RFK Jr. said measles outbreaks are ‘not unusual’ in the US. Doctors say he’s wrong
CNN
When Health and Human Services Sec. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Kennedy answered questions during the first cabinet meeting of the new Trump administration, he incorrectly described the number of people who died in a West Texas measles outbreak and the reason people were hospitalized.
When Health and Human Services Sec. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Kennedy answered questions during the first cabinet meeting of the new Trump administration, he incorrectly described the number of people who died in a West Texas measles outbreak and the reason people were hospitalized. Measles outbreaks are “not unusual,” Kennedy said. Doctors say that was wrong, too. “Classifying it as ‘not unusual’ would be inaccurate,” said Dr. Christina Johns, a pediatric emergency physician at PM Pediatrics in Annapolis, Maryland. “Usually [an outbreak] is in the order of a handful, not over 100 people that that we have seen recently with this latest outbreak in West Texas.” “This is not usual,” said Dr. Philip Huang, director of the Dallas County Health and Human Services Department. “Fortunately, it’s not usual, and it’s been because of the effectiveness of the vaccine.” “The United States had really gotten to a point where we just didn’t see these kinds of outbreaks happening,” Dr. Lara Johnson, the chief medical officer of Covenant Health Lubbock Service Area, said at a news conference after the first death in the West Texas outbreak, the first measles death in the US in a decade. “Obviously, that has changed over the last 20 something years, and so we do see outbreaks more frequently, but that that is related to how much we’re vaccinating our population.”
Gaines County is a vast, flat expanse far in the west of Texas: more than 1,500 square miles of sparsely populated farmland. And right now, this is the epicenter of a measles outbreak the likes of which this state hasn’t seen in more than 30 years. Many here say the Mennonites, a tight-knit Anabaptist community that works much of this land, are at the root of the outbreak’s lightning spread.
The first time Cindy Crawford worked with the photographer Helmut Newton, the supermodel shed her all-American persona for a dalliance with Monte Carlo for US Vogue. Now, a lesser-seen outtake from the shoot is back on view.
As a measles outbreak in West Texas continues to grow, the response from US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has leaned heavily on treatment with vitamin A, as well as “good results” from the use of the steroid budesonide, the antibiotic clarithromycin and cod liver oil.
Speaking to CNN ahead of Tuesday’s announcement, the founder of one of China’s first private architecture firms reflects on a career designing unpretentious buildings in an era of excess.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is on the ground in Texas to respond to the growing measles outbreak. The agency posted on X that it’s partnering with the Texas Department of State Health Services.
The measles outbreak is surging in West Texas, especially in under-vaccinated communities, but it’s not just coverage with the measles vaccine that is lagging behind. The use of other key vaccines in the childhood immunization schedule has decreased too.
Selena Gomez was among the celebrities to wear intricate, hand-embroidered gowns featuring thousands of shimmering embellishments to the 2025 Oscars.
As a measles outbreak in Texas has grown to nearly 150 cases, US Health and Human Services Sec. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in an opinion piece on Fox News on Sunday that parents should consult with health-care providers “to understand their options to get the MMR vaccine” for their children.
Selena Gomez was among the celebrities to wear intricate, hand-embroidered gowns featuring thousands of shimmering embellishments to the 2025 Oscars.
Another new discovery in the ruins of Pompeii has shed light on the wilder side of the ancient Romans.
Many beauty enthusiasts have recently turned to ingredients you’d usually find in the food aisle, such as bananas, flaxseed and even beef tallow, as a way to hydrate the skin and reduce acne.
One hundred forty-six measles cases have been reported in the outbreak in West Texas, the Texas Department of Health Services said in an update today. This is 22 more confirmed cases since an update on Tuesday, when 124 cases were reported.