vaccination

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CDC data confirms US is 2 months away from losing measles elimination status

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Unsurprising

This 9171 subtype “continues, unfortunately uninterrupted, across multiple jurisdictions,” David Sugerman, who leads the CDC measles response, said on the call.

According to the Times, local health officials are pessimistic that they’ll be able to stamp out the virus’s spread, saying that vaccination efforts have had “limited” impact. As Ars reported previously, vaccination rates are dangerously low in two measles hotspots: northwestern Mohave County, Arizona, and the southwest health district of Utah. Vaccination rates among kindergartners in the 2024–2025 school year were 78.4 percent and 80.7 percent, respectively. That’s well below the 95 percent target needed to keep the virus from spreading onward in the communities.

In addition, public health officials in Arizona and Utah have reported barriers to responding to the outbreak. Around a quarter of cases don’t know how they were exposed, suggesting cases and exposures are being missed. In late October, health officials in Salt Lake County, Utah, said that a person likely infected with measles refused to cooperate with their investigation, leaving them unable to confirm the probable case.

David Kimberlin, who sits on a panel of experts that analyzes measles data for the United States’ elimination status review, told the Times, “It would not surprise me in the least if there’s continued spread across these next several months.”

To date, the CDC has tallied 1,723 measles cases across 42 states. Most (87 percent) of those cases were linked to outbreaks, of which there have been 45 this year. For context, there were 16 outbreaks and a total of 285 measles cases in the US last year. This year’s measles cases mark a 33-year high.

CDC data confirms US is 2 months away from losing measles elimination status Read More »

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This flu season looks grim as H3N2 emerges with mutations

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Health officials in the United Kingdom are warning that this year’s flu season for the Northern Hemisphere is looking like it will be particularly rough—and the US is not prepared.

The bleak outlook is driven by a new strain of H3N2, which emerged over the summer (at the end of the Southern Hemisphere’s season) sporting several mutations. Those changes are not enough to spark the direst of circumstances—a deadly pandemic—but they could help the virus dodge immune responses, resulting in an outsize number of severe illnesses that could put a significant strain on hospitals and clinics.

In the UK, the virus has taken off. The region’s flu season has started around five weeks earlier than normal and is making a swift ascent.

The UK’s flu season progress. Credit: UKHSA

Jim Mackey, who became chief executive of NHS England in April, is bracing for influenza’s wrath. “There’s no doubt this winter will be one of the toughest our staff have ever faced,” Mackey told The BMJ. “Since stepping into this role, the thought of a long, drawn-out flu season has kept me awake at night. And, unfortunately, it looks like that fear is becoming reality.”

Almost all of the UK cases so far this year have been from influenza A strains, with H3N2 accounting for the lion’s share, according to the UK Health Security Agency. The two circulating influenza A strains are the new H3N2 strain and an H1N1 strain, with an influenza B strain circulating at very low rates. In the latest UK data, H3N2 was behind over 90 percent of cases that had their influenza virus type analyzed.

“Of the two seasonal influenza A viruses, the current dominant circulating virus (A/H3N2) tends to cause more severe illness than A/H1N1, particularly in older adults,” Antonia Ho, an infectious diseases expert at the University of Glasgow, said in a statement. And the early start of the flu season only makes things worse, since not as many people are vaccinated early on, Ho added. “From previous experience, influenza waves that start early tend to affect a larger number of people in the population.”

This flu season looks grim as H3N2 emerges with mutations Read More »

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Canada fought measles and measles won; virus now endemic after 1998 elimination

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“This loss represents a setback, of course, but it is also reversible,” Jarbas Barbosa, director of PAHO, said in a press briefing Monday.

Call to action

Barbosa was optimistic that Canada could regain its elimination status. He highlighted that such setbacks have happened before. “In 2018 and 2019, Venezuela and Brazil temporarily lost their elimination status following large outbreaks,” Barbosa noted. “Thanks to coordinated action by governments, civil society, and regional cooperation, those outbreaks were contained, and the Region of the Americas regained its measles-free status in 2024.”

On Monday, the Public Health Agency of Canada released a statement confirming that it received notification from PAHO that it had lost its measles elimination status, while reporting that it is already getting to work on earning it back. “PHAC is collaborating with the PAHO and working with federal, provincial, territorial, and community partners to implement coordinated actions—focused on improving vaccination coverage, strengthening data sharing, enabling better overall surveillance efforts, and providing evidence-based guidance,” the agency said.

