Public Health News | Measles outbreak, RFK Etc

[ChileG]

Thanks, Trumpers

I see schools are being closed in Texas for a disease that kills less than COVID. What a bunch of liberal wimps, right?

 

[nycfan]

So there is a measles outbreak in TX, covered in a separate thread, but noting here that so far the HHS Secretary hasn't commented on the outbreak ...

What RFK Jr. has said about the ongoing measles outbreak

The new Health and Human Services secretary is facing one of his first public health crises. Will he blow up the typical protocol?

www.vox.com

"...The feds usually stay in the background with an outbreak the size of the current measles occurrence. They can offer expert or laboratory support, for example. But otherwise, they are supporting players, unless the outbreak poses a unique threat to the rest of the nation or becomes a large multi-state crisis. For now, the current outbreak is limited to a small geographical region, and the states appear well aligned on how to respond.

But it is possible that further spread could demand federal officials get more involved — a development that would be worth watching closely, given its new leadership.

...Texas health officials — and their counterparts in New Mexico, now that cases have begun to spread there — have set up mobile vaccination and testing sites, encouraging unvaccinated people to get their shots now. Because local officials are among the community they serve, they may be considered more trustworthy (and in turn they can ultimately be more effective).

If those efforts are allowed to continue unencumbered, that will be a hopeful sign that the RFK Jr.-led health department will not actively sabotage public health efforts when there is an acute crisis underway. After some observers pointed out that the CDC measles tracker had not been with the new outbreak, the web page was refreshed on Friday with a pledge to continue updating it every Friday.
So far, there is no sign that local officials have requested support from the federal government and been denied it. ..."

...​

 

[nycfan]

So there is a measles outbreak in TX, covered in a separate thread, but noting here that so far the HHS Secretary hasn't commented on the outbreak ...

What RFK Jr. has said about the ongoing measles outbreak

The new Health and Human Services secretary is facing one of his first public health crises. Will he blow up the typical protocol?

www.vox.com

"...The feds usually stay in the background with an outbreak the size of the current measles occurrence. They can offer expert or laboratory support, for example. But otherwise, they are supporting players, unless the outbreak poses a unique threat to the rest of the nation or becomes a large multi-state crisis. For now, the current outbreak is limited to a small geographical region, and the states appear well aligned on how to respond.

But it is possible that further spread could demand federal officials get more involved — a development that would be worth watching closely, given its new leadership.

...Texas health officials — and their counterparts in New Mexico, now that cases have begun to spread there — have set up mobile vaccination and testing sites, encouraging unvaccinated people to get their shots now. Because local officials are among the community they serve, they may be considered more trustworthy (and in turn they can ultimately be more effective).

If those efforts are allowed to continue unencumbered, that will be a hopeful sign that the RFK Jr.-led health department will not actively sabotage public health efforts when there is an acute crisis underway. After some observers pointed out that the CDC measles tracker had not been with the new outbreak, the web page was refreshed on Friday with a pledge to continue updating it every Friday.
So far, there is no sign that local officials have requested support from the federal government and been denied it. ..."

...​

EXCEPT HE DID COMMENT earlier today and was not very honest about it

 

[Patb78]

RIP to that poor child. never stood a chance thanks to their moronic parents.

I agree. If you think vaccines don’t extend and improve our lives then do one thing. Go to an old cemetery with graves from the late 1700’s to mid 1800’s. Look at how many young people are buried there as compared to cemeteries from today. Certainly young people die today. But the rate is a tiny fraction of what it was back then. Part is improved sanitation, but the lack of vaccines is a bigger reason. Truly tragic people put their children’s lives at risk by not taking advantage of modern medicine .

 

[StrangePackage]

Jokes about anti vax morons, and the children of anti vax morons - two things that never get old.

 

[ZenMode]

RIP to that poor child. never stood a chance thanks to their moronic parents.

Truer words have never been spoken.

 

[finesse]

I agree. If you think vaccines don’t extend and improve our lives then do one thing. Go to an old cemetery with graves from the late 1700’s to mid 1800’s. Look at how many young people are buried there as compared to cemeteries from today. Certainly young people die today. But the rate is a tiny fraction of what it was back then. Part is improved sanitation, but the lack of vaccines is a bigger reason. Truly tragic people put their children’s lives at risk by not taking advantage of modern medicine .

You actually only need to go back to 1900. That was about the time that modern sanitation practices were adopted (germ theory of disease is late 1800s) and then you had the discovery on insulin, sulfa drugs and penicillin. Other than smallpox, the first big vaccine I remember was in the early 50s with polio. Before that, the death tolls from disease was horrendous. I think it was turn of the 20th century before the death rate in cities fell below the birthrate. Only people coming to the cities let them grow before.

