Failure rate in nirsevimab - a 5-month-old infant, born at term with no significant medical history, presented to triage with symptoms and tested positive for RSV. She received the Vaccine (nirsevimab) before leaving the hospital after birth. I'm wondering what are the normal rates of RSV infection after the Vaccine for healthy babies?

On March 7, 2025, thousands of scientists, healthcare professionals, and medical researchers gathered in Washington, D.C., and over 30 cities across the U.S. in a coordinated protest known as "Stand Up for Science 2025." The demonstrations were sparked by recent federal policy changes that significantly impact medical research, public health, and evidence-based medicine. Similar protests were held in France and other international locations, highlighting global concerns about the politicization of science. One of the most controversial aspects of the new policies is the removal of funding for transgender healthcare studies, particularly those focusing on hormone therapy, surgical outcomes, and mental health support. Advocates stress that this research is crucial for improving medical care for transgender individuals and that eliminating funding could worsen health inequalities. Opponents, however, argue that federal funding should not support certain aspects of transgender healthcare, particularly for minors, making this issue highly divisive. Protesters also criticized the dismissal of government scientists, particularly from agencies such as the CDC, NIH, and FDA, warning that these actions could erode public trust in science. Without independent experts guiding policy, many fear that scientific decision-making will be compromised, potentially affecting how the U.S. responds to future pandemics, Vaccine rollouts, and environmental health threats. Additionally, significant cuts to cancer, mental health, and infectious disease research have raised alarm. Some speakers at the protests highlighted that drug development and disease prevention efforts could stall without adequate funding. They also warned that patients suffering from chronic illnesses and rare diseases could see fewer treatment options as a result. Beyond the U.S., scientists and healthcare professionals in France, the U.K., and Canada joined the demonstrations in solidarity, emphasizing that the impact of politicizing science is not limited to one country. Some researchers argue that governments worldwide are increasingly undermining public health policies based on scientific evidence, particularly in areas such as climate change, reproductive health, and pandemic preparedness. As medicine and science become increasingly entangled in political and ideological debates, physicians face a difficult choice: should they take a stand on policies affecting research and public health, or should they maintain neutrality to preserve the integrity of the medical profession? Some argue that staying silent allows misinformation and harmful policies to go unchallenged, while others fear that activism could further politicize healthcare and erode public trust in medical expertise. What is your take on this ?

On March 7, 2025, thousands of scientists, healthcare professionals, and medical researchers gathered in Washington, D.C., and over 30 cities across the U.S. in a coordinated protest known as "Stand Up for Science 2025." The demonstrations were sparked by recent federal policy changes that significantly impact medical research, public health, and evidence-based medicine. Similar protests were held in France and other international locations, highlighting global concerns about the politicization of science.

One of the most controversial aspects of the new policies is the removal of funding for transgender healthcare studies, particularly those focusing on hormone therapy, surgical outcomes, and mental health support. Advocates stress that this research is crucial for improving medical care for transgender individuals and that eliminating funding could worsen health inequalities. Opponents, however, argue that federal funding should not support certain aspects of transgender healthcare, particularly for minors, making this issue highly divisive.

Protesters also criticized the dismissal of government scientists, particularly from agencies such as the CDC, NIH, and FDA, warning that these actions could erode public trust in science. Without independent experts guiding policy, many fear that scientific decision-making will be compromised, potentially affecting how the U.S. responds to future pandemics, Vaccine rollouts, and environmental health threats.

Additionally, significant cuts to cancer, mental health, and infectious disease research have raised alarm. Some speakers at the protests highlighted that drug development and disease prevention efforts could stall without adequate funding. They also warned that patients suffering from chronic illnesses and rare diseases could see fewer treatment options as a result.

Beyond the U.S., scientists and healthcare professionals in France, the U.K., and Canada joined the demonstrations in solidarity, emphasizing that the impact of politicizing science is not limited to one country. Some researchers argue that governments worldwide are increasingly undermining public health policies based on scientific evidence, particularly in areas such as climate change, reproductive health, and pandemic preparedness.

As medicine and science become increasingly entangled in political and ideological debates, physicians face a difficult choice: should they take a stand on policies affecting research and public health, or should they maintain neutrality to preserve the integrity of the medical profession? Some argue that staying silent allows misinformation and harmful policies to go unchallenged, while others fear that activism could further politicize healthcare and erode public trust in medical expertise. What is your take on this ?

