Viruses don’t know borders: #US anti-vaccine rhetoric could impact global #measles crisis

Experts say global measles #vaccination rates are falling as #Trump officials signal a deprioritization of the virus

#Health #Politics #Vaccine #Care

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/feb/28/anti-vaccine-rhetoric-global-measles-crisis?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

‘Viruses don’t know borders’: US anti-vaccine rhetoric could impact global measles crisis

Experts say global measles vaccination rates are falling as Trump officials signal a deprioritization of the virus

The Guardian
South Africa starts mass vaccination program to halt foot-and-mouth outbreak http://newsfeed.facilit8.network/TRCT3F #SouthAfrica #Vaccination #FootAndMouth #MeatIndustry #Agriculture

I recently self-tested for COVID because folks running an event tomorrow requested attendees to do so. I did get my booster last fall. But with all the mistrust of vaccination (thanks to pseudo science, conspiracy theorists, bungled COVID response, and RFK!) have lead us to a world where herd immunity has been weakened. Now COVID isn’t our biggest threat, but stupidity is. GET VACCINATED or BOOSTED.

#COVID #measles #vaccination
#CDC #RFK #MMR

https://ground.news/article/santa-clara-county-resident-with-measles-dined-at-burlingame-restaurant-health-authorities-say

#COVID-19 #vaccination during pregnancy may cut risk of #preeclampsia. Vaccines curb infection and severe illness and may boost the immune system overall, protecting against other infections and damage to the blood vessels.
https://buff.ly/78yHmdq...
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/27/opinion/growing-up-unvaccinated.html
“We like to believe that facts are enough. But research shows that giving people more data rarely convinces them; instead, it’s empathetic conversations and trusted messengers that can reduce vaccine hesitancy. My mom chose not to vaccinate me because she heard stories of danger. I was compelled to vaccinate because I trusted people who shared stories of protection.” #Vaccination
Opinion | You Can’t Shame People Into Vaccinating Their Kids

For a long time, I was angry at my mom for not vaccinating me.

The New York Times
Could a vaccine prevent dementia? Shingles shot data only getting stronger.

Latest data hints that benefits seen so far could be underestimates.

Ars Technica

A comparative analysis of pediatric #pneumococcal #vaccination strategies: a
dynamic model of PCV20 vs. PCV15 and PCV13

https://pdf.sciencedirectassets.com/271205/1-s2.0-S0264410X26X20035/1-s2.0-S0264410X26001581/main.pdf?X-Amz-Security-Token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjEF4aCXVzLWVhc3QtMSJGMEQCIGgar6kHgcOOoGI%2FXpjxc2uP%2BsM2p67LDdwlcKf7%2B7c0AiA7%2Bm2x%2Fo%2F%2FD1pGzu2xUHFGlBjsVP3gnqKxfaq32tK32iqyBQgmEAUaDDA1OTAwMzU0Njg2NSIMjb1QMjPy8howffirKo8FjMS7vAZguZg%2F1GKg%2ByBDeIpntRc2ypBqcztvqo1huKKdpYmrF4l1153%2Bi9RGBML0saPtiJkuR1PEM7u%2BNO%2BbIHTw9YMFF1LoD8z6%2BAJWP1B%2FuduJz%2BF3FGzAOb5KSs3gjlkBXZg%2Fyf3zXiMvYqgcHdGlhTpQCNujwmFL9TPX%2BHUR4LIa0CFT0Zrt4KqpBIggRcfrjOYhQVouFdpMlv9sKo95RJIqF%2BkH2zkbFNCDiOJ55oStqgyYGHhombmggNbXB6riC4xpXKMnrCTcMCHQpz7Z6sN%2B6Wcyq5ulMJmeK3Etl3D%2FeKxf7mAHITibk%2BJeYkI4f0UxWHQIo2OHwFGrY2iNqBgrHZBMj%2BFNjyllsEm2L6O%2BtwWwKt4iNBeonhuoCzQUcHW6CyhzoC6YlYsR9tGqWevQAW8KGt0PpGOd1QTGUxLH8i%2FfoR5PbyYmLy86B%2BygQWyDmkzhhR5aBjOnBaQVK%2FbhD%2B8PfJGohG7HW4ghbnwmstd9O0tJaranL7u99bCXylLOHiW2j8Vag8M%2FDI4sJkH%2B9%2BAzGFjsG2hHpROwICv6Z8jY5uENarnDaFy1EQWyHoCfUoPHxKFobt1TqJ1SSkfl4sh4FDlBPAOIJINCMb6yAItca4VWfcZ2fAv3kCdgYFtPBueUmR%2B9HQl19cS7KwfpedOt6kNuXnr2WOOu1v4XeIKdpXHTMD5jHX7yUlKCMyPfEBhb7HXM%2FfVp1T54hO6dijDH7aAmOQW%2FDNpsz0lwBow6g4W92U9aqjOLCU3aMmkFRIkpQEzyJUsKdZjNbkTWqiy70W2CWJZ9M3R58fLEHtlfU74umhFZEgHnFWEMxEVcdx6SxANy7vfQySKqYUBzDhKk3vqqhAXW8DCajYHNBjqyASXKKj3ZeB5J7uHfPWejPpviA1AyNhU7Hb8IUEtraS%2BFbEOsGO7X30BPEI%2BkJCpyNLCfnENL%2FBq7soauNWFYbjPRCnNkLVMgQPTS1nBVXxspN1K%2BKiV8zkavMY9LPIumzvHnkQA9FjLGdH6XdP%2BJVPrFmuueNY074jwLGcrj3qupCZGsYq7wAFGDv1vldkzGaraJAIIKc6Z9ixNk9YrDR4REC7OcZ3UyNtU75FuzpOW2SVw%3D&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Date=20260226T145010Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=300&X-Amz-Credential=ASIAQ3PHCVTYSYKE7RNT%2F20260226%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Signature=8362439c19923a55726bd0d01d3cdbb7668ef7a59d355fb95b2f7dd4f650b953&hash=0ed23f1e7560057726f0b764b49907ec0206ba1daf2b31877ec8610939cee878&host=68042c943591013ac2b2430a89b270f6af2c76d8dfd086a07176afe7c76c2c61&pii=S0264410X26001581&tid=spdf-a086c8ab-a7a0-4d5f-b522-889e519a1b31&sid=9aa6212b7eede2435168338800f7dfc7fd76gxrqb&type=client&tsoh=d3d3LnNjaWVuY2VkaXJlY3QuY29t&rh=d3d3LnNjaWVuY2VkaXJlY3QuY29t&ua=13165903525e5357045a&rr=9d4040d50b516489&cc=it&kca=eyJrZXkiOiJPbW9CcS94WXZLYmlRMFNmb01heXk0dnBFQTJVK2lycmdVaThnYVRZMFEzc0l4eXlRM2tsTUJxV04wcHBGVnB2NTBjZWZBU2JnWHNTTDZqeHRudFdBUnhPUTZldUtnVVVabEdEc1U4a3lNTjVHQjQ3cENTdzZwVzJUcXlqdWI4RDJ5MU5sWEJXUnAxUXBwcExTU2FTN0tWb2RTYTFNK0dxdzl3eEh1MmVzemNnMFl2QWhBPT0iLCJpdiI6IjYzMjg1ZTNkMWFlODQwMzQwMGYxMjc2OTFiZjNlNjk4In0=_1772117445069

