Vaccination rates of U.S. kindergartners down, measles cases up
July 31 (UPI) -- Vaccination rates among U.S. kindergarten students decreased during the 2024-2025 school year, according to data released Thursday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the District of Columbia.
Rates ranged from 92.1% for diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis to 92.5% for measles, mumps and rubella. Vaccination rates for polio and varicella dropped in more than half of the states compared to a year prior, the data show.
"The number of kindergarteners attending school without documentation of completing the MMR vaccine series was about 286,000 during the 2024-2025 school year," the report said. Overall, the number of kindergartners exempt from one or more vaccines during the 2024-2025 school year reached nearly 138,000, the data showed.
The drop in vaccination rates comes amid an uptick in the number of measles cases in the United States. There have been 29 reported outbreaks in 2025, compared with 16 in 2024.
Of 1,156 cases reported so far this year, 87% of them have been confirmed, compared to 198 of 285 confirmed cases, or 69%, in 2024.
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Los Angeles Times
25 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
CDC shooter blamed COVID vaccine for depression. Union demands statement against misinformation
As authorities identified the shooter in the deadly attack on CDC headquarters as a Georgia man who blamed the COVID-19 vaccine for making him depressed and suicidal, a union representing workers at the agency is demanding that federal officials condemn vaccine misinformation, saying it was putting scientists at risk. The union said that Friday's shooting at the Atlanta offices of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which left a police officer dead, was not a random incident and that it 'compounds months of mistreatment, neglect, and vilification that CDC staff have endured.' The American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2883, said the CDC and leadership of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services must provide a 'clear and unequivocal stance in condemning vaccine disinformation.' The 30-year-old gunman, who died during the event, had also tried to get into the CDC's headquarters in Atlanta but was stopped by guards before driving to a pharmacy across the street and opening fire, a law enforcement official told the Associated Press on Saturday. The man, identified as Patrick Joseph White, was armed with five guns, including at least one long gun, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the investigation. Here's what to know about the shooting and the continuing investigation: Police say White opened fire outside the CDC headquarters in Atlanta on Friday, leaving bullet marks in windows across the sprawling campus. At least four CDC buildings were hit, agency Director Susan Monarez said on X. DeKalb County Police Officer David Rose was mortally wounded while responding. Rose, 33, a former Marine who served in Afghanistan, had graduated from the police academy in March. White was found on the second floor of a building across the street from the CDC campus and died at the scene, Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said. 'We do not know at this time whether that was from officers or if it was self-inflicted,' he said. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said the crime scene was 'complex' and the investigation would take 'an extended period of time.' The American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2883, is calling for a statement condemning vaccine misinformation from the Department of Health and Human Services. The agency is led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who rose to public prominence on healthcare issues as a leading vaccine skeptic, sometimes advancing false information. A public statement by federal officials condemning misinformation is needed to help prevent violence against scientists, the union said in a news release. 'Their leadership is critical in reinforcing public trust and ensuring that accurate, science-based information prevails,' the union said. Fired But Fighting, a group of laid-off CDC employees, has said Kennedy is directly responsible for the villainization of the CDC's workforce through 'his continuous lies about science and vaccine safety, which have fueled a climate of hostility and mistrust.' Kennedy reached out to staff on Saturday, saying that 'no one should face violence while working to protect the health of others.' Thousands of people who work on critical disease research are employed on the campus. The union said some staff members were huddled in various buildings until late at night, including more than 90 young children who were locked down inside the CDC's Clifton School. The union said CDC staff should not be required to immediately return to work after experiencing such a traumatic event. In a statement released Saturday, it said windows and buildings should first be fixed and made 'completely secure.' 'Staff should not be required to work next to bullet holes,' the union said. 'Forcing a return under these conditions risks re-traumatizing staff by exposing them to the reminders of the horrific shooting they endured.' The union also called for 'perimeter security on all campuses' until the investigation is fully completed and shared with staff. White's father, who contacted police and identified his son as the possible shooter, said White had been upset over the death of his dog and had become fixated on the COVID-19 vaccine, according to a law enforcement official. A neighbor of White told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that White 'seemed like a good guy' but spoke with her multiple times about his distrust of COVID-19 vaccines in unrelated conversations. 'He was very unsettled, and he very deeply believed that vaccines hurt him and were hurting other people,' Nancy Hoalst told the newspaper. 'He emphatically believed that.' But Hoalst said she never believed White would be violent: 'I had no idea he thought he would take it out on the CDC.' Haigh writes for the Associated Press.