On March 7, 2025, thousands of scientists, healthcare professionals, and medical researchers gathered in Washington, D.C., and over 30 cities across the U.S. in a coordinated protest known as "Stand Up for Science 2025." The demonstrations were sparked by recent federal policy changes that significantly impact medical research, public health, and evidence-based medicine. Similar protests were held in France and other international locations, highlighting global concerns about the politicization of science.

One of the most controversial aspects of the new policies is the removal of funding for transgender healthcare studies, particularly those focusing on hormone therapy, surgical outcomes, and mental health support. Advocates stress that this research is crucial for improving medical care for transgender individuals and that eliminating funding could worsen health inequalities. Opponents, however, argue that federal funding should not support certain aspects of transgender healthcare, particularly for minors, making this issue highly divisive.

Protesters also criticized the dismissal of government scientists, particularly from agencies such as the CDC, NIH, and FDA, warning that these actions could erode public trust in science. Without independent experts guiding policy, many fear that scientific decision-making will be compromised, potentially affecting how the U.S. responds to future pandemics, Vaccine rollouts, and environmental health threats.

Additionally, significant cuts to cancer, mental health, and infectious disease research have raised alarm. Some speakers at the protests highlighted that drug development and disease prevention efforts could stall without adequate funding. They also warned that patients suffering from chronic illnesses and rare diseases could see fewer treatment options as a result.

Beyond the U.S., scientists and healthcare professionals in France, the U.K., and Canada joined the demonstrations in solidarity, emphasizing that the impact of politicizing science is not limited to one country. Some researchers argue that governments worldwide are increasingly undermining public health policies based on scientific evidence, particularly in areas such as climate change, reproductive health, and pandemic preparedness.

As medicine and science become increasingly entangled in political and ideological debates, physicians face a difficult choice: should they take a stand on policies affecting research and public health, or should they maintain neutrality to preserve the integrity of the medical profession? Some argue that staying silent allows misinformation and harmful policies to go unchallenged, while others fear that activism could further politicize healthcare and erode public trust in medical expertise. What is your take on this ?

The latest meeting of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has been postponed indefinitely to allow time for public comments to be collected, according to federal health officials, Reuters has reported.

ACIP usually holds multiple meetings each year to review scientific data and make recommendations to the director of the CDC. This particular meeting, originally scheduled for Feb. 26 to 28, was to include several important votes, including one about how a key government vaccine distribution program should handle influenza inoculations. The draft agenda also indicated reviews of the GSK meningococcal vaccine and AstraZeneca flu shot.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the public is normally allowed time to submit written comments in advance of ACIP meetings through a federal portal. Prior to the inauguration of President Trump last month, the CDC had posted a formal notice of the February ACIP meeting, noting that comments could be submitted between Feb. 3 and 17. However, a letter to the newly appointed Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., signed by more than 50 medical experts and organizations, states that the portal has been "absent," Reuters reported. The signatories also requested the "critical" meeting be rescheduled.

The American College of Physicians echoed that sentiment. "Our country is currently facing the worst epidemic of influenza in several decades, a measles outbreak in Texas, and an ongoing national outbreak of pertussis," Isaac O. Opole, M.B.Ch.B., Ph.D., president of the American College of Physicians, said in a statement. "The CDC must promptly reschedule this critical meeting. We call on Secretary Kennedy and other officials to ensure that the advice of epidemiologists, researchers, physicians, and other experts in disease and immunizations remains primary in helping to ensure the public's health."

Reuters Article

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Lea County, New Mexico, is now reporting an outbreak of measles, according to the New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH). Lea County is near Gaines County, Texas, where measles cases continue to rise as part of the original outbreak.

New numbers have been released by the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) regarding the measles outbreak in Gaines County and the surrounding communities: 90 individuals, including at least 77 children and 10 adults, have been infected as of Feb. 21.

Most cases have been identified among unvaccinated individuals; however, five individuals say they have been vaccinated. Symptom onset began within the last month, and so far, 16 patients have been hospitalized.

In Lea County, New Mexico, nine individuals have been infected, including four children and five adults, as of Feb. 20, the NMDOH reported.

