Category: Vaccines
RFK Jr’s shakeup of vaccine advisory committee raises worries about scientific integrity of health recommendations
Public health experts decried the Kennedy’s action, pointing to his promise not to change the committee and warning that the move politicizes its work and undermines its scientific integrity.
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Washington sees 25-fold increase in whooping cough cases in 2024 compared to previous year
Washington state experienced a dramatic surge in whooping cough cases in 2024, with 2,261 confirmed and probable cases reported – a staggering 25-fold increase from 87 cases recorded in 2023.
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Measles cases are in 34 states with North Dakota now the focus
As super-contagious measles continues to spread and nears a six-year U.S. record, cases in its original epicenter of West Texas may be subsiding as hesitant residents become more concerned and willing to vaccinate, while North Dakota is a new focus with the highest rate of any state.
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FDA will approve COVID-19 vaccine only for older adults and high-risk groups – a public health expert explains the new rules
Although the FDA states that its new policy aims to promote greater transparency and evidenced-based decision-making, the change is controversial – in part because it circumvents the usual process for evaluating vaccine recommendations.
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The MMR vaccine doesn’t contain ‘aborted fetus debris’, as RFK Jr has claimed. Here’s the science
Despite what Kennedy would have you believe, there’s no fetal debris in the MMR vaccine, and the trace amounts of DNA fragments that may remain pose no health risk.
What the evidence does show, however, is that vaccines like the MMR vaccine offer excellent protection against deadly and preventable diseases, and have saved millions of lives around the world.
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Washington Health Officials Urge Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) vaccines amidst national outbreak
Childhood immunization rates in Washington state have dropped since the COVID-19 pandemic, putting communities at risk for outbreaks
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Are New Immune-Based Treatments for Kidney and Pancreatic Cancer on the Horizon?
New immune-based treatments for kidney and pancreatic cancer have shown promising results in two small clinical trials. In both trials, the treatments appeared to prevent cancer from returning in patients who had successful surgery to remove their tumors. The treatments are called therapeutic cancer vaccines because they help the immune system eliminate an existing cancer.
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Measles Misinformation Is on the Rise — And Americans Are Hearing It, Survey Finds
Republicans are far more skeptical of vaccines and twice as likely (1 in 5) as Democrats (1 in 10) to believe the measles shot is worse than the disease.
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Measles can ravage the immune system and brain, causing long-term damage – a virologist explains
Measles can wipe out immune cells’ ability to recognize pathogens. Peter Kasson, Georgia Institute of Technology The measles outbreak that
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The CDC Buried a Measles Forecast That Stressed the Need for Vaccinations
In an aborted plan to roll out the news, the agency would have emphasized the importance of vaccinating people against the highly contagious and potentially deadly disease that has spread to 19 states, the records show.
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Combatting the measles threat means examining the reasons for declining vaccination rates
The anti-vaccine literature is not anti-science. It is filled with statistics and references to scientific studies, although the facts are often wrong. Parents who read this literature need more than the simple reassurance of experts that vaccines are safe and effective. They need to be shown evidence and have confidence that their concerns are being taken seriously.
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Second measles case identified in Washington state
Measles is a highly contagious and potentially severe disease that causes fever, rash, cough, runny nose, and red, watery eyes. If one person has it, up to 9 out of 10 people nearby will become infected if they are not protected. It mainly spreads through the air after a person with measles coughs or sneezes.
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Flu deaths rise as anti-vaccine disinformation takes root
Flu-related deaths hit a seven-year high in January and February, the two months that usually account for the height of flu season, according to a Stateline analysis of preliminary federal statistics. There were about 9,800 deaths across the country, up from 5,000 in the same period last year and the most since 2018, when there were about 10,800.
Despite that, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has canceled or postponed meetings to prepare for next fall’s flu vaccine, when experts talk about what influenza strains they expect they’ll be battling.
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Less than half of parents think they have accurate information about bird flu
National Poll: 2 in 5 parents wish the government was doing more to prevent a bird flu outbreak; 1 in 3 have taken action to protect their family against it
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As flu cases break records this year, vaccine rates are declining, particularly for children and 65+ adults
In February 2025, flu rates spiked to the highest levels seen in at least 15 years, with flu outpacing COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations for the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has classified this flu season as having “high” severity across the U.S.
The Conversation asked epidemiologist Annette Regan to explain why this flu season is different from last year’s and what people can do to help reduce the spread.
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