Measles cases spread to three more states
Measles has spread to three more states as the outbreak reaches 800 confirmed cases across the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
Louisiana, Virginia and Missouri each confirmed their first cases over the weekend, with at least 27 states now reporting the disease.
All three of the new cases in the states were linked to international travel, according to state health officials.
The Department of Health in Louisiana said the individual who tested positive was not vaccinated and will remain in isolation until they are no longer infectious. The patient is in the greater New Orleans area.
A child in Virginia is the state's first case of measles this year, the Virginia Department of Health confirmed. The child's vaccination status is unknown.
'This first case of measles in Virginia this year is a reminder of how easily this highly contagious disease can spread, particularly with international travel,' the department's epidemiologist Laurie Forlano said. 'Vaccination remains our best defense against measles and is safe and highly effective at protecting people and preventing outbreaks. We urge Virginians, especially those planning to travel, to check their vaccination status, talk to their health care provider, and get the MMR vaccine if needed.'
In Missouri, the first case detected in the state is also a child whose vaccination status has not yet been verified by officials.
'There is no indication of widespread exposure as this person was diagnosed soon after arrival to Taney County,' the state health department said. 'Exposure is believed to be limited, and known contacts have been identified and contacted.'
Confirmed cases across the U.S. now stand at 800, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday. It is nearly three times the total number of 285 cases reported in 2024, according to CDC data.
Cases are most prevalent in Texas, where two school-aged children have died from the disease. A 6-year-old girl from Gaines County, the center of the outbreak, died in February, the first measles death in the U.S. in a decade. An 8-year-old girl from the same town, Seminole, died earlier this month. Out of 800 cases, 597 are in West Texas.
Earlier this month Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, who rose to prominence as an anti-vaccine advocate, met with the family of the 8-year-old girl who died from the disease.
Kennedy's inconsistent and unclear message on the measles vaccines has made the outbreaks difficult to contain, experts say.
He has occasionally endorsed the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine as 'effective,' but also continues to raise safety concerns about the shots in other statements. In a CBS interview last week, he claimed the vaccines were 'not safety tested.'
That approach has been the biggest flaw of the government's response, said Dr. Carlos del Rio, past president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
'Imagine if the captain of the Titanic had told you that you need to be careful about lifeboats and think about other opportunities,' del Rio said.
Trials were conducted on thousands of children before the vaccine was approved for use in the 1960s. The federal government has since used medical records to continue to monitor for side effects from use in millions of people since.
Meanwhile, lawmakers in Texas and about two-thirds of states have introduced legislation this year that would make it easier to opt out of vaccines or otherwise put up barriers to ensuring more people get shots, according to an analysis by The Associated Press. That further undercuts efforts to keep infectious diseases at bay, health officials said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Herald Scotland
3 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
RFK Jr. fires all 17 members of CDC vaccine advisory panel
"Today we are prioritizing the restoration of public trust above any specific pro- or anti-vaccine agenda," said Kennedy Jr., who has a history of controversial views on vaccines. "The public must know that unbiased science--evaluated through a transparent process and insulated from conflicts of interest--guides the recommendations of our health agencies." Kennedy Jr.'s decision marks a reversal from what a key Republican senator said the Trump Cabinet member had promised during his confirmation hearings earlier this year. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, the chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, said Kennedy had promised to maintain the committee's current composition. "If confirmed, he will maintain the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices without changes," Cassidy said. The Biden administration appointed all 17 sitting committee members, with 13 of them taking their seats in 2024. According to Trump's HHS, those appointments would have prevented the current administration from choosing a majority of the committee until 2028. "A clean sweep is necessary to reestablish public confidence in vaccine science," said Kennedy, adding that the new members "will prioritize public health and evidence-based medicine". and "no longer function as a rubber stamp for industry profit-taking agendas."
The Independent
18 hours ago
- The Independent
Does the NHS discriminate against children who attend private school?