In an effort to prevent further spread of the disease, local health departments have expanded access to vaccination clinics and testing centers, according to The New York Times. Walk-in clinics in Gaines County, Texas, and Lea County, New Mexico, are offering free vaccinations.

Earlier this year, the Houston Health Department confirmed two cases of measles in Harris County residents, which were the first measles cases reported in Texas since 2023 and prompted a DSHS health alert on Jan. 23.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the 2023 to 2024 school year saw the highest level of vaccine exemptions for kindergarteners (3.3 percent). The DSHS notes that in Gaines County, the number was much higher, at 17.62 percent (nearly one in five children).

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New numbers have been released by the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) in an update on the measles outbreak in Gaines County and the surrounding communities: 58 individuals, including at least 48 children and six adults, have been infected as of Feb. 18.

Gaines County remains the hotspot of the outbreak (45 cases), but surrounding counties are also beginning to see cases: nine cases in Terry County, two in Yoakum County, one in Lynn County, and one in Lubbock County. Most cases have been identified among unvaccinated individuals; however, four individuals say they have been vaccinated. Symptom onset began within the last three weeks, and so far, 13 patients have been hospitalized.

Free vaccination clinics for the community are being hosted by the local health departments in West Texas. At a clinic hosted by the South Plains Public Health District, which includes Gaines County, there have been at least 95 measles-mumps-rubella vaccinations, according to Zach Holbrooks, the health district's executive director, CNN reported. The clinic is currently operating with expanded hours and is now open seven days a week for vaccinations.

Earlier this year, the Houston Health Department confirmed two cases of measles in Harris County residents, which were the first measles cases reported in Texas since 2023 and prompted a DSHS health alert on Jan. 23.

Health officials at the DSHS warn that additional cases are likely to occur in Gaines County and the surrounding communities. In its health alert summary, the DSHS advises clinicians to "immediately report any suspected cases to your local health department, preferably while the patient is in your presence."

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the 2023 to 2024 school year saw the highest level of vaccine exemptions for kindergarteners (3.3 percent). The DSHS notes that in Gaines County, the number was much higher, at 17.62 percent (nearly one in five children).

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Penmenvy (Meningococcal Groups A, B, C, W, and Y Vaccine) for active immunization against invasive meningococcal disease (IMD), according to a press release from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).

Penmenvy, approved for use in individuals aged 10 through 25 years, targets five major serogroups of Neisseria meningitidis (A, B, C, W, and Y), the common cause of IMD. The vaccine is an injectable suspension for intramuscular use that combines components of GSK's two well-established meningococcal vaccines, Bexsero and Menveo.

The vaccine's safety, tolerability, and immune response were supported by two phase 3 trials with more than 4,800 participants aged 10 to 25 years. The safety profile was found to be consistent with GSK's licensed meningococcal vaccines. The most common side effects reported were pain at the injection site, fatigue, headache, muscle pain, and nausea.

"The consequences of IMD can be devastating for those who contract it, for their families and friends," Judy Klein, president and founder of Unity Consortium, a nonprofit organization focused on adolescent health and immunization in the United States, said in a statement. "We welcome new tools to help protect more adolescents from meningococcal disease. Pentavalent MenABCWY vaccines could help address the disease by providing protection against the five vaccine-preventable serogroups in one vaccine and making it easier for adolescents to get the coverage they need."

Approval of Penmenvy was granted to GSK.

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has granted conditional approval for a new bird flu vaccine for poultry.

This new avian flu vaccine, developed by New Jersey-based Zoetis, was approved last week after meeting safety and efficacy standards.

“We’ve been working with the administration and with Congress, and we’re very excited today to get the licensure for (the vaccine) in poultry, which we think will be a tool that we will help support the government as they deem necessary,” Zoetis' CEO Kristin Peck told CNBC.

Bird flu has devastated poultry farms across the country, causing egg prices to soar.

Since 2022, the virus has affected more than 150 million birds, including 20.5 million in the last 30 days alone.

The U.S. has traditionally handled bird flu outbreaks by slaughtering (culling) infected flocks, rather than vaccination.

But as the virus spreads to other animals, including cattle and even humans, officials are considering new containment strategies.

National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said Sunday that the Trump administration is finalizing a plan to combat bird flu without mass culling, CNN reported.

