Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
After Covid Vaccine Delay, Makary Infers Other Shots Need More Scrutiny
Confusion over the Food and Drug Administration’s delay in granting full approval to Novavax’s Covid-19 vaccine deepened over the weekend when the agency’s commissioner, Marty Makary, took to social media to defend the FDA’s controversial handling of the company’s submission. (Branswell, 4/27)
On measles and mpox —
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today reported 84 more measles cases, boosting the national total to 884, keeping the nation on pace to experience its worst year since the nation eliminated the disease in 2000. So far, 30 jurisdictions have reported cases, up 5 from the previous week. One more outbreak was reported, bringing that total to 11, the largest one centered in West Texas. The CDC said 820 (83%) of the cases so far are part of outbreaks. (Schnirring, 4/25)
Colorado on Friday reported its fifth incidence of measles this year, and, for the first time in the spate of cases, the infection was in a person who had been vaccinated against the disease. The person, an adult living in Denver, had recently traveled to the Mexican state of Chihuahua, which is seeing an outbreak of measles. Two other cases identified in Colorado — one in a baby in Denver and another in a Pueblo resident — were also connected to travel to Chihuahua. (Ingold, 4/25)
Amid ongoing clade 1 mpox outbreaks in Africa, 58% of US adults say they would be willing to be vaccinated against the viral illness if their physician or health authority were to recommend it, up 12 percentage points since 2022, a University of Texas survey finds. Published yesterday in Vaccine, the study compares the results of an online survey conducted during the 2022 global outbreak of clade 2b mpox with those of a September 2024 survey of 828 participants fielded during the African clade 1b mpox outbreaks and scattered cases reported elsewhere, including the United States. (Van Beusekom, 4/25)
On Alpha-gal syndrome —
A University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill modeling study suggests that wild-habitat disruption may be contributing to the increasing US prevalence of Alpha-gal syndrome (AGS), a tick-borne allergy to animal meat. The study team used a dataset of 462 AGS patients with confirmed AGS from UNC Health and models based on environmental factors, such as landcover and topography, to assess whether the risk of AGS is linked to the habitat fragmentation often seen in open spaces and areas of low-density development in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. (Van Beusekom, 4/25)