CBS News
an hour ago
- CBS News
Transcript: Former Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," Aug. 10, 2025
The following is the transcript of an interview with Dr. Jerome Adams, the former U.S. surgeon general during President Trump's first term, that aired on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on Aug. 10, 2025. MARGARET BRENNAN: We turn now to former Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams, who served in the first Trump administration. Welcome back to Face The Nation. FORMER U.S. SURGEON GENERAL DR. JEROME ADAMS: Thank you, Margaret. MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to ask you about this tragic shooting Friday in Atlanta. I understand there were at least four CDC buildings that were shot at, and our colleagues are reporting investigators are looking at the motives, including that the suspect believed he was sick as a result of the COVID vaccine. What do you make of the incident itself, as well as the broader impact on the health workers there on the grounds of the CDC? DR. ADAMS: Yes. Well, first off, on behalf of the American people, I want to say thank you to the dedicated professionals at the CDC and to all public health and medical workers across this country. And I also want to honor Officer David Rose who made the ultimate sacrifice while protecting those families and people who've worked at the CDC. My heartfelt condolences go out to his family, his friends and his colleagues. And finally, I want to be clear, because our secretary of HHS has not been. Violence is never the answer, no matter your level of frustration or anger with the system. We have to find better, more peaceful ways to express our concerns and work towards solutions. Now, Margaret, quickly you asked about the secretary and how you respond to a crisis defines a leader, and quite frankly, Secretary Kennedy has failed in his first major test in this regard. It took him over 18 hours to issue a tepid response to these horrific shootings, and that's not even considering how his inflammatory rhetoric in the past have actually contributed to a lot of what's been going on. MARGARET BRENNAN: Those are some strong words. I mean, the secretary did issue a statement saying no one should face violence while working to protect the health of others. You think he needs to more directly condemn this shooter and his alleged motivations? I mean, there has been, to be fair, a lot of angry rhetoric against health officials for years now. Why do you think the secretary himself needs to address it? DR. ADAMS: Well, the secretary, before he was considering running for president or secretary, was involved in an outbreak in American Samoa where 83 people died, over 70 of them children, in response to a measles outbreak, which local officials on the ground there said he helped inflame. As president, he said, I will drain the cesspool at the CDC and hold people responsible, when he was running for president, he made this statement just last year. Unfortunately, someone beat him to trying to hold people responsible. And again, as secretary of HHS, it took him 18 hours to respond to this shooting, and he still has not unequivocally condemned the violence. He said no one should be harmed while working to protect the public. There's an out there, Margaret. If you don't believe that people are working to protect the public, then that means it's okay to commit violence, at least in some people's eyes. Dr. Vinay Prasad, who [audio gap] the lieutenant HHS Secretary Kennedy, said, I don't believe in forgiveness because in my opinion these pieces of, and he said, human excrement are still lying. So I'm upset. I'm upset because people at the CDC were calling me while this was going on, asking for cover that they couldn't get from their secretary. MARGARET BRENNAN: What were they asking you to do? DR. ADAMS: They were asking me to make a public statement because they felt under attack. They didn't know if this was going to continue. They were scared, and they wanted someone, someone who they felt had had a public voice to go out there and say this is wrong. Violence is wrong. This is not the answer. MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, absolutely, I think all of us want to be careful in the language we use and precise, certainly on this program. And I think what you were referring to are some of what Secretary Kennedy said when he was a presidential candidate. But even in office, the FDA commissioner on this program said he wrote an article "why the people don't trust the CDC." The Secretary himself has said in the past, the CDC is a cesspool of corruption. You, to be clear, want the leaders of our health institutions to come out and say they have confidence in the CDC now? DR. ADAMS: Exactly. I wrote a recent op-ed that is in STAT News where I talked about this. As leaders, we have to be responsible with what we're saying and how we're saying it. We have to understand people are listening. And when you call the CDC a cesspool, when you say I will hold people responsible, when you make claims that have been proven false time and time again about safety and efficacy of vaccines, that can cause unintended consequences. And so while I don't know Secretary Kennedy personally, and I don't want to make, make assertions about his character, I will say based on his actions and his rhetoric he is, he's adding, he's fanning the flames that lead to situations like we saw at the CDC. MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to ask you about health policy, because days earlier, Secretary Kennedy made an announcement that the U.S. is halting $500 million for vaccine research into that technology known as mRNA. You're very familiar with it because it was used during Operation Warp Speed to very quickly get that COVID vaccine. Secretary Kennedy said, though, mRNA vaccines quote, "don't work against upper respiratory infections." Do you know what he means? And what does stopping this research do for pandemic preparations? DR. ADAMS: Well, that- that's simply not true. We know that- that by the most conservative estimates, over 2 million lives have been saved because of mRNA technology. It helped us develop COVID-19 vaccines in record time. And it's, quite frankly, President Trump's greatest achievement. It's fascinating to me that in this conversation about whether he should receive the Nobel Prize for something, the thing that