“What we need to do is have better ways with biosecurity and medication and so on” to avoid killing chickens, Hassett said. “And so having a smart perimeter is what we’re working on, and we’re finalizing the ideas about how to do that with the best scientists in government.”

So far, 68 bird flu infections have been confirmed in people in the U.S. since March 2024, with one fatal case in Louisiana earlier this year.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) maintains that the threat to the general public is low, though farm workers and backyard poultry owners remain at higher risk.

Meanwhile, egg prices are expected to remain high due to the ongoing outbreak.

The USDA predicts a 20% increase in egg prices this year -- far above the 2.2% rise expected for food in general.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on the current situation of bird flu.

SOURCE: CNN, media report, Feb. 16, 2025

Copyright © 2020 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order withholding funding from schools and universities that require students to be vaccinated against COVID.

The move is part of Trump's larger efforts to roll back vaccine mandates, despite studies showing that they help increase vaccination rates and reduce COVID deaths, according to a report from The New York Times.

The impact of the Feb. 14 order is unclear, as no states require K-12 students to get the COVID vaccine.

The advocacy group No College Mandates noted that only 15 colleges still required students to be vaccinated as of late last year.

But Trump's order aligns with a larger anti-vaccine sentiment:

• 21 states have already banned COVID vaccine mandates for students.

• Some Republican lawmakers are pushing for broader bans, including a Montana proposal to block mRNA vaccines and an Idaho ban on local health departments offering any COVID vaccines.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) maintains that COVID vaccines are safe for children -- and while young people are less likely to suffer severe illness, the virus has still harmed many kids.

Research shows that vaccine rules in schools helped more students get vaccinated and may have slowed the spread of COVID.

But some studies have also found that these rules made some people less trusting of public health guidelines, turning the issue into a political debate instead.

Trump’s latest executive order represents a shift from his first term, when his administration led the rapid development of COVID vaccines.

Those early vaccine rollouts saved an estimated 140,000 lives, The Times reported.

The new policy follows Trump's recent move to reinstate more 8,000 troops who were discharged from the military for refusing the COVID vaccine.

The order only applies to COVID vaccines, leaving state-level requirements for measles, mumps, polio, and other childhood vaccines in place.

States still allow vaccine exemptions for medical, religious or personal reasons.

It’s unclear whether the order will affect medical schools, some of which require COVID vaccinations for students.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on staying up to date with COVID vaccines.

SOURCE: The New York Times, media report, Feb. 14, 2025

Copyright © 2020 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

New numbers have been released by the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) in an update on the measles outbreak in Gaines County: 22 children and two adults have been infected as of Feb. 11.

All cases have been identified among unvaccinated individuals. Symptom onset began within the last two weeks, and so far, nine patients have been hospitalized.

"It is troubling, because this was completely preventable," Amesh Adalja, M.D., an infectious disease physician and senior scholar at Johns Hopkins, told CBS News. "It's the most contagious infectious disease known to humans. And when we start to see measles outbreak, that's a sign that there is a chink in the armor of vaccination and the fact that it's preventable, I think, is what people should understand. This doesn't have to happen if we can get vaccination rates back to high levels again."

Earlier this year, the Houston Health Department confirmed two cases of measles in Harris County residents, which were the first measles cases reported in Texas since 2023 and prompted a DSHS health alert on Jan. 23.

Health officials at the DSHS warn that additional cases are likely to occur in Gaines County and the surrounding communities. In its health alert summary, the DSHS advises clinicians to "immediately report any suspected cases to your local health department, preferably while the patient is in your presence."

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the 2023 to 2024 school year saw the highest level of vaccine exemptions for kindergarteners (3.3 percent). The DSHS notes that in Gaines County, the number was much higher, at 17.62 percent (nearly one in five children).

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Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a vocal vaccine skeptic and activist lawyer, was confirmed Thursday as the nation's new health secretary.

The Senate voted largely along party lines to put Kennedy at the helm of the $1.7 trillion U.S. Health and Human Services Agency.

In his new role, Kennedy will oversee 11 agencies including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) as well as Medicare and Medicaid.

Former Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, was the only Republican who voted against Kennedy, whose nomination was confirmed by a 52-48 vote.