However, Canada isn’t the only country facing an uphill battle against measles—the most infectious virus known to humankind. Outbreaks and sustained spread are also active in the US and Mexico. To date, the US has documented at least 1,618 measles cases since the start of the year, while Mexico has tallied at least 5,185. Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Belize also have ongoing outbreaks, PAHO reported.

As of November 7, PAHO has collected reports of 12,593 confirmed measles cases from 10 countries, but approximately 95 percent of them are in Canada, Mexico, and the US. That total is a 30-fold increase compared to 2024, PAHO notes, and the rise has led to at least 28 deaths: 23 in Mexico, three in the United States, and two in Canada.

The PAHO used Canada’s loss as a call to action not just in the northern country, but the rest of the region. “Every case we prevent, every outbreak we stop saves lives, protects families, and makes communities healthier,” Barbosa said. “Today, rather than lamenting the loss of a regional status, we call on all countries to redouble their efforts to strengthen vaccination rates, surveillance, and timely response to suspected cases—reaching every corner of the Americas. As a Region, we have eliminated measles twice. We can do it a third time.”

Canada fought measles and measles won; virus now endemic after 1998 elimination Read More »

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All childhood vaccines in question after first meeting of RFK Jr.’s vaccine panel

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A federal vaccine panel entirely hand-selected by health secretary and anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. gathered for its first meeting Wednesday—and immediately announced that it would re-evaluate the entire childhood vaccination schedule, as well as the one for adults.

The meeting overall was packed with anti-vaccine talking points and arguments from the new panel members, confirming public health experts’ fears that the once-revered panel is now critically corrupted and that Kennedy’s controversial picks will only work to fulfill his long-standing anti-vaccine agenda.

Controversial committee

An hour before the meeting began, the American Academy of Pediatrics came out swinging against the new panel, saying that the panel’s work is “no longer a credible process.” The organization shunned the meeting, refusing to send a liaison to the panel’s meeting, which it has done for decades.

“We won’t lend our name or our expertise to a system that is being politicized at the expense of children’s health,” AAP President Susan Kressly said in a video posted on social media.

The panel in question, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), has for more than 60 years provided rigorous public scientific review, discussion, and trusted recommendations to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on how vaccines should be used in the US after they’ve earned approval from the Food and Drug Administration. The CDC typically adopts ACIP’s recommendations, and once that happens, insurance providers are required to cover the cost of the recommended shots.

The system is highly regarded globally. But, on June 9, Kennedy unilaterally and summarily fired all 17 esteemed ACIP members and, two days later, replaced them with eight new people. Some have clear anti-vaccine views, others have controversial and contrarian public health views, and several have little to no expertise in the fields relevant to vaccines.

Last night, it came to light that one of the eight new appointees—Michael Ross, an obstetrics and gynecology physician—had withdrawn from the committee during a financial holdings review that ACIP members are required to complete before beginning work on the panel.

All childhood vaccines in question after first meeting of RFK Jr.’s vaccine panel Read More »

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With over 900 US measles cases so far this year, things are looking bleak

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As of Friday, April 25, the US has confirmed over 900 measles cases since the start of the year. The cases are across 29 states, but most are in or near Texas, where a massive outbreak continues to mushroom in close-knit, undervaccinated communities.

On April 24, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had tallied 884 cases across the country. Today, the Texas health department updated its outbreak total, adding 22 cases to its last count from Tuesday. That brings the national total to at least 906 confirmed cases. Most of the cases are in unvaccinated children and teens.

Overall, Texas has identified 664 cases since late January. Of those, 64 patients have been hospitalized, and two unvaccinated school-aged children with no underlying medical conditions have died of the disease. An unvaccinated adult in New Mexico also died from the infection, bringing this year’s measles death toll to three.

The cases and deaths are breaking records. In the past 30 years, the only year with more measles cases than the current tally was 2019, which saw 1,274 cases. Most of those cases were linked to large, extended outbreaks in New York City that took 11 months to quell. The US was just weeks away from losing its elimination status, an achievement earned in 2000 when the country first went 12 months without continuous transmission.

