Latest news with #CenterforInfectiousDiseaseResearchandPolicy
Mint
21-05-2025
- Health
- Mint
Covid is quiet right now, but doctors are vigilant for a summer rise
The Covid-19 virus in the U.S. has largely faded from view. But it hasn't faded away. National wastewater data shows low Covid-19 activity, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The weekly reported Covid-19 deaths in April were slightly down compared with the same time a year earlier, federal data shows. Still, more than 300 Covid-19-related deaths were reported weekly as recently as mid-April. Some infectious-disease specialists said they expect more cases this summer, as there have been somewhat regular summertime increases in the past. Others cautioned that Covid-19 can still surprise us, more than five years after it spurred a global pandemic that killed more than 1.2 million Americans. 'It is at our lowest levels it has been since the beginning of the pandemic," said Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. 'Our challenge is we don't know what that means for tomorrow." The Trump administration on Tuesday released a more stringent set of guidelines for approving Covid-19 vaccines, requiring randomized controlled trials for new Covid-19 vaccines for many children and adults. The Food and Drug Administration expects it will be able to approve shots for adults older than 64 and other high-risk groups based on antibody testing. The original Covid-19 shots were tested in large, randomized trials with placebos. The updated vaccines to match newer versions of the virus have been tested with antibody testing to ensure that they triggered an immune response. As of May 10, the CDC projected that 70% of cases were caused by a version of the virus called LP. 8.1, an offshoot of the Omicron variant, which first appeared in late 2021. It is related to the JN.1 variant, which was the target of last season's booster shots. The LP. 8.1 version has picked up new mutations but hasn't yet led to an increase in cases or hospitalizations. 'Because there are so many people who have been vaccinated and infected, there is a high amount of immunity in the population," said Andrew Pekosz, director of the center for emerging viruses and infectious diseases at Johns Hopkins University. 'I think we're also seeing that as a way to dampen the spread of the virus." Surveillance and monitoring for changes to the virus is continuing, Pekosz said, but at much lower levels than before, so there is more reliance on modeling to suss out variant spread. Hospitalization and death data remain the most solid. Covid-related hospitalizations in the U.S. are currently on the decline. There were some 1.3 hospitalizations per 100,000 people during the week ended with April 26, down from a winter peak of 4.2 per 100,000 people for the week ended Jan. 4, CDC data show. That rate is down from last winter, when hospitalization rates peaked at 7.8 per 100,000 people. Most years, the U.S. has experienced additional Covid-19 waves in late spring or summer, in addition to wintertime surges. Last year, a summertime wave peaked at around the week of Aug. 31, with more than 1,300 deaths reported, CDC data shows. Write to Brianna Abbott at
04-05-2025
- Health
A community rallied to share flu shot experiences. Then the government stopped the study
WASHINGTON -- Some Denver parents got texts during this winter's brutal flu season with videos sharing why people in their neighborhoods chose flu shots for their kids, an unusual study about trust and vaccines in a historically Black community. But no one will know how it worked out: The Trump administration canceled the project before the data could be analyzed -- and researchers aren't the only ones upset. 'For someone like me, from the Black community who income-wise is on the lower end, we don't often have a voice,' said Denver mom Chantyl Busby, one of the study's community advisers. 'Having this funding taken away from this project sends a horrible, horrible message. It's almost like telling us all over again that our opinions don't matter.' How to talk about vaccines with parents – or anyone – is taking on new urgency: At least 216 U.S. children died of flu this season, the worst pediatric toll in 15 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Unvaccinated children are fueling one of the country's largest measles outbreaks in decades, and another vaccine-preventable disease — whooping cough — is soaring, too. At the same time Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. questions vaccines long proven to be safe and effective. Moves by the Trump administration are making it increasingly uncertain that COVID-19 vaccines will be available this fall. And the administration has slashed funding for public health and medical research, including abruptly stopping studies of vaccine hesitancy. 'We need to understand what it is that is creating this challenge to vaccines and why,' said Michael Osterholm, who directs the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy and worries the country is entering 'scientific dark ages." At Denver Health, Dr. Joshua Williams is a pediatrician who every day has vaccine conversations with confused or worried parents. Some even ask if they'll get kicked out of his practice for refusing immunizations. Nope, Williams says: Building trust takes time. 