An eight-minute exchange at the end of #Casey #Means’ two-hour confirmationhearing captured the potential and the predicament the MAHA movement has created for itself.
Means -- an entrepreneurial wellness influencer with a medical degree from Stanford -- appeared on Wednesday at the Senate health committee -- to be confirmed as the U.S. #surgeon #general.
She came prepared with testimony focused on the rise of chronic disease and the need for
“restoring wholeness for Americans
— physically, mentally, and societally.”
As a leader of health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s 👉 "Make America Healthy Again" movement,
she received a friendly reception for many of her positions on improving nutrition, finding the “root causes” of diseases, and fighting the sometimes harmful effects of social media on children.

But at the beginning and end of the hearing, she found herself being pressed on the issue of #vaccination by committee chair Bill Cassidy (R-La.), -- himself a physician.
Cassidy provided the pivotal vote a year ago to confirm Kennedy as health secretary,
but only after extracting various promises from Kennedy on vaccines
— many of which have been broken.
On Wednesday, Cassidy appeared determined to revisit the issue.
One of his first questions to Means was about “promotion of vaccine skepticism.”
Means repeatedly invoked "shared decision-making"
— a term that is itself contentious
— between doctors and parents,
called for more research studies about potential links between vaccine and autism
-- despite long-settled answers,
and demonstrated support for new vaccine guidelines put in place by a vaccine advisory panel remade by Kennedy to reflect his views.

Cassidy’s initial questions covered measles, flu, and whooping cough,
which is having an outbreak in his state of Louisiana.

“Children have actually died from it.
Think about it, about the age of your child dying from a vaccine-preventable disease.

And some have been scared to vaccinate their children because they’ve been told incorrectly that vaccines cause autism,” he said.

“Do you believe that vaccines, whether individually or collectively, contribute to autism?”

⚠️Means did not answer directly, but praised the administration for committing $50 millions in funding to look at environmental factors that might contribute to autism.

Cassidy wanted more on vaccines being falsely linked to autism.

“A lot of evidence is showing that they’re not implicated. Do you not accept that evidence?” he asked.

“I do accept that evidence. ⚠️I also think that science is never settled,” she replied.

Most contentious was the question of when to give hepatitis B vaccines.

Despite overwhelming evidence in favor of giving doses to newborns
(a 90% reduction in infections),
the new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance leaves that decision to parents and doctors,
-- overturning a universal recommendation to administer the vaccine at birth to prevent serious liver disease.

Other senators of both parties also took up the theme of vaccines.

Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) spoke of hepatitis B risk among Native populations in western Alaska.

“I need to try to understand your thinking on that,
given the medical consensus that this vaccine prevents this serious liver disease
and liver cancer
that we again were able to demonstrate in real time, real life,
with that recommendation
and now the view that you seem to be taking on this is not necessary for newborn,” Murkowski said.
https://www.statnews.com/2026/02/25/casey-means-bill-cassidy-face-off-on-vaccines/

Surgeon general nominee and senator face off over vaccines and ‘shared decision-making’

Casey Means wanted to talk about chronic disease. But Bill Cassidy wanted to hear about her views on vaccines.

STAT

15 States just sued #RFKJr over changes to the childhood #vaccination schedule. I wonder why my state, #Hawaii, is not among them.

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/15-states-sue-trump-administration-over-childhood-vaccines

15 states sue Trump administration over childhood vaccines

The lawsuit asks the courts to nullify the Trump administration’s decision to reduce the childhood vaccine schedule.