Since 2019, vaccination coverage of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine among US kindergartners has only fallen. National rates fell from 95 percent in 2019—the threshold considered necessary to keep measles from spreading—to 92.7 percent in the 2023–24 school year, the most recent year for which there’s data.

On the brink

In 2019, amid the record annual case tally, cases had only reached a total of 704 by April 26. With this year’s tally already over 900, the country is on track to record a new high. Before 2019, the next highest case total for measles was in 1994. That year, the country saw 899 cases, which 2025 has already surpassed.

With over 900 US measles cases so far this year, things are looking bleak Read More »

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US measles outlook is so bad health experts call for updating vaccine guidance

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With measles declared eliminated from the US in 2000 and national herd immunity strong, health experts have recommended that American children get two doses of the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) vaccine—the first between the ages of 12 and 15 months and the second between the ages of 4 and 6 years, before they start school.

Before 12 months, vulnerable infants in the US have been protected in part by maternal antibodies early in infancy as well as the immunity of the people surrounding them. But if they travel to a place where population immunity is unreliable, experts recommend that infants ages 6 to 11 months get an early dose—then follow it up with the standard two doses at the standard times, bringing the total to three doses.

The reason they would need three—and the reason experts typically recommend waiting until 12 months—is because the maternal antibodies infants carry can interfere with the vaccine response, preventing the immune system from mounting long-lasting protection. Still, the early dose provides boosted protection in that 6-to-11-month interval.

In the past, this early, extra dose was recommended for infants traveling internationally—to countries that hadn’t achieved America’s enviable level of herd immunity and were vulnerable to outbreaks. But now, with US vaccination rates slipping, herd immunity becoming spotty, cases rising by the day, and outbreaks simmering in multiple states, the US is no longer different from far-off places that struggle with the extremely infectious virus.

In an article published today in JAMA, prominent health experts—including former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky—call for the US to update its MMR recommendations to include the early, extra dose for infants who are not only traveling abroad, but domestically, to any areas where measles is a concern.

“With some local immunization levels inadequate to avert outbreaks and ongoing disease spread in various regions of the country, a dichotomy between domestic and international travel is not appropriate,” the experts write. “For many travel itineraries, there may even be a higher risk of measles exposure at the US point of departure than at the international destinations.”

Vaccinating at-risk infants early is critical to their own health—as well as the people around them, the experts note. “[I]nfants younger than one year face a heightened risk of severe measles-related complications such as pneumonia, encephalitis, and death. Younger infants are also at increased risk of developing subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE), a rare measles complication that has a high fatality rate and may surface years after initial infection,” according to the experts.

US measles outlook is so bad health experts call for updating vaccine guidance Read More »

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Texas measles outbreak spills into third state as cases reach 258

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Texas and New Mexico

Meanwhile, the Texas health department on Tuesday provided an outbreak update, raising the case count to 223, up 25 from the 198 Texas cases reported Friday. Of the Texas cases, 29 have been hospitalized and one has died—a 6-year-old girl from Gaines County, the outbreak’s epicenter. The girl was unvaccinated and had no known underlying health conditions.

The outbreak continues to be primarily in unvaccinated children. Of the 223 cases, 76 are in ages 0 to 4, and 98 are between ages 5 and 17. Of the cases, 80 are unvaccinated, 138 lack vaccination status, and five are known to have received at least one dose of the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella vaccine.

One dose of MMR is estimated to be 93 percent effective against measles, and two doses offer 98 percent protection. It’s not unexpected to see a small number of breakthrough cases in large, localized outbreaks.

Across the border from Gaines County in Texas sits Lea County, where New Mexico officials have now documented 32 cases, with an additional case reported in neighboring Eddy County, bringing the state’s current total to 33. Of those cases, one person has been hospitalized and one person (not hospitalized) died. The death was an adult who did not seek medical care and tested positive for measles only after death. The cause of their death is under investigation.

Of New Mexico’s 33 cases, 27 were unvaccinated and five did not have a vaccination status, and one had received at least one MMR dose. Eighteen of the 33 cases are in adults, 13 are ages 0 to 17, and two cases have no confirmed age.

On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a travel alert over the measles outbreak. “With spring and summer travel season approaching in the United States, CDC emphasizes the important role that clinicians and public health officials play in preventing the spread of measles,” the agency said in the alert. It advised clinicians to be vigilant in identifying potential measles cases.