he should be considered for the Nobel Prize for, his health secretary is trying to undermine. For folks who may not be familiar, though, Margaret, mRNA stands for messenger mRNA, it's a natural molecule that's in all of our bodies. It's like a recipe card that tells your body how to make a protein. And this idea, again, helps us develop vaccines and new treatments for everything from cancer, melanoma, which my wife has, to HIV, to better flu vaccines, and Zika. The- these are advances that are not going to happen now. People are going to die because we're cutting short funding for this technology. MARGARET BRENNAN: It's interesting you talk about President Trump's great achievement there, because he was asked by my colleague, Nancy Cordes, about Operation Warp Speed, and this is what he said this week. Take a listen. [BEGIN SOUND ON TAPE] DONALD TRUMP: Operation Warp Speed was, whether you're Republican or Democrat, considered one of the most incredible things ever done in this country. The efficiency, the- the way it was done, the distribution, everything about it was- has been amazing. [END SOUND ON TAPE] MARGARET BRENNAN: What would have happened in 2020 if we didn't have mRNA vaccines? DR. ADAMS: If we did not have mRNA vaccines, the best experts at the time, Bill Gates, Tony Fauci, were saying it would have taken at least 18 to 24 additional months to get a vaccine. The record before that, Margaret, was six years to get a vaccine using the technology that Secretary Kennedy said he wants to go back to, whole virus technology. And so, as I mentioned, by the most conservative estimates, at least 2 million lives were saved. Many people say that up to 20 million lives were saved because of the vaccines. It is President Trump's greatest achievement, bar none. MARGARET BRENNAN: Senator Bill Cassidy, who I think you know, Republican, a doctor, he voted for Secretary Kennedy's confirmation, said it's "unfortunate the Secretary just canceled a half a billion dollars worth of work, wasting the money which is already invested," in other words, not getting it back. And he said it's "conceding to China this important technology." Here's the thing, Secretary Kennedy did say, mN- mN- excuse me, Secretary Kennedy did say this technology is helpful against cancers. Can you have it both ways? Can you stop the investment but then still take the parts of it and sort of preserve that? DR. ADAMS: Well, that's a great question, and it's absolutely the case that you cannot denigrate mRNA technology. Even if you do develop a new technology for other areas, people aren't going to trust it. There aren't- they aren't going to take it. And the way research works is that a lot of what we've learned about mRNA technology, and developing the COVID vaccines, has led to the excitement, the innovation, the advancements, which now present opportunities for cancer. So it risks stalling process- progress in many of the most promising areas of modern medicine. MARGARET BRENNAN: Dr. Adams, thank you for your time this morning. DR. ADAMS: Thank you so much. I appreciate it. And if you have questions about vaccines, talk to your doctor, because unfortunately, our current secretary is not spreading information that is knowledgeable, that's appropriate, and that is- not fanning the flames that cause situations like happen- happened at the CDC. MARGARET BRENNAN: Dr. Adams, I appreciate your time. We'll be back in a moment.
Fox News
2 hours ago
- Fox News
Trying to eat more protein? Don't overlook this sweet surprise
Protein buffs are going bananas over a tropical surprise. Passion fruit delivers more protein than any other in its class – but dietitians say it's not the ultimate muscle hack. While most fruits offer only 1 to 2 grams of protein per serving, a single cup of passion fruit contains 5.2 grams of the muscle-building macronutrient, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Protein is vital for growing and repairing cells, tissues and organs, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). "Passion fruit tops the fruit protein list," Miami-based performance dietitian Tony Castillo, MS, RD, told Fox News Digital. "That said, fruit isn't why anyone reaches their protein goals. It's great for variety but not a game-changer if you're serious about protein." The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for protein is 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight for healthy adults. Many experts, however, recommend more for athletes, older adults and pregnant or breastfeeding women. "You'd need to eat [large] amounts – 5-plus cups – of passion fruit to get anything near what you'd get from chicken, eggs, fish or Greek yogurt," Castillo said. Most fruits are not complete proteins because they lack sufficient amounts of the essential amino acids that aid in absorption and are essential for muscles, according to experts. Passion fruit, for example, is low in methionine and cysteine. "Plant protein is less bioavailable – only about 60–70% is absorbed versus up to 90% for animal proteins like dairy, eggs and meat," Castillo said. To get the most out of passion fruit, Castillo suggested pairing it with more absorbable, protein-rich foods like Greek yogurt or protein powder in a smoothie. Treat it as an "extra," he said — not a "foundation." Another way to get the most out of passion fruit is by pairing it with legumes, soy, quinoa, meats, cheese or eggs, which will make up for the essential amino acids it lacks, said Dr. Heather Gosnell, a pediatrician and certified plant-based health coach in Arizona. Whether it's eaten plain, on top of yogurt or cottage cheese, blended into a smoothie or atop a salad, don't ditch the seeds, she said. "This is where the bulk of the protein is housed," Gosnell said. Eating all the antioxidant-rich fruit inside the leathery rind, including the sweet and tangy pulp, will also deliver nearly 25 grams of fiber — helping to meet the 22 to 34 grams recommended by the CDC for adults. Cooking passion fruit can reduce the content of vitamin C and certain B vitamins, so it's best to add the fruit at the end of your cooking to preserve the content of these vitamins, Gosnell advised. Other fruits that are relatively high in protein include guava with approximately 4 grams per cup, avocado with up to 4 grams per cup, jackfruit, which has about 2 to 3 grams per cup, and blackberries, which have roughly 2 grams per cup, said Gosnell.