McConnell, who had polio as a child, had also voted against President Donald Trump's picks for Pentagon chief and director of national intelligence. All Democrats opposed Kennedy.

The 71-year-old takes over Health and Human Services in the midst of a federal government shakeup led by billionaire Elon Musk.

In less than a month, it has shut off billions of taxpayer dollars in public health funding and left thousands of federal workers unsure about their jobs.

Kennedy himself has called for a staffing overhaul at the NIH, FDA and CDC, the Associated Press noted.

Last year, he vowed to fire 600 workers at the NIH, which is the nation's largest funder of biomedical research.

His confirmation came less than two weeks after the Republican-controlled Senate Finance Committee advanced his nomination on a 14-13 vote.

All of the Democrats on the committee had opposed sending his bid to the Senate floor. They cited Kennedy's work to sow doubt around vaccine safety and his potential profit from pharmaceutical industry lawsuits.

His family name had been synonymous with the Democratic party for generations until he aligned with Trump during the 2024 presidential campaign.

His nomination moved forward Feb. 4 after Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, a doctor who had questioned his bid, said Kennedy had assured him he would not topple the nation's childhood vaccination program.

"Your past, undermining confidence in vaccines with unfounded or misleading arguments concerns me," Cassidy told Kennedy during his confirmation hearings.

Cassidy said later in a speech on the Senate floor that, in return for his support, Kennedy had promised not to change existing vaccination recommendations from a federal advisory committee.

Cassidy also said Kennedy had agreed not to remove statements from the CDC website, which clarify that vaccines do not cause autism.

During his confirmation hearing, Democrats raised alarms about his potential to benefit financially from changing vaccine guidelines or weakening federal lawsuit protections against vaccine makers.

After initially saying he would continue to accept referral fees in legal cases that do not involve the federal government, Kennedy said during the confirmation process that he would not collect fees from litigation against drugmakers of a cervical cancer vaccine.

SOURCE: The Associated Press, Jan. 31, Feb. 4, Feb. 13, 2025

Copyright © 2020 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

During the week of Jan. 26 through Feb. 1, 2025, flu activity remained elevated in the United States, with 43 states reporting high or very high outpatient respiratory illness activity, according to FluView, a weekly influenza surveillance report prepared by the Influenza Division of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

During this week, of the 4,377 viruses reported by public health laboratories, 4,264 and 113 were influenza A and B, respectively. Of the 3,458 influenza A viruses subtyped, 53.7 percent were influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 and 46.3 percent were A(H3N2); there were no reports of A(H5). There was one reported case of human infection with an influenza A(H1N2) variant.

The proportion of outpatient visits for respiratory illness was 7.8 percent, remaining above the national baseline for the 10th consecutive week. Two percent of overall deaths were attributed to influenza. Ten pediatric deaths associated with seasonal influenza were reported, bringing the 2024-2025 season total to 57 pediatric deaths.

There have been at least 24 million influenza illnesses, 310,000 hospitalizations, and 13,000 deaths so far this influenza season.

"CDC recommends that everyone ages 6 months and older get an annual influenza vaccine," according to a statement from the agency. "There are prescription flu antiviral drugs that can treat flu illness; those should be started as early as possible and are especially important for patients at higher risk for severe illness."

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The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) is reporting an outbreak of measles in Gaines County.

All cases have been identified among unvaccinated school-aged children who are residents of Gaines County. Symptom onset began within the last two weeks.

Earlier this year, the Houston Health Department confirmed two cases of measles in Harris County residents, which were the first measles cases reported in Texas since 2023 and prompted a DSHS health alert on Jan. 23.

The DSHS announced two confirmed cases in Gaines County on Jan. 30. As of Feb. 7, there were nine confirmed and three probable cases, according to Zach Holbrooks, executive director of the South Plains Public Health District. He told KFF News that the department is investigating other potential cases among close contacts with the goal of treating people quickly and stopping the virus from spreading further.

Health officials at the DSHS warn that additional cases are likely to occur in Gaines County and the surrounding communities. In its health alert summary, the DSHS advises clinicians to "immediately report any suspected cases to your local health department, preferably while the patient is in your presence."

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the 2023 to 2024 school year saw the highest level of vaccine exemptions for kindergarteners (3.3 percent). The DSHS notes that in Gaines County, the number was much higher, at 17.62 percent (nearly one in five children).

