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Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s changes to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) childhood vaccine schedule are making school vaccination requirements an open question for the future. While state health departments typically take their cues from the CDC, with schools following suit, the politicization of vaccines under Kennedy means states may increasingly forge their own paths. (Cochran, 1/9)

Dr. Molly O’Shea has noticed growing skepticism about vaccines at both of her Michigan pediatric offices and says this week’s unprecedented and confusing changes to federal vaccine guidance will only make things worse. One of her offices is in a Democratic area, where more of the parents she sees are opting for alternative schedules that spread out shots. The other is in a Republican area, where some parents have stopped immunizing their children altogether. She and other doctors fear the new recommendations and the terminology around them will stoke vaccine hesitancy even more, pose challenges for pediatricians and parents that make it harder for kids to get shots, and ultimately lead to more illness and death. (Ungar, 1/10)

Comments by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his allies suggest the revised schedule may presage an approach to immunization that prizes individual autonomy and downplays scientific expertise. (Mandavilli, 1/11)

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) expressed further frustration Sunday with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) changing the childhood vaccine schedule. The CDC, overseen by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., reduced the number of recommended vaccines for children from 17 to 11 on Monday, putting it in line with Denmark. “Let’s just take care of people and move beyond your ideology,” Cassidy, a medical doctor, told host Jacqui Heinrich on “Fox News Sunday.” (Rego, 1/11)

The German government has sharply rejected accusations by U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claiming that it has been sidelining patient autonomy, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. “The statements made by the US Secretary of Health are completely unfounded, factually incorrect, and must be rejected,” German Health Minister Nina Warken said in a statement late Saturday. Kennedy said in a video post earlier on Saturday that he had sent the German minister a letter based on reports coming out of Germany that the government was “limiting people’s abilities to act on their own convictions when they face medical decisions.” (Grieshaber, 1/11)

On measles, flu, RSV, bird flu, and meningitis —

A person with an infectious case of measles passed through Maryland this past week, potentially exposing passengers on Amtrak trains and shuttle buses serving BWI Airport, the Maryland Department of Health said Sunday. (Pryce, 1/11)

At least 99 new measles cases are being reported in South Carolina amid the state's outbreak. This brings the total number of cases in the state to 310. There are currently 200 people in quarantine, according to health officials. The outbreak has been ongoing as state health officials continue to push for vaccinations. The majority of cases are located around Spartanburg County. (Benadjaoud, 1/9)

The flu is hitting children especially hard this season. “This is really one of the worst flu seasons we’ve been seeing,” said Dr. Suchitra Rao, an infectious diseases physician at Children’s Hospital Colorado in Aurora. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Friday that the rate of kids and teenagers hospitalized with flu nationwide is the second highest in 15 years for this point in the season. Rao said her hospital has seen “record-breaking numbers of children with influenza.” (Edwards, 1/9)

Respiratory virus activity across the United States has climbed to high levels, driven by increases in influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) activity, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) weekly respiratory illness update. Meanwhile, COVID-19 levels remain relatively low but show signs of an uptick. (Bergeson, 1/9)

In the United States, the term bird flu has become synonymous with a particular virus that has devastated poultry and dairy farms over the past few years. But that virus, called H5N1, is not the only form of bird flu in circulation. Concerned scientists are keeping a close eye other types, including a fast-changing flu virus called H9N2.In a study published in November, researchers in Hong Kong showed that over the last decade, this virus has acquired mutations that allow it to spread more efficiently among people and to cause more severe disease. (Mandavilli, 1/10)

The last survivor of the 1925 Alaska diphtheria epidemic has died —

Jirdes Winther Baxter, the last known survivor of a 1925 diphtheria epidemic in Nome, Alaska, which prompted a legendary sled dog relay of nearly 700 miles that delivered a lifesaving serum to the isolated frontier town, died in Juneau, the capital, on Jan. 5. She was 101. Her death, in a hospital, was confirmed by a son, Fred J. Baxter. (Longman, 1/11)