Mary Van Beusekom
Childhood vaccination disparities are worsening in England, with coverage of five important vaccines lower in young children living in low-income areas and 20 times more children vulnerable to measles in the poorest areas.
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VACCINESNew Method Developed to Detect Fake Vaccines in Supply Chains
The global population is increasingly reliant on vaccines to maintain population health with billions of doses used annually in immunization programs worldwide. The vast majority of vaccines are of excellent quality. However, a rise in substandard and falsified vaccines threaten global public health. Unfortunately, there is currently no global infrastructure in place to monitor supply chains using screening methods developed to identify ineffective vaccines.
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COVID VACCINEGround-Breaking Study Reveals How COVID-19 Vaccines Prevent Severe Disease
A landmark study by scientists at the University of Oxford, has unveiled crucial insights into the way that COVID-19 vaccines mitigate severe illness in those who have been vaccinated.
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PUBLIC HEALTHAs States Loosen Childhood Vaccine Requirements, Health Experts’ Worries Grow
By Shalina Chatlani
Vaccines protect not only the patient, but also those around them. Science has shown that a population can reach community immunity, also known as herd immunity, once a certain percentage of the group is vaccinated. That herd immunity can protect people who can’t get vaccinated, such as those with weakened immune systems or serious allergies, by reducing their chances of infection. But vaccine mandate opponents say it is not about science, but about their individual freedoms.
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