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When it comes to the potential of H5N1 avian flu, otherwise known as bird flu, picking up mutations that might lead to human-to-human spread, that "train has already left the station," warns one infectious disease expert.

If and when bird flu -- already widespread in cattle, cats and other mammals -- gains the ability to transmit between people, the best Americans can hope for is to "control the speed of the train" with vaccines, masks and treatment, said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong. He's a professor of medicine at the University of San Francisco.

Speaking with HealthDay, Chin-Hong stressed that both rapid surveillance and reporting on any new cases of H5N1 that arise are crucial. So the recent silencing of communications from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) by the Trump administration is worrisome.

"It's not that people won't get the information eventually if it's serious, it's the rapidity of information that I'm worried about," Chin-Hong said.

He compared the recent CDC gag order to a dysfunctional smoke alarm.

"You hope the fire isn't going to come, but if it comes, there will be a delay before you feel it," Chin-Hong said. "Time means lives when we're talking about infectious diseases that really don't know any borders."

As the UCSF expert explained, the current strain of bird flu has been circulating through avian species for about 30 years. It has only occasionally infected people -- usually those who've had extended close contact with birds, such as poultry farm workers.

However, viruses are built to mutate and find new hosts.

That's what's been happening with alarming rapidity in recent years, with more cases of mammals -- such as seals, cattle, cats, dogs and pigs -- coming down with bird flu.

Just one mutation

Over the past year, especially, there's been an uptick of cases among American people, including the recent death of an already frail patient in Louisiana.

In most human cases, H5N1 was thought to have been contracted from close contact with an infected animal.

Unfortunately, human-to-human transmission may only require a few new genetic tweaks by the virus, Chin-Hong warned.

"I think the length of the road before [we see] a mutation that allows easier entry into our lungs is much shorter than people think," he said.

One recent study "looked at the amount of mutations needed before that can occur, and it was very, very short, just one mutation," Chin-Hong noted. "[That] doesn't mean that this mutation will be picked up, but what it means to me is that it's not that far away."

He explained that H5N1 can also interact with "regular" seasonal flu viruses.

"We have a lot of influenza going around and influenza is engineered to really swap genes with each other and they can pick up tricks," Chin-Hong told HealthDay. "And some of those tricks include getting the combination to enter our bodies, which it is not so great at doing right now."

In the relatively few U.S. cases of human bird flu so far recorded, symptoms have typically been mild -- congestion, pink eye and other transitory effects. But if H5N1 mutated so that it could pass easily between people, "all of this may change," Chin-Hong said.

"You might get 'inside' disease, and that includes shortness of breath and you may have other organ involvement," he said.

Vaccines, masks, treatments

Chin-Hong stressed that societies are in a better position to fight mutated H1N1 than they were with COVID-19.

"We're in a very different place from the early days of COVID because we have a test, we have vaccines," he said.

The United States currently has a stockpile of 4.5 million H5N1 vaccines, based on older mutations.

"I think that the stockpiled vaccines would mitigate the effects probably by preventing serious disease, hospitalization and death," Chin-Hong said.

But 4.5 million vaccines would run out very quickly, especially when two doses might be needed to protect each recipient.

"It's a good start and it will be a good way to protect probably frontline workers in the event that we need to," Chin-Hong said, but production of any vaccine would need to be scaled up enormously in a potentially short period of time.

Other forms of prevention would be key, too, such as handwashing and widespread use of N95 masks, he said.

A handful of influenza treatments appear to be somewhat effective against H5N1, including oseltamivir (Tamiflu). "We may also need to stockpile more Tamiflu," Chin-Hong said.

A hobbled CDC and FDA

Key to all of this will be a coordinated effort by key government players, however.

Central to that effort is the CDC, which at the present moment seems hamstrung, Chin-Hong said.

"The CDC is generally the conductor of the orchestra" when it comes to safeguarding public health, he said. "And right now, different parts of the orchestra are playing their own music. And, you know, I think that's that's what we suffered from in the early days of COVID, too."

The potential appointment of anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to head the Department of Health and Human Services (which oversees both the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration) also has Chin-Hong "worried."

"I'm concerned about, you know, any barriers at the FDA level" when it comes to areas such as vaccine research and distribution, he said.