The agency stressed the importance of vaccination, putting in bold: “Measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccination remains the most important tool for preventing measles,” while saying that “all US residents should be up to date on their MMR vaccinations.”

US health secretary and long-time anti-vaccine advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr, meanwhile, has been emphasizing cod liver oil, which does not prevent measles, and falsely blaming the outbreak on poor nutrition.

Texas measles outbreak spills into third state as cases reach 258 Read More »

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Measles outbreak hits 208 cases as federal response goes off the rails

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Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin that stays in the body. Taking too much over longer periods can cause vomiting, headache, fatigue, joint and bone pain, blurry vision, and skin and hair problems. Further, it can lead to dangerously high pressure inside the skull that pushes on the brain, as well as liver damage, confusion, coma, and other problems, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Nevertheless, in an interview with Fox News this week, Kennedy endorsed an unconventional regimen of a steroid, an antibiotic and cod liver oil, praising two Texas doctors for giving it to patients. One of the doctors Kennedy championed was disciplined by the state medical board in 2003 for “unusual use of risk-filled medications,” according to a report by CNN.

In a yet more worrying sign, Reuters reported Friday afternoon that the CDC is planning to conduct a large study on whether the MMR vaccine is linked to autism. This taxpayer-funded effort would occur despite the fact that decades of research and numerous high-quality studies have already been conducted—and they have consistently disproven or found no connection between the vaccine and autism.

The agency’s move is exactly what Democratic senators feared when Kennedy was confirmed as the country’s top health official. In Senate hearings, Kennedy refused to say that vaccines do not cause autism. Democratic senators quickly warned that his anti-vaccine stance could not only move the country backward in the fight against vaccine-preventable diseases, but also hold back autism research aimed at finding the real cause(s) as well as better treatments.

“When you continue to sow doubt about settled science it makes it impossible for us to move forward,” Senator Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) said in a Senate hearing. “It’s the relitigating and rehashing … it freezes us in place.”

Measles outbreak hits 208 cases as federal response goes off the rails Read More »

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Texas official warns against “measles parties” as outbreak keeps growing

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Cook, along with Lubbock’s director of public health, Katherine Wells, said they see no end in sight for the outbreak, which now spans nine counties in Texas, many of which have low vaccination rates. “This outbreak is going to continue to grow,” Wells said, declining to forecast how high the final case count could go after a reporter raised the possibility of several hundred.

So far, 116 of the 146 cases are under the age of 18, with 46 being between the ages of 0 and 4. Only five of the 146 were vaccinated with at least one dose of the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) vaccine.

Messaging

On a more positive note, Wells reported that the outbreak has seemed to sway some vaccine-hesitant parents to get their children vaccinated. Just yesterday in Lubbock, over 50 children came into the city’s clinic for measles vaccines. Eleven of those children had vaccine exemptions, meaning their parents had previously gone through the state process to exempt their child from having to receive routine childhood vaccines to attend school. “Which is a really good sign; that means our message is getting out there,” Wells said.

So far in the outbreak, which erupted in late January, messaging about the disease and the importance of vaccination has exclusively come from state and local authorities. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention only released a brief statement late Thursday, which was not sent through the agency’s press distribution list. It did, however, note that “vaccination remains the best defense against measles infection.”

During a cabinet meeting Wednesday, US Health Secretary and anti-vaccine advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. responded to a question about the outbreak, offering a variety of inaccurate information. Kennedy downplayed the outbreak, falsely claiming that “it’s not unusual.” But, this is an unusual year for measles in the US. As epidemiologist Katelyn Jetelina noted on Bluesky, the number of US measles cases this year has already surpassed the total case counts from eight of the previous 15 years. And it is only February.

Texas official warns against “measles parties” as outbreak keeps growing Read More »

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Texas measles outbreak reaches 90 cases; 9 cases in New Mexico

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Other affected counties in Texas include Dawson (6 cases); Ector (1); Lubbock (1); Lynn (1); Terry (20); and Yoakum (4).

In Texas, the majority of the cases continue to be in children: 26 are in infants and young children ages 0 to 4, and 51 are between ages 5 and 17. All but five cases have been in unvaccinated people. Sixteen people (roughly 18 percent) have been hospitalized.

In New Mexico, there have been no hospitalizations, and five of the nine cases are in adults. The other four cases were between the ages of 5 and 17.