'The most satisfying vaccine-related encounters I have are the ones in families who had significant concerns for a long time, came to trust me over the years as I cared for broken arms and ear infections – and ultimately vaccinated their child,' he said. But in the TikTok age, Williams wondered if digital storytelling – seeing and hearing what led other families to choose vaccination – might help those decisions. He chose flu shots as the test case — just under half of U.S. children got one this season. And Black children are among those most at risk of getting seriously ill from influenza. With a grant from the National Institutes of Health, Williams partnered with Denver's nonprofit Center for African American Health to host workshops bringing volunteers together to discuss how influenza and the flu vaccine had impacted their lives. Professionals helped those who wanted to go the extra step turn them into 2- to 3-minute polished videos. After two years of community engagement, five of those videos were part of the pilot study sending text messages to 200 families who get care at two Denver Health clinics. In one video, a mother described getting her first flu vaccination along with her young daughter, making her own health decisions after leaving a controlling relationship. In another, a grandmother explained how she'll never again miss a vaccine appointment after her grandson spent his 4th birthday hospitalized with the flu. Seeing 'people that they look like, that they sound like, who have experiences they've been through that can go, 'Hey, I felt like you felt but this changed my life,'' is powerful, said Busby, who OK'd her kids' flu vaccinations after questioning Williams during multiple family checkups. The study's sudden cancellation means Williams can't assess if the texted videos influenced families' vaccine decisions – lost data from more than two years of work and already-spent NIH dollars. It also jeopardizes the researchers' careers. While considering next steps, Williams has asked permission of community members to use some of the videos in his own practice as he discusses vaccination. Williams gets personal, too, telling families that his kids are vaccinated and how his 95-year-old grandmother reminisces about the terror of polio during her own childhood before those vaccinations were developed. 'We've lost the collective memory about what it's like to have these diseases in our community,' Williams said, ruefully noting the ongoing measles outbreak. 'I think it's going to take a collective voice from the community saying this is important, to remind those in power that we need to be allocating resources to infection prevention and vaccine hesitancy research.' —-
03-05-2025
- Health
Community rallied to share flu shot experiences before feds stopped the study
WASHINGTON -- Some Denver parents got texts during this winter's brutal flu season with videos sharing why people in their neighborhoods chose flu shots for their kids, an unusual study about trust and vaccines in a historically Black community. But no one will know how it worked out: The Trump administration canceled the project before the data could be analyzed -- and researchers aren't the only ones upset. 'For someone like me, from the Black community who income-wise is on the lower end, we don't often have a voice,' said Denver mom Chantyl Busby, one of the study's community advisers. 'Having this funding taken away from this project sends a horrible, horrible message. It's almost like telling us all over again that our opinions don't matter.' How to talk about vaccines with parents – or anyone – is taking on new urgency: At least 216 U.S. children died of flu this season, the worst pediatric toll in 15 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Unvaccinated children are fueling one of the country's largest measles outbreaks in decades, and another vaccine-preventable disease — whooping cough — is soaring, too. At the same time Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. questions vaccines long proven to be safe and effective. Moves by the Trump administration are making it increasingly uncertain that COVID-19 vaccines will be available this fall. And the administration has slashed funding for public health and medical research, including abruptly stopping studies of vaccine hesitancy. 'We need to understand what it is that is creating this challenge to vaccines and why,' said Michael Osterholm, who directs the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy and worries the country is entering 'scientific dark ages." At Denver Health, Dr. Joshua Williams is a pediatrician who every day has vaccine conversations with confused or worried parents. Some even ask if they'll get kicked out of his practice for refusing immunizations. Nope, Williams says: Building trust takes time. 'The most satisfying vaccine-related encounters I have are the ones in families who had significant concerns for a long time, came to trust me over the years as I cared for broken arms and ear infections – and ultimately vaccinated their child,' he said. But in the TikTok age, Williams wondered if digital storytelling – seeing and hearing what led other families to choose vaccination – might help those decisions. He chose flu shots as the test case — just under half of U.S. children got one this season. And Black children are among those most at risk of getting seriously ill from influenza. With a grant from the National Institutes of Health, Williams partnered with Denver's nonprofit Center for African American Health to host workshops bringing volunteers together to discuss how influenza and the flu vaccine had impacted their lives. Professionals helped those who wanted to go the extra step turn them into 2- to 3-minute polished videos. After two years of community engagement, five of those videos were part of the pilot study sending text messages to 200 families who get care at two Denver Health clinics. In one video, a mother described getting her first flu vaccination along with her young daughter, making her own health decisions after leaving a controlling relationship. In another, a grandmother explained how she'll never again miss a vaccine appointment after her grandson spent his 4th birthday hospitalized with the flu. Seeing 'people that they look like, that they sound like, who have experiences they've been through that can go, 'Hey, I felt like you felt but this changed my life,'' is powerful, said Busby, who OK'd her kids' flu vaccinations after questioning Williams during multiple family checkups. The study's sudden cancellation means Williams can't assess if the texted videos influenced families' vaccine decisions – lost data from more than two years of work and already-spent NIH dollars. It also jeopardizes the researchers' careers. While considering next steps, Williams has asked permission of community members to use some of the videos in his own practice as he discusses vaccination. Williams gets personal, too, telling families that his kids are vaccinated and how his 95-year-old grandmother reminisces about the terror of polio during her own childhood before those vaccinations were developed. 'We've lost the collective memory about what it's like to have these diseases in our community,' Williams said, ruefully noting the ongoing measles outbreak. 'I think it's going to take a collective voice from the community saying this is important, to remind those in power that we need to be allocating resources to infection prevention and vaccine hesitancy research.' —-
