Summaries of well being coverage protection from main information organizations
On Friday, lawmakers on Capitol Hill grilled HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about his stance on the measles vaccine, his ideas about whether or not Donald Trump is match to be president, and his tackle autism and gender-affirming care. Plus, CDC employees are “guarded however hopeful” that Erica Schwartz might be the company’s subsequent chief.
ABC News:
RFK Jr. Defends Vaccine Views, Autism Comments During House Committee Hearing
Well being and Human Providers Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. endured one other grueling listening to on Capitol Hill centered on his choices that lawmakers declare have impacted kids’s well being, together with his views on vaccines and former feedback about autism. Following the listening to earlier than the Home Training and Workforce Committee on Friday, Kennedy ignored questions from reporters on President Donald Trump’s new nominee for director of the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention (CDC), Dr. Erica Schwartz, and Kennedy’s upcoming hearings with Senators subsequent week. (Jones II, 4/17)
Stat:
Cautious Optimism Greets Erica Schwartz’s CDC Director Nomination
As one CDC worker, who requested to not be named, put it on Friday, amongst employees “the final vibe is guarded however hopeful.” Nonetheless, even people who find themselves applauding the selection of Erica Schwartz, a retired rear admiral within the U.S. Public Well being Service Commissioned Corps, are anxious about whether or not she’s up for the challenges forward. Schwartz’s predecessor, Susan Monarez, was fired after a standoff with well being secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on vaccine coverage. (Branswell, Payne and Cirruzzo, 4/18)
Outbreaks and well being threats —
CIDRAP:
Extensively Drug-Resistant Shigella On The Rise In US, CDC Warns
Traditionally, shigellosis circumstances in the USA have primarily been seen in younger kids in daycare settings and in individuals who’ve traveled to international locations with poor sanitation. Infections with Shigella, a intestine pathogen that causes diarrhea and vomiting, have additionally been pretty straightforward to deal with. However the profile of who’s most liable to shigellosis is altering, and the infections is changing into a lot more durable to deal with, in response to a report printed final week in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the flagship publication of the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention (CDC). (Dall, 4/17)
CIDRAP:
Report Details Tetanus In 4 Unvaccinated US Kids, Including Refusal Of Post-Exposure Prevention
None of 4 US kids recognized as having tetanus in 2024 had accomplished a really useful major tetanus toxoid–containing vaccine (TTCV) sequence, and none obtained TTCV or preventive tetanus immunoglobulin (TIG) between their publicity and symptom onset. (Van Beusekom, 4/17)
CIDRAP:
CDC Reports 4 Flu Deaths In Kids As Flu Activity Ebbs, But Rotavirus Levels High Across US
Flu exercise continues to say no throughout the nation, however the season stays categorized as high-severity for kids, with the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention (CDC) reporting 4 new deaths in kids in right this moment’s FluView replace, down from 12 the week earlier than. Flu has claimed a complete of 143 little one deaths this season, in contrast with 296 for all of final season. Roughly 85% of pediatric deaths this season have occurred in kids not totally vaccinated towards flu. (Bergeson, 4/17)
San Francisco Chronicle:
S.F. Measles Case Highlights Risk For Babies Too Young For Vaccine
The San Francisco toddler who was recognized with measles this week highlights an particularly at-risk group: infants who’re too younger to get the measles vaccine, and who journey to areas the place measles is circulating. The case, introduced by the general public well being division Wednesday, is the primary measles case in San Francisco since 2019, and comes as California and the nation are seeing a troubling resurgence of the extremely infectious illness. (Ho, 4/18)
CIDRAP:
Study Links Long COVID In Kids To Worse Grades, Attention, And Social Life
Kids and adolescents with lengthy COVID are considerably extra prone to expertise worsening grades, issue concentrating, and having restricted enjoyable with associates, in response to a brand new examine printed in Educational Pediatrics. The findings, drawn from the Nationwide Institutes of Well being–funded Researching COVID to Improve Restoration (RECOVER) observational pediatric cohort, recommend that the impacts of lengthy COVID in youngsters and adolescents lengthen past bodily signs and will disrupt key features of studying and social growth. (Bergeson, 4/17)
CIDRAP:
Dengue May Pose Similar Risk Of Guillain-Barre As Flu, Campylobacter
The danger of Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) after confirmed dengue an infection is much like that after an infection with established viral or bacterial triggers corresponding to influenza or Campylobacter jejuni, per a letter to the editor printed this week within the New England Journal of Drugs. (Van Beusekom, 4/17)