On the face of it, the idea that the NHS would withhold treatment to a child with special needs because they attended private school is a clear outrage. I say this as someone who went to a state school, whose children are schooled in the state sector, and who supports VAT on school fees. The NHS has, however, flatly denied the Mail on Sunday 's exclusive about it happening, a story about yet another 'two-tier' system operating in Britain – see also justice and policing – which has predictably grown legs, with other such incidents now being reported. 'The story is not true,' the Department of Health & Social Care said in a statement, 'NHS services are free at the point of use to all.' Well, yes, that's the theory – but we'll get to that. 'NHS occupational therapy services are provided for all children with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). For those without an EHCP, some schools provide on-site NHS occupational therapy,' it continued. So what's going on here? Let's run through the story first. I'm going on what has been reported, because the mother wished to remain anonymous – understandably, at a time of polarisation, when nasty social media pile-ons for perceived wrong-think are all too common. We are told that her eight-year-old son was referred to a paediatrician at Kingston Hospital in south-west London after she noticed he was 'struggling to hold the pen well enough to write properly', along with other mobility issues. It was at the hospital that the problems arose. She was asked to fill in a form which included the question: 'Where does your child go to school?' The mother hoped for an appointment at the children's occupational therapy service in Richmond for a crucial part of his assessment. However, days later, she received a text message saying the child had been declined. She claimed the specialist unit wrote a letter to her GP saying that it was 'only commissioned to provide a service' to children in mainstream schools. Point of order: Many children with disabilities don't attend mainstream schools, and some of those who go private do so with funding from local councils because of the gaps in state provision. But let's move on. The website of the Kingston & Richmond NHS Foundation Trust states: 'Children and young people of school age can be referred via their School SENCo [Special Educational Needs Coordinator] for assessment if they attend a state-funded Richmond school and have a Richmond or Kingston address.' A spokesman declined to address claims by the Mail on Sunday that pupils from private schools had been discriminated against, but 'apologised if the wording in our correspondence caused upset": 'We are in the process of revising it to ensure greater clarity.' Which is about as clear as mud. Nevertheless, he added: 'Occupational therapy services are available to all school-age children who have an Education, Health and Care Plan either through the NHS or the local authority. For children without an EHCP, advice may be available through existing NHS services provided in state school.' Here's where it gets kafkaesque: EHCPs are extraordinarily hard to get, even if you do have mobility issues and struggle to hold a pen. It took us years of exhausting battles to secure one for our eldest, who has autism. You need a battery of assessments to get past first base, often including occupational therapists. It is obviously problematic if you can't get occupational therapy without an EHCP in the first place. By now, you've probably guessed that this appears to be a case of 'heads we win, tails you lose'. Your name's not on the list, you're not getting in for this, that, or any other service you might need. My reading of this story is that it is less about discrimination against private schools than it is yet another case of the NHS using any excuse to say no – and of the horrible bureaucratic hellscape that parents with children with special educational needs and disabilities are thrown into. It is a system that crushes those involved with it. It is like being constantly hit on the head with a sledgehammer while being stretched on a medieval rack. As a family, we've been in the same boat with occupational therapy services: denial of service followed by letters followed by the runaround. At one point, in despair, we went to see our local MP Wes Streeting who is now – ding ding ding! – the health secretary. It doesn't much matter if your child is in the private or the state education system. If they have special needs or disabilities, they and their parents will rapidly come to the conclusion that all the agencies supposed to assist them – the NHS, the local authority, sometimes even the school – are actually against them. That, for me, is the takeaway from this story. It is about a scandalous failure to provide assistance to children who need it. Reform has been repeatedly promised, but we all know that money is tight. Worse still is the fact that bad actors – by which I mean some of the worst local authorities – appear to have the government's ear. Perhaps stories like this will make ministers think twice before listening to them? As for the NHS, it was set up to treat people. It shouldn't matter if your children are schooled publicly or privately. Nor should your postcode play a role. Nor whether or not you have a disability. But the battles I have had to fight in order to overcome what feels like institutional ableism could fill a book. We all pay for the service with our taxes, and we should be able to access necessary treatments. Occupational therapy for a child with mobility issues clearly qualifies, regardless of where they go to school. It really shouldn't be this hard.
Belfast Telegraph
3 days ago
- Belfast Telegraph
NHS set for boost of up to £30bn as other budgets feel squeeze
The Department of Health is set to be handed a 2.8% annual increase in its day-to-day budget over a three-year period. The cash injection, which amounts to a rise of about £30 billion by 2028, or £17 billion in real terms, will see other areas including police and councils squeezed, The Times newspaper reported. Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to ensure that by the next election 92% of patients in England waiting for planned treatment are seen within 18 weeks of being referred. Latest NHS data suggests around 60% of people are currently seen in this time and figures released last month showed the overall number of patients on waiting lists had risen slightly from 6.24 million to 6.25 million. Chancellor Rachel Reeves has acknowledged that she had been forced to turn down requests for funding in a sign of the behind-the-scenes wrangling over her spending review. She insisted the blame for the tight economic situation lay with the Conservatives rather than her rigid rules on borrowing and spending. The Chancellor said despite a £190 billion increase in funding over the spending review period 'not every department will get everything that they want next week and I have had to say no to things that I want to do too'. On top of the increase in day-to-day spending, funded in part by the tax hikes Ms Reeves set out in her budget, looser borrowing rules will help support a £113 billion investment package. Economists have warned the Chancellor faces 'unavoidably' tough choices when she sets out departmental spending plans on June 11. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) think tank said defence and the NHS will dominate the review, raising the prospect of cuts to other unprotected departments.