The Independent
03-05-2025
- Health
- The Independent
A community rallied to share flu shot experiences. Then the government stopped the study
Some Denver parents got texts during this winter's brutal flu season with videos sharing why people in their neighborhoods chose flu shots for their kids, an unusual study about trust and vaccines in a historically Black community. But no one will know how it worked out: The Trump administration canceled the project before the data could be analyzed -- and researchers aren't the only ones upset. 'For someone like me, from the Black community who income-wise is on the lower end, we don't often have a voice,' said Denver mom Chantyl Busby, one of the study's community advisers. 'Having this funding taken away from this project sends a horrible, horrible message. It's almost like telling us all over again that our opinions don't matter.' How to talk about vaccines with parents – or anyone – is taking on new urgency: At least 216 U.S. children died of flu this season, the worst pediatric toll in 15 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Unvaccinated children are fueling one of the country's largest measles outbreaks in decades, and another vaccine-preventable disease — whooping cough — is soaring, too. At the same time Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. questions vaccines long proven to be safe and effective. Moves by the Trump administration are making it increasingly uncertain that COVID-19 vaccines will be available this fall. And the administration has slashed funding for public health and medical research, including abruptly stopping studies of vaccine hesitancy. 'We need to understand what it is that is creating this challenge to vaccines and why,' said Michael Osterholm, who directs the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy and worries the country is entering 'scientific dark ages." At Denver Health, Dr. Joshua Williams is a pediatrician who every day has vaccine conversations with confused or worried parents. Some even ask if they'll get kicked out of his practice for refusing immunizations. Nope, Williams says: Building trust takes time. 'The most satisfying vaccine-related encounters I have are the ones in families who had significant concerns for a long time, came to trust me over the years as I cared for broken arms and ear infections – and ultimately vaccinated their child,' he said. But in the TikTok age, Williams wondered if digital storytelling – seeing and hearing what led other families to choose vaccination – might help those decisions. He chose flu shots as the test case — just under half of U.S. children got one this season. And Black children are among those most at risk of getting seriously ill from influenza. With a grant from the National Institutes of Health, Williams partnered with Denver's nonprofit Center for African American Health to host workshops bringing volunteers together to discuss how influenza and the flu vaccine had impacted their lives. Professionals helped those who wanted to go the extra step turn them into 2- to 3-minute polished videos. After two years of community engagement, five of those videos were part of the pilot study sending text messages to 200 families who get care at two Denver Health clinics. In one video, a mother described getting her first flu vaccination along with her young daughter, making her own health decisions after leaving a controlling relationship. In another, a grandmother explained how she'll never again miss a vaccine appointment after her grandson spent his 4th birthday hospitalized with the flu. Seeing 'people that they look like, that they sound like, who have experiences they've been through that can go, 'Hey, I felt like you felt but this changed my life,'' is powerful, said Busby, who OK'd her kids' flu vaccinations after questioning Williams during multiple family checkups. The study's sudden cancellation means Williams can't assess if the texted videos influenced families' vaccine decisions – lost data from more than two years of work and already-spent NIH dollars. It also jeopardizes the researchers' careers. While considering next steps, Williams has asked permission of community members to use some of the videos in his own practice as he discusses vaccination. Williams gets personal, too, telling families that his kids are vaccinated and how his 95-year-old grandmother reminisces about the terror of polio during her own childhood before those vaccinations were developed. 'We've lost the collective memory about what it's like to have these diseases in our community,' Williams said, ruefully noting the ongoing measles outbreak. 'I think it's going to take a collective voice from the community saying this is important, to remind those in power that we need to be allocating resources to infection prevention and vaccine hesitancy research.' —- —- The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Bloomberg
01-05-2025
- Health
- Bloomberg
US Vaccine Watchdog Effort Begins as Measles Surge Draws Alarm
The Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota has quietly begun to steer a national initiative to safeguard the scientific foundations of US vaccine policy — a bold move at a time of mounting political interference and an escalating measles outbreak. Funded by a $240,000 gift from Alumbra, a foundation established by Walmart Inc. heiress Christy Walton, the so-called Vaccine Integrity Project will explore how independent groups, including scientists, doctors and public health organizations, can help uphold science-based vaccine guidance if government groups are weakened by political pressure or resource cuts.
