Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
CDC To Assist With Measles Outbreak At Chicago Migrant Shelter
NBC News: Chicago Measles Outbreak Grows With More Cases In Migrant Shelter
Three more people at a migrant shelter in Chicago have been diagnosed with measles, bringing the city's total to five cases so far this year. The Chicago Department of Public Health reported on Monday that two adults at the shelter had been diagnosed and were in stable condition. That followed a Sunday announcement that a young child residing at the shelter had been hospitalized with measles but was in “good condition.” (Bendix, 3/11)
CNN: Measles: CDC Team To Help Chicago Officials With Response To Outbreak
A team of experts from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to arrive in Chicago on Tuesday to help local public health officials manage a measles outbreak there. The Chicago Department of Public Health said last week that the city had its first measles case since 2019. The person is recovering well at home, the department said. (Christensen, 3/11)
San Francisco Chronicle: California Child With Measles May Have Exposed 300 People
A child with a confirmed case of measles may have exposed 300 people from 16 California counties to the highly infectious disease last week, health officials in El Dorado County said Friday. The child was present at two hospitals, San Joaquin Urgent Care and the UC Davis Health Emergency Department, on March 5. People at the hospital may have been exposed during that time. It is the third confirmed case of measles in California in 2024, and it comes as measles cases in the United States are on the rise. (Ho, 3/11)
Los Angeles Times: More Parents Are Delaying Kids’ Vaccines, Posing Risk To Toddlers
As measles cases pop up across the country this winter — including several in California — one group of children is stirring deep concerns among pediatricians: the babies and toddlers of vaccine-hesitant parents who are delaying their child’s measles-mumps-rubella shots. Pediatricians across the state say they have seen a sharp increase recently in the number of parents with concerns about routine childhood vaccinations who are demanding their own inoculation schedules for their babies. (Gold, 3/11)
KFF Health News: How The Anti-Vaccine Movement Pits Parental Rights Against Public Health
Gayle Borne has fostered more than 300 children in Springfield, Tennessee. She’s cared for kids who have rarely seen a doctor — kids so neglected that they cannot speak. Such children are now even more vulnerable because of a law Tennessee passed last year that requires the direct consent of birth parents or legal guardians for every routine childhood vaccination. Foster parents, social workers, and other caregivers cannot provide permission. (Maxmen, 3/12)
