What to know about the US measles outbreak. UU.

A version of this article appeared for the first time in the Healthy Bulletin returns from CNBC, which brings the latest medical care news directly to its entrance tray. Subscribe here To receive future editions.

I am here to bring you the latest on the measles outbreak in the US.

The nation declared measles eliminated 25 years ago, which means that there was no continuous transmission of the disease for more than a year thanks to a highly effective vaccine for it. But now, one of the worst outbreaks since then focuses on western Texas, with cases that arrive in New Mexico and now Oklahoma.

This is where those cases are:

• So far, there have been 259 confirmed measles cases in the sprout of western Texas, and at least one non -vaccinated child has died, according to the State Health Department. Most cases – 201 – have been in children and adolescents.
• New Mexico has the second highest number of cases at age 35, and the outbreak has resulted in the death of a non -vaccinated adult, the state said.
• So far there are four cases reported in Oklahoma, according to the State Health Department.
• Some isolated cases have been reported in more than a dozen other states, which do not seem to be related to the Texas outbreak.

The number of cases confirmed in the US. This year already exceeds 285 informed throughout the country throughout 2024, according to data from the centers for disease control and prevention. Even so, CDCs say that the national measles risk remains low and that vaccination is the key to prevention.

But the problem is immunization rates for measles vaccine, paperas and rubella, called MMR, have decreased in almost all United States states since the Covid pandemic.

Health policy and public health experts have told CNBC that the slightest acceptance of that shot and other children's routine vaccines could be due to several factors. That includes a greater vaccine vaccine due to erroneous information and controversy around the COVID vaccine and greater distrust of public health officials and their requirements, among other issues.

In the complete four School years since the pandemic began, the MMR vaccination rate has fallen below the objective rate of “healthy people 2030” of 95%, according to CDC data. This refers to the necessary level to avoid community measles transmission, a highly contagious and mortal virus.

Approximately 280,000 children in school were not vaccinated and were not protected against measles during the 2023-2024 school year, said the CDC.

Groups of people not vaccinated within a specific community increase the risk of disease outbreak, have said health experts to CNBC. For example, the child vaccination rate for measles in Gaines County, the epicenter of the current outbreak in Texas, is just below 82%.

A group of doctors believes that the national recommendation for the MMR vaccine should be updated, according to an article published in the JAMA medical magazine on Friday.

The group, which includes the former director of the CDC, Rochelle Walensky, said the recommendations should include a third dose for babies 6 months 11 months traveling to any region with a greater probability of measles exposure. In particular, some local and state jurisdictions have already begun to do so.

The doctors wrote that “multiple recent slices of measles from the United States, together with the low vaccination rates, indicate a growing domestic danger.”

“Modernize vaccination recommendations … will better protect communities at risk and the most vulnerable American population, babies, against measles,” they added.

Babies under 1 year face a greater risk of serious complications related to measles, such as pneumonia, brain and death swelling, according to the group of doctors.

Currently, CDC recommends that all children get two doses of the MMR vaccine. That begins with a first dose at 12 to 15 months of age, and a second dose at 4 to 6 years of age.

A dose is 93% effective, and two doses are 97% effective, says CDC. There are only a few special cases for a third dose.

Meanwhile, Robert F. Kennedy JR, who directs the Department of Health and Human Services, has been disseminating false information about the MMR vaccine.

Kennedy, an outstanding skeptic of the vaccine, told Fox News last week that MMR's shot causes deaths every year and “diseases that suspect in itself”, such as blindness and inflammation of the brain.

But the Society of Infectious Diseases of America has said that “there have been no deaths related to the measles vaccine, papers and rubella in healthy individuals.” The organization said there have only been rare cases of deaths in immunocompromised children.

Kennedy has also promoted unconventional measles treatment regimes, including cod liver oil, which is rich in vitamin A. Health experts have said they are not intended to treat measles.

We will continue following the measles outbreak, so they are attentive to our updates.

Do not hesitate to send any advice, suggestion, stories ideas and data to Annika in [email protected].

This is Ashley, reporting live from New York City!

I'm in GoogleToday's offices for the company's annual medical care event called the check. Several Google executives, including their director of Health, Dr. Karen Desalvo, took the stage to talk about the company's work in the sector during the last year.

The most important news for consumers like me were Google Search updates. The company presented a new feature called “What people suggest”, which uses artificial intelligence to gather online comments of patients with similar diagnoses. If a patient with arthritis wants to learn more about how other people with condition exercise, for example, they could consult with that characteristic. It is available on mobile devices in the USA from Tuesday.

Google said he has also expanded his knowledge panels, or the information tables that appear next to the search results, to cover “thousands” of healthy health issues. The panels reach new countries and in additional languages, including Spanish, Japanese and Portuguese, starting with mobile devices.

The company launched medical records within its Health Connect platform, which allows Android users to share data in different applications and devices. An API, which means application programming interface, allows different applications to communicate with each other. The new Google API will allow applications to read and write data from medical records such as medications, immunizations, allergies and laboratory results of a user in a safe format.

Last month, Google announced that the US drug and food administration approved its loss of pulse loss for its pixel watch 3, which can call emergency services when a person's heart stops beating. During Tuesday's event, Google said the function will be available for users in the USA. At the end of the month.

The big topic of the key note was the AI, which is where Google has focused much of its medical care innovation efforts in recent years.

The company's work within the medical sector has evolved over time, especially because it fought to collect a durable commercial care strategy. Google built a formal health unit since 2018, but was dissolved in 2021.

“With extraordinary advances in AI, we have the opportunity to reimagine all the health experience,” Descalvo said in the event.

Google announced Txgemma on Tuesday, which is a set of models that could help accelerate the drug discovery process. The company also highlighted its work in the protein prediction model called Alfafold, which won Google Deepmind researchers, Demis Hassabis and John Jumper, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry last year.

Read more about everything Google announced in the check here.

Do not hesitate to send any advice, suggestion, stories ideas and data to Ashley at [email protected].