 

[nycfan]

Merged the RFK and Public health threads since they have a lot of overlap

 

[Patb78]

You actually only need to go back to 1900. That was about the time that modern sanitation practices were adopted (germ theory of disease is late 1800s) and then you had the discovery on insulin, sulfa drugs and penicillin. Other than smallpox, the first big vaccine I remember was in the early 50s with polio. Before that, the death tolls from disease was horrendous. I think it was turn of the 20th century before the death rate in cities fell below the birthrate. Only people coming to the cities let them grow before.

You are right. There is a small cemetery in Haw River where my wife’s younger sister is buried. Not far from her grave is a section containing the graves of small children who died in the first decade of the 20th century. There are many, and Haw River isn’t a large community even today. Certainly not back then when all those babies were buried. I’m thinking now what would their parents have given to have access to the medicines we have today. Medicines that are now spurned by so many.

 

[nycfan]

 

[nycfan]

A pediatrician on the ground said they were admitted [to hospital] bc they couldn't breathe.

 

[altmin]

CDC Posts First Bird Flu Update Since Trump Took Office

Two new humans cases in Ohio and Wyoming were hospitalized.

gizmodo.com

 

[BlooVooDoo]

I agree. If you think vaccines don’t extend and improve our lives then do one thing. Go to an old cemetery with graves from the late 1700’s to mid 1800’s. Look at how many young people are buried there as compared to cemeteries from today. Certainly young people die today. But the rate is a tiny fraction of what it was back then. Part is improved sanitation, but the lack of vaccines is a bigger reason. Truly tragic people put their children’s lives at risk by not taking advantage of modern medicine .

You don’t even need to go back that far. 1880’s to 1920’s will have lots of graves of those 10 and under.

Edit- I see finesse already mentioned this.

 

[Patb78]

You don’t even need to go back that far. 1880’s to 1920’s will have lots of graves of those 10 and under.

Edit- I see finesse already mentioned this.

Yes. I posted in response to finesse about a graveyard here in Alamance County.

 

[nycfan]

Trump team weighs pulling funding for Moderna's bird flu shot despite outbreak​

https://www.axios.com/2025/02/27/moderna-bird-flu-vaccine-funding-review

“

The Trump administration confirmed it's reviewing whether to pull $590 million in funding that Moderna received in the final days of the Biden administration to develop an mRNA vaccine for bird flu in people.

The big picture: Moderna shares were trading down 5% Thursday morning on news of the review, part of a bigger examination of spending on messenger RNA-based vaccines based on the same technology used in COVID-19 shots, per Bloomberg.

• The funds awarded in January from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority were aimed at creating a line of defense against H5N1 in people that matches the strains circulating in cows and birds.

What they're saying: "While it is crucial that the U.S. Department and Health and Human Services support pandemic preparedness, four years of the Biden administration's failed oversight have made it necessary to review agreements for vaccine production," an HHS spokesperson told Axios.”

 

[NCK9]

 

[nrsair]

Since the thread on the cancellation of the flu strain selection advisory committee has devolved into a pissing match, I’ll put this here:

FirstWord

firstwordpharma.com

“On Thursday, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) confirmed that the meeting had been cancelled. "The FDA will make public its recommendations to manufacturers in time for updated vaccines to be available for the 2025-2026 influenza season," Andrew Nixo said in a statement.”

The entire point of the fucking meeting is to communicate recommendations to manufacturers! Absolutely nonsensical.

 

[nycfan]

 

[Healing]

Measles infection and rheumatoid arthritis (if you aren’t familiar, RA can be brutal)

Measles Contributes to Rheumatoid Arthritis: Evidence from Pathway and Network Analyses of Genome-Wide Association Studies - PMC

Growing evidence from epidemiological studies indicates the association between rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and measles. However, the exact mechanism for this association is still unclear now. We consider that the strong association between both ...

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Measles infection and immune amnesia

Measles does long-term damage to immune system, studies show

www.cidrap.umn.edu

“After severe measles, children lost a median of 40% (range, 11% to 62%), and after mild measles they lost 33% (range, 12% to 73%), of their total preexisting pathogen-specific antibody repertoires. Paired, healthy controls retained approximately 90% of their repertoires over similar or longer durations.

Mina compared the hit to the immune system to the damage done by HIV.

"If you took all of the immunological memory that HIV tears down when it's untreated for 5 to 10 years, that's what you see after one measles infection," Mina said.”

 

[gtyellowjacket]

The source of that 50% quote is legit. He's a Harvard faculty MD and PhD immunologist. I'd love to see where he came up with it though. That is really hard to believe with TB and smallpox out there.