Health

(NEW YORK) — A Georgia mom is on a mission to spread joy and raise awareness after her 1-year-old son was diagnosed with uncombable hair syndrome, a hair disorder she’d never heard of until last year.

The boy’s mother, Katelyn Samples, told Good Morning America that a stranger messaged her last summer on Instagram after seeing a photo of her youngest son, Locklan Samples, and asked if he had been diagnosed with uncombable hair syndrome.

“At first, you see ‘syndrome’ and you’re like, ‘Oh my gosh,’ like is something wrong with my baby? Is he in pain or something?” Samples recalled.

She added, “I just went in a tailspin and did a Google deep dive, called his pediatrician and the pediatrician even was like, ‘Hang on, let us look into this.’ They hadn’t even heard of it. So they sent us to a specialist, a pediatric dermatologist at Emory in Atlanta and that’s where we were able to get the diagnosis.”

What is uncombable hair syndrome?

Uncombable hair syndrome is a rare hair disorder and a genetic condition that usually affects children between the ages of three months to three years, although there have been reports of cases in kids up to age 12. According to the NIH, only about 100 cases have been reported in medical studies but experts say there could be more unreported cases.

“People might just be like, ‘Oh, my child has unruly hair or hair that’s difficult to tame, but they might not have sought a medical professional, like a pediatrician or dermatologist to formally diagnose the condition,” Dr. Carol Cheng, a pediatric dermatologist at UCLA Health told GMA.

According to Dr. Cheng, children with uncombable hair syndrome, also called spun glass hair, can have hair that grows in all directions and their hair can be straw-colored, have a dull texture, or be hard to manage.

A specialist can diagnose uncombable hair syndrome through a genetic test and an examination of a hair clipping through electron microscopy, a process that uses a special type of microscope.

“When you look under that microscope, you can see that instead of having hairs that are cylinder shape … the shaft of the hair is actually more in a triangular shape,” Dr. Cheng explained. “Within the triangle, there (are) these little grooves that go up and down the long axis of the hair shaft so that’s why it makes it really uncombable.”

“To diagnose the condition, at least 50% of the hairs would have this abnormality, but not all the hairs have to be abnormal,” Dr. Cheng added.

For the genetic test, doctors would look for three specific genes that have been associated with the syndrome, she said.

“The three genes that were found are what we call an autosomal recessive condition, meaning that both the mom and the dad have to have one of these genes and pass it on to the child who’s affected,” Dr. Cheng said. “It can also be inherited in what we call an autosomal dominant condition where only one of the parents has to have this genetic trait to pass on to their child.”

Living with uncombable hair syndrome

Despite the syndrome’s name, Samples said she can still comb Locklan’s hair for now but she doesn’t need to do so often, and overall, it’s relatively low maintenance.

“It can get matted easily. It is very fragile. … It can get tangled and I do have to be careful,” she said. “That would be an example of a time I actually would wash it because I very rarely wash his hair. Just doesn’t need to be, it doesn’t really get greasy.”

The mother of two said other people have been very curious about Locklan’s hair both in public and online. “We get a lot of comments about him looking like a dandelion and that’s actually a very accurate description of appearance and how it feels,” Samples said. “His hair is extremely soft, like a little baby chick. People will ask to touch it, which is fine with us, as long as people ask.”

Samples has been sharing Locklan’s story and photos on Instagram since his diagnosis, In a post from October, she wrote that she wanted to do so in part “to spread some joy on the internet!”

“Our biggest message is to celebrate what makes you stand out and what makes you different and hopefully bring awareness to this uncombable hair syndrome and hopefully, we can get more information,” Samples said. “If you think your kid might have it, go inquire and ask questions and be your child’s advocate.”

There are no formal treatments for uncombable hair syndrome and the hair abnormalities tend to resolve themselves as time goes on.

“Interestingly, this condition does get better with age. So after puberty or into adulthood, typically the hair condition does get better,” Dr. Cheng noted. “It doesn’t stay with them for their entire life.”

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(NEW YORK) — With more scientists predicting COVID-19 boosters will be needed each year, some are now working on combining those with the annual flu vaccine. The idea, experts say, is a single injection given each fall that protects against seasonal flu and COVID-19.

Pharmaceutical companies Moderna and Novavax have already announced plans to work on a combo shot, but don’t expect them to be available this upcoming flu season. Instead, Moderna’s CEO saying a combo shot could be ready by 2023.

Although studies indicate​ COVID-19 vaccine efficacy fades over time, experts say it’s not a foregone conclusion that every American will need an annual COVID-19 booster. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said this week that as of right now, most Americans don’t need a fourth dose (beyond the existing booster shot), but scientists are constantly evaluating the situation.

“I think we first have to assess the long-term need for annual COVID vaccines,” says Dr. Anna Durbin, director of Center for Immunization Research at Johns Hopkins University.

However, “if there is a continued need for COVID vaccines, then combining that with influenza would make sense,” Durbin said.

There are a few technical challenges to creating a combination vaccine. One is that different scientific approaches have been used for the two types of vaccines.

“Right now, the influenza vaccine is a different platform,” said Durbin. The most widely used flu vaccines in the US contain ‘inactivated’ (killed) or attenuated (weakened) virus to trigger an immune response in the body. This differs from mRNA (or messenger RNA) vaccines which teach the body’s cells how to make proteins that trigger immune responses. The result is that they currently have to be given in separate shots.

While two of the three authorized COVID vaccines are based on mRNA technology, previous influenza vaccines have not utilized this technology. But now, Moderna and Pfizer are working on an mRNA flu vaccine.

In addition to differences in technology, an extra challenge is that the most common influenza vaccine in the U.S. is quadrivalent, meaning it is designed to protect against four different flu viruses.