"I know that humans are resourceful and will come up with the science, but the devil is always in the details, and implementing the science is often even more important than the science itself," Chin-Hong concluded.

More information

Find out more about H5N1 avian flu at the World Health Organization.

SOURCE: HealthDay interview, Peter Chin-Hong, MD, professor of medicine, University of California San Francisco

Copyright © 2020 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Neoantigen-targeting personalized cancer vaccines (PCVs) are highly immunogenic in high-risk clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and can target key driver mutations and induce antitumor immunity, according to a study published online Feb. 5 in Nature.

David A. Braun, M.D., Ph.D., from the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, and colleagues conducted a phase 1 trial to examine a neoantigen-targeting PCV in nine patients with high-risk, fully resected clear cell RCC (stage III or IV), with or without ipilimumab administered adjacent to the vaccine.

The researchers found that none of the participants had a recurrence of RCC at a median follow-up of 40.2 months after surgery; there were no dose-limiting toxicities reported. T-cell immune responses against the PCV antigens were generated by all patients, including to RCC driver mutations in VHL, PBRM1, BAP1, KDM5C, and PIK3CA. There was a durable expansion of peripheral T-cell clones observed following vaccination. In seven of nine patients, T-cell reactivity against autologous tumors was detected.

"The idea behind this trial was to specifically steer the immune system toward a target that is unique to the tumor," Braun said in a statement. "For patients with high-risk clear cell RCC, we want to improve postsurgery treatment options that reduce the risk of the cancer coming back."

Several authors disclosed ties to the biopharmaceutical industry.

Abstract/Full Text

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People still see COVID-19 as an ongoing public health threat, even though the pandemic officially ended in 2023, according to a new HealthDay/Harris Poll.

Nearly 3 in 4 people (72%) agree COVID is still a serious public health issue, including more than a third (35%) who strongly agree, the poll found.

COVID has settled into the sort of ongoing health threat already posed by the seasonal flu, which had its turn as a pandemic back in 1918, Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, said.

“You'll get hundreds of thousands of people hospitalized with influenza every year,” Offit told HealthDay TV. “You'll get tens of thousands of people who die every year from influenza. I think that's what COVID is now. I think this virus will be with us for decades, if not longer.”

People also are apt to respond to any symptoms they might develop, with nearly 3 in 4 (73%) saying they would take an at-home test or go to a doctor or pharmacy to get tested for COVID, the poll says.

“That 73% number is higher than I would have guessed,” Offit said.

People with symptoms of COVID -- fever, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, runny nose, body aches -- would do better to stay home and take a rapid test, for everyone else’s sake, Offit said.

High-risk groups in particular should get tested, Offit added, so that they can receive antiviral Paxlovid to limit the severity of their infection.

“Although the pandemic is over, I think we have to understand that this is a serious infection,” Offit said. “I wish we felt the same about flu, which is also a serious infection, which people should also get vaccinated and take seriously, but we often don't.”

However, Offit also said that he doesn’t agree with recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that everyone 6 months and older get a COVID vaccine.

“We're one of only two countries that do that,” Offit noted. “Most countries -- like countries in Western Europe, Australia, the World Health Organization, Scandinavian countries -- all pretty much target high-risk groups, meaning people who have obesity or chronic lung, chronic kidney disease or neurological diseases, people who are elderly really defined as greater than 75 and people who are pregnant.”

“I think those are the groups most likely to be hospitalized if they were infected with this virus,” Offit added.

The U.S. guidelines are probably as broad as they are due to a “messaging issue,” Offit said.

“The thinking is that if we recommend it for everybody, then those high-risk groups are more likely to get it,” Offit said. “But I mean, we do have other targeted recommendations. I agree with most other countries in this world, which is we should target high-risk groups.”

The HealthDay/Harris Poll also found that:

• Of those unlikely to test for COVID, about 42% wouldn't test if their symptoms weren’t serious or severe and 28% would assume they have some other infection or illness.

• Two in 3 (66%) people who would test for COVID cite the desire to protect friends and family, and more than half (56%) say they would want to make sure it’s not some other infection.

• More than 4 in 5 (85%) said if they tested positive for COVID, they would quarantine and wear a mask.

• However, more than half (56%) don’t know the current recommended quarantine period for COVID.

