Latest news with #RobertFKennedyJnr
The Hindu
3 days ago
- Health
- The Hindu
Watch: Covid cases rise, adolescent health, skin care and more
We address the elephant in the room – COVID cases are rising. There is a palpable sense of panic. Is it a pandemic? Should we take precautions? In the US, health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jnr has said Covid boosters are not to be given to pregnant women and children, with experts already questioning this move. We also talk about the Lancet Commission report on adolescent health and childhood obesity, and the installation of sugar boards in CBSE schools. Back to the US, legendary musician Billy Joel has cancelled his concerts due to an illness called NPS. What is it all about? In our expert segment, we speak to Dr. Monisha Madhumita, Assistant Professor at the Department of Dermatology, in Chennai's Saveetha Medical College. Dr Madhumita talks about skin care routines in this varying climate of blazing sunshine followed by rains, skin pigmentation issues and more. Presentation: Ramya Kannan and Zubeda Hamid Editing: Thamodharan B. Videography: Thamodharan B. and Shiva Raj
The Hindu
3 days ago
- Health
- The Hindu
Watch: Covid cases rise, adolescent health, skin pigmentation, and more
We address the elephant in the room – COVID cases are rising. There is a palpable sense of panic. Is it a pandemic? Should we take precautions? In the US, health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jnr has said Covid boosters are not to be given to pregnant women and children, with experts already questioning this move. We also talk about the Lancet Commission report on adolescent health and childhood obesity, and the installation of sugar boards in CBSE schools. Back to the US, legendary musician Billy Joel has cancelled his concerts due to an illness called NPS. What is it all about? In our expert segment, we speak to Dr. Monisha Madhumita, Assistant Professor at the Department of Dermatology, in Chennai's Saveetha Medical College. Dr Madhumita talks about skin care routines in this varying climate of blazing sunshine followed by rains, skin pigmentation issues and more. Presentation: Ramya Kannan and Zubeda Hamid Editing: Thamodharan B. Videography: Thamodharan B. and Shiva Raj
TimesLIVE
5 days ago
- Health
- TimesLIVE
US drops Covid-19 vaccine recommendation for healthy children, pregnant women
The US has stopped recommending routine Covid-19 vaccinations for pregnant women and healthy children, health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jnr announced in a social media post on Tuesday, circumventing the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) traditional recommendation process. Kennedy, Food and Drug Administration commissioner Marty Makary and National Institutes of Health director Jay Bhattacharya said in a video the shots have been removed from the CDC's recommended immunisation schedule. The changes come a week after they unveiled tighter requirements for Covid-19 shots, effectively limiting them to older adults and those at risk of developing severe illness. Traditionally, the CDC's advisory committee for immunisation practices (Acip) would meet and vote on changes to the immunisation schedule or recommendations on who should get vaccines before the director of the CDC made a final call. The committee has not voted on these changes. Kennedy, a long-time vaccine sceptic whose department oversees the CDC, has been remaking the US health system to align with President Donald Trump's goal of dramatically shrinking the federal government. 'Last year, the Biden administration urged healthy children to get another Covid-19 shot despite the lack of clinical data to support repeat booster strategy in children,' Kennedy said in the video. The CDC, following its panel of outside experts, previously recommended updated Covid-19 vaccines for everyone aged six months and older. Insurers said they are reviewing the regulatory guidance to determine their policies, which typically follow the Acip recommendations. A spokesperson for CVS Health said the company is determining whether changes in health insurance coverage are required as the federal government reassesses Covid-19 vaccine eligibility, while a Blue Cross Blue Shield Association spokesperson said preventive health benefits, including Covid-19 vaccines, are essential in keeping patients healthy. 'The recommendation is coming down from the secretary, so the process has just been turned upside down,' said William Schaffner, professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Centre and a consultant to the Acip. Schaffner said the CDC's panel was to vote on these issues at a June meeting, where he had expected them to favour more targeted shots instead of a universal vaccine recommendation, 'but this seems to be a bit preemptory'. Dorit Reiss, professor of law at UC Law San Francisco, said in a Facebook post going around the advisory committee might hurt the agency in the case of potential litigation. Studies with hundreds of thousands of people around the world show Covid-19 vaccination before and during pregnancy is safe, effective and beneficial to the pregnant woman and the baby, according to the CDC's website. But Makary said in the video there was no evidence that healthy children need routine Covid-19 shots. Most countries have stopped recommending it for children, he added. Covid-19 vaccine makers Moderna and Pfizer did not respond to requests for comment. Dr Cody Meissner, professor of paediatrics at Dartmouth, who co-wrote an editorial with Makary during the Covid-19 pandemic against masks for children, said he agreed with the decision. He believed the US had been overemphasising the importance of the Covid-19 vaccine for young children and pregnant women and previous recommendations were based on politics, adding the severity of the illness generated by the virus seems to have lessened over time in young children.
TimesLIVE
23-04-2025
- Health
- TimesLIVE
More Americans exposed to false claims about measles and its vaccine, KFF poll shows
Most adults and parents in the US have read or heard false claims about measles and the vaccine to prevent the illness, leaving many unsure of what to believe, a poll by the nonprofit organisation KFF showed on Wednesday. The health policy nonprofit polled Americans on whether they had been exposed to three circulating false or misleading statements about measles. Experts have said the fight against rising measles cases is being hampered by a lack of forceful advocacy for vaccination by government health officials and by statements about unproven treatments that confuse parents. A third of the 1,380 US adults and parents polled by KFF have been exposed to the claim that receiving the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is more dangerous than becoming infected with the diseases, marking an increase of about 15 percentage points since a poll conducted in March 2024. This came after a March 11 interview on Fox News in which US secretary of health and human services Robert F Kennedy Jnr amplified a false narrative about MMR vaccine risks by claiming without evidence that the vaccine results in 'deaths every year' and causes 'all the illnesses' associated with disease. Since taking the top job, Kennedy, who has a long history of advocating against vaccines, has backed the use of shots as the best way to prevent measles. However, he has also made misleading claims about nutrition and treatments, including vitamin A, which can help some children with malnutrition, but in high doses can cause liver damage. Vaccine experts and physicians said there are no effective drugs for measles, only treatments to manage its symptoms, and they asserted the vaccine is the only way to prevent infection. The measles vaccine is 93% effective after one dose and 97% effective after two. About six in 10 adults and 61% of parents surveyed said they have read or heard the MMR vaccine causes autism, a claim debunked by many studies. Roughly a fifth of adults and parents have also heard the false claim that vitamin A prevents measles. The poll's results come during one of the biggest measles outbreaks in the US in the past decade, fuelled by declining vaccination rates in parts of Texas and other areas in the country. Less than 5% of adults surveyed think the three claims are 'definitely true', while fewer than half said they are 'definitely false', the poll showed. However, at least half the respondents expressed some uncertainty about whether to believe each claim, describing them as 'probably true' or 'probably false'. Most adults, and 78% of patients, said they are very or somewhat confident the vaccines are safe. The survey was conducted online and by telephone among 1,380 adults from April 8 to 15.