Given low vaccination rate in the area and the contagiousness of measles, health officials expect the outbreak to continue to grow. Measles is one of the most infectious viruses known; 90 percent of people who are unvaccinated and exposed will fall ill. The disease is marked by high fevers and a telltale rash and can cause severe complications in some, including younger children.

In the US, about 20 percent of people with measles are typically hospitalized. Five percent develop pneumonia, and up to 3 in 1,000 die of the infection. In rare cases, measles can cause a fatal disease of the central nervous system later in life called Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis. Measles also wipes out immune responses to other infections (a phenomenon known as immune amnesia), making people vulnerable to various illnesses.

Texas measles outbreak reaches 90 cases; 9 cases in New Mexico Read More »

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Louisiana officially ends mass vaccinations as RFK Jr. comes to power

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“Rather than instructing individuals to receive any and all vaccines, LDH staff should communicate data regarding the reduced risk of disease, hospitalization, and death associated with a vaccine and encourage individuals to discuss considerations for vaccination with their healthcare provider,” he wrote.

“Ripped in half”

Susan Hassig, an infectious disease epidemiologist and professor emerita at Tulane University’s School of Public Health, told the Times-Picayune that this is problematic advice. Many people don’t have primary care providers. “They go to an urgent care or a clinic,” Hassig said. “In Louisiana, they go to the emergency room.”

The memo lands amid widespread fear that Kennedy’s appointment will lead to further erosion of America’s trust in vaccination and its vaccination rates. Already, rates of routine childhood vaccination in kindergartners across the nation have slipped into the range of 92 percent, woefully below the 95 percent threshold to prevent onward disease spread. Exemptions from school vaccination requirements are at an all-time high.

Further, the country is also in the midst of the worst flu season in 15 years. The percent of doctor’s visits for influenza-like illnesses (a standard metric for flu season) hit 7.8 percent this week, a high not seen since the 2009–2010 season amid the emergence of the H1N1 swine flu. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that there have been at least 29 million illnesses, 370,000 hospitalizations, and 16,000 deaths from flu so far this season. This week, 11 children died of flu, bringing the 2024–2025 pediatric death toll to 68.

Among the recent deaths was a healthy 9-year-old girl in North Carolina, who died from flu complications on January 29. “I literally feel like my heart has been ripped in half,” her mother told WRAL News.

Seasonal flu shots significantly reduce the risk of death, particularly in children.

Louisiana officially ends mass vaccinations as RFK Jr. comes to power Read More »

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“A sicker America”: Senate confirms Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary

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The US Senate on Thursday confirmed the long-time anti-vaccine advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services.

The vote was largely along party lines, with a tally of 52 to 48. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R–Ky.), a polio survivor and steadfast supporter of vaccines, voted against the confirmation, the only Republican to do so.

Before the vote, Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D–N.Y.) claimed that if there had been a secret ballot today, most Republicans would have voted against Kennedy. “But sadly, and unfortunately for America, Republicans are being strong-armed by Donald Trump and will end up holding their nose and voting to confirm Mr. Kennedy… What a travesty,” Schumer said.

Senator Mike Crapo (R–Idaho) shot back, supporting Kennedy’s nomination and chastising his colleagues for their continued “attacks” on Kennedy. “He has made it very clear that he will support safe vaccinations and just wants to see that the research on them is done and done well,” Crapo said, seemingly not acknowledging the vast wealth of high-quality research that has already been done on vaccine safety and efficacy.

As the top health official for the Trump administration, Kennedy says he will focus on improving nutrition and reducing chronic diseases, in part by cracking down on food additives, processed foods, and the influence of food and drug makers on federal agencies. Prior to his confirmation, he campaigned on the slogan “Make America Healthy Again,” aka MAHA, which he has moved to trademark.

Anti-vaccine advocacy

While his stated goals have drawn support and praise from some lawmakers and health advocates, his confirmation has been highly controversial because he is one of the most prominent and influential anti-vaccine advocates in the country. He has worked for decades to erode trust in safe, life-saving vaccinations as the head of the anti-vaccine organization he founded, Children’s Health Defense, and spread misinformation and conspiracy theories. Upon seeking the confirmation, he transferred his trademark application to an LLC managed by Del Bigtree, another prominent anti-vaccine advocate who has spread conspiracy theories.

“A sicker America”: Senate confirms Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary Read More »