The CDC now recommends that people with COVID stay away from others until at least 24 hours after their fever has ended and their symptoms also have improved.

The recommendation also asks that people mask and keep their distance from others for five days afterward.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about COVID-19.

SOURCE: HealthDay/Harris Poll, results, Jan. 30, 2025

Copyright © 2020 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faced a plethora of tough questions on vaccines, abortion and public health policy during his Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday as President Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Lawmakers pressed Kennedy, a longtime vaccine critic and former Democrat-turned-independent, on his qualifications to oversee HHS, a $1.7 trillion agency that would put him in charge of Medicare, Medicaid, funding for medical research, public health outreach and much more.

While he's expected to win Republican support, his responses left many unconvinced about his ability to run the nation's largest health agency.

Here are some top takeaways from the hearing, from national and international news agencies:

Vaccine stance sparks a heated debate

Kennedy’s long history of vaccine skepticism was a major focus. Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat of Oregon, set the tone for his party with a deeply critical opening statement.

“Mr. Kennedy has embraced conspiracy theories, quacks, charlatans, especially when it comes to the safety and efficacy of vaccines,” Wyden said, as reported by USA Today.

Kennedy repeatedly claimed he was not anti-vaccine but "pro-safety."

Unsurprisingly, he was pressed about his past claims that COVID was made to target white and Black people while sparing Chinese people and Ashkenazi Jews and that Lyme disease was “highly likely” to have been a bioweapon.

“I probably did say that,” Kennedy said about Lyme disease, as reported by The New York Times. As for the COVID-19 claim, Kennedy stated that he had not said the virus was “deliberately targeted.”

Kennedy also said he supports the current childhood vaccination schedule and that he is not a conspiracy theorist.

"That's a pejorative that's applied to me to keep me from asking difficult questions about powerful interests," he told senators, as reported by BBC.

Medicare and Medicaid

Kennedy struggled to explain how he would manage Medicare and Medicaid, two major programs overseen by HHS.

Wyden argued that “from abortion to universal health care, Kennedy has changed his views so often it’s nearly impossible to know where he stands,” according to AP News.

Under questioning by Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican who chairs the Senate Health Committee, Kennedy said he would like to integrate the two programs, The New York Times reported. Cassidy asked him how he would do it.

“I do not know the answer to that,” Kennedy said. “I look forward to, uh, exploring options with you.” He also said of Medicaid: “The premiums are too high, the deductibles are too high, and everybody’s getting sicker.” But except in very rare cases, Medicaid enrollees do not pay either premiums or deductibles.

Abortion stance leaves Democrats skeptical

Kennedy’s stance on abortion has shifted in recent years, aligning him more closely with Trump's.

He sidestepped questions about whether he would support attempts to restrict the abortion pill mifepristone, a goal of abortion opponents.

That led to a sharp response from Sen. Maggie Hassan, a New Hampshire Democrat. She noted that when Kennedy visited her state as a presidential candidate in 2023, he described himself as “pro-choice.” At that time, he also said the government did not have “any business telling people what they can or cannot do with their body,” Hassan recalled.

“When was it that you decided to sell out the values you’ve had your whole life in order to be given power by President Trump?” Hassan asked.

Kennedy sidestepped the question, The New York Times reported. “I agree with President Trump that every abortion is a tragedy," he said, in contrast to his past support for abortion access and reproductive rights.

Food policy and chronic disease prevention

On another note, there was some common ground when Kennedy outlined his plan to implement a nutrition-oriented disease prevention plan, CNN reported.

He received loud applause when he promised he would "make America healthy again."

"We will reverse the chronic disease epidemic and put the nation back on the road to health," Kennedy said, according to the BBC.

However, he reassured the public he wasn’t banning fast food.

"If you like a McDonald's cheeseburger or a Diet Coke - which my boss loves - you should be able to get them," he said, referring to Trump's well-known admiration for the fast-food giant.

More information

Learn more about the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.

SOURCE: The New York Times, media report, Jan. 29, 2025; USA Today; media report, Jan. 29, 2025; Associated Press, media report, Jan. 29, 2025; BBC, media report, Jan. 29, 2025; CNN, media report, Jan. 29, 2025

Copyright © 2020 HealthDay. All rights reserved.