FDA Scraps Panel Meeting That Advises On Vaccines For Next Season’s Flu
The committee typically meets in the spring to decide which strains to include in shots for the next winter wave. Meanwhile, a child has died in the Texas measles outbreak. Also, the WHO reports the Global Measles and Rubella Laboratory Network is on the verge of collapse after the U.S. withdrew funding.
NBC News:
FDA Cancels Meeting To Select Flu Strains For Next Season's Shots
A Food and Drug Administration vaccine advisory committee meeting scheduled for March to select the strains to be included in next season's flu shot has been canceled, a panel member said Wednesday. Federal health officials notified members of the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee of the cancelation in an email Wednesday afternoon, said committee member Dr. Paul Offit, the director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. (Lovelace Jr., 2/27)
On the measles outbreak —
NBC News:
First Measles Death Reported In Texas As Kennedy Downplays The Outbreak
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday appeared to downplay the seriousness of the West Texas measles outbreak that has killed a school-age child. The child’s death, the first from the disease in a decade in the United States, was confirmed by Katherine Wells, director of public health at the health department in Lubbock, Texas. The child had not been vaccinated against the measles. The outbreak has so far infected at least 124 people — mostly children — in rural West Texas. (Edwards, 2/26)
Bloomberg:
As Measles Cases Surge In Texas, WHO’s Global Control Program Risks Collapse
The World Health Organization has warned that its largest global laboratory network is on the brink of collapse unless new funding is secured to replace the support lost after President Donald Trump’s order to withdraw from the United Nations agency. The Global Measles and Rubella Laboratory Network — known internally as “Gremlin” — is the backbone of efforts to track and control infectious threats. With 760 labs worldwide, it tests about 500,000 patient samples annually, identifying outbreaks before they cross borders. Its potential collapse threatens the elimination of measles, which killed a school-age child in a growing outbreak in Texas. (Gale, 2/26)
CBS News:
Health Officials Say Orange County Infant With Measles Traveled Through LAX In Early January
Health officials on Tuesday advised the public that a person with a confirmed case of measles traveled through Los Angeles International Airport earlier this month. The person, an infant from Orange County, arrived at the airport's Tom Bradley International Terminal following an overseas trip aboard Korean Air Flight KAL11/KE11 on Feb 19, according to health officials with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health and the Orange County Health Care Agency. (Fioresi, 2/26)
On the chikungunya vaccine —
CNN:
CDC Investigating Hospitalizations Of Five People Who Recently Received Chikungunya Vaccine
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is currently investigating five hospitalizations that occurred in people who had recently received a vaccine that prevents disease caused by the chikungunya virus. (Howard, 2/26)
On long covid in children —
CIDRAP:
Imaging Shows Significant Lung Injury In Kids With Long COVID
Children and teens with long COVID have significant lung abnormalities detected with an advanced form of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), called free-breathing phase-resolved functional lung (PREFUL) MRI. The findings were published yesterday in Radiology. (Soucheray, 2/26)
CIDRAP:
Vaccinated Kids At 57% To 73% Lower Risk Of Long COVID, CDC Study Suggests
MRNA vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 was tied to a 57% and 73% lower risk of having at least one or two long-COVID symptoms, respectively, in US children ages 5 to 17 years, according to a case-control study led by researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (Van Beusekom, 2/25)