“This means the combined influenza/COVID vaccine would also likely need to be quadrivalent or at least trivalent. That makes the vaccine more complicated,” says Durbin.

Similarly, the rise of new COVID variants may introduce challenges to vaccine development.

This past September, Novavax enrolled people in a Phase 1/2 study to evaluate the safety, tolerability and immune response of a combination vaccine using Novavax’ seasonal influenza and COVID-19 vaccines. Unlike Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccines which use mRNA, these vaccines use protein subunit technology, which introduces a fragment of the virus into the body that is recognized by the immune system and triggers a response. These have each previously demonstrated strong results as standalone vaccines in Phase 3 clinical trials.

Moderna has also announced that it is developing a single dose vaccine that combines a booster against COVID-19 and a booster against flu, called mRNA-1073. In preclinical studies, Moderna has observed that its seasonal flu and COVID-19 booster vaccines can be combined into one dose that produces an immune response to ​both viruses.

Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel predicted this combo shot could be available in 2023 — not in time for this upcoming flu season, but potentially the following year.

“I think it makes a lot of sense to try to develop these vaccines, but it may take a bit of time,” Durbin said.

Aiya Aboubakr is an internal medicine resident at New York Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medical Center, and a contributor to the ABC News Medical Unit.

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(NEW YORK) — More than 70% of Americans should be able to remove their masks indoors, including inside schools, under new metrics outlined Friday the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that represent a seismic shift in how the public health agency plans to measure COVID risk.

Under the new metrics, more than half of U.S. counties, which make up about three-fourths of where Americans live, are now considered to be at “low” or “medium” risk because of a reduced number of new COVID hospitalizations and adequate hospital space. Accordingly, the CDC would no longer recommend that these communities insist on indoor masking.

In a press call with reporters, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky cautioned that COVID was unpredictable and that these conditions could change that put hospitals at risk of once again being overloaded.

“None of us know what the future holds for us and for this virus,” Walensky said. “And we need to be prepared and we need to be ready for whatever comes next. We want to give people a break from things like mask wearing when our levels are low, and then have the ability to reach for them again if things get worse in the future.”

While the updated guidance drops the recommendation of universal masking in schools, the CDC said it is still reviewing a federal requirement that individuals wear masks on public transportation, including on airplanes. Walensky said that a review of that requirement is ongoing and a decision will be made in the weeks ahead.

The new recommendations are a major change in how the federal government is approaching pandemic guidance. Under previous rules, the CDC primarily considered COVID case counts to determine risk. And because case counts remained high, the public health agency had stuck to its recommendation of indoor masking, including inside schools.

But that approach didn’t take into account that vaccinations are now widely available to people over age 5 and that most vaccinated people who tested positive during the omicron and delta waves experienced mostly mild symptoms that did not require hospitalization.

Accordingly, the CDC now says individuals at high-risk of COVID complications should consider taking precautions, such as avoiding crowds and wearing a high-quality mask. But for local health officials and school boards, the CDC suggests a community consider three factors: new COVID hospitalizations; hospital capacity; and new COVID cases. Taken together, an area to be “high,” “medium” or “low” risk.

Based on that risk level, which could fluctuate, a community could opt to remove mask recommendations indoors or pull back on other mitigation measures, such as surveillance testing. If those risk factors climbed, putting a community at “high” risk, the CDC recommends that a community urges its residents to return to masks and step up other precautions.

The CDC guidance is an acknowledgement that hospitalization rates in recent weeks have fallen dramatically and that highly vaccinated communities would be able to withstand an uptick in cases without overwhelming their local hospital systems.

When asked why it dropped its universal masking recommendation for schools, CDC said the lower risk of serious COVID illness with kids was a factor.

“We know that also because children are relatively at lower risk from severe illness that schools can be safe places for children. And so for that reason, we’re recommending that schools use the same guidance that we are recommending in general community settings, which is that we’re recommending people where a mask in high levels of COVID-19” risk, said Dr. Greta Massetti, a senior CDC official.

The new guidance recommends that people who are at high-risk of COVID complications should talk to their doctor about how to stay safe in a community that might have moderate risk levels. CDC has previously recommended wearing a high-quality mask, such as a tight-fitting N95 version and avoiding areas with low vaccination levels.

The updated guidance comes after weeks of pressure from governors and state officials who asked for a clear roadmap at the national level.

A majority of states have already announced plans to drop mask mandates. Still, the new benchmarks could be used by local leaders, school boards and public health officials who are facing vastly different versions of the pandemic even within the same state.

The guidance also is intended to give local officials a roadmap to re-imposing restrictions if another variant pops up, which health experts warn is a possibility.

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(NEW YORK) — Some 70% of Americans will be able to remove their masks indoors, including inside schools, under new guidance to be released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Friday, two sources familiar with the plans told ABC News.

Under the new metrics in the updated guidance, more than half of U.S. counties, which make up 70% of where Americans live, will be in areas of low or medium risk and no longer recommended to wear masks, said two sources briefed on the plans but not authorized to discuss them ahead of the official announcement.

A CDC requirement that people continue to wear masks on public transportation, however, will remain in force for now, according to one official.

The official said the new guidance will consider three factors: new COVID hospitalizations, current beds occupied by COVID patients and hospital capacity, and new COVID cases.

It will mark a shift from focusing on daily spread to looking at the overall burden of COVID, with an emphasis on its most severe impacts.

Taken together, the new CDC metrics will consider an area to be “high, medium or low risk.”

Based on that risk level, which could fluctuate, a community could opt to remove mask recommendations indoors.

Schools will not be treated differently under the new guidance as other indoor spaces, according to two officials.

The updated guidance comes after weeks of pressure from governors and state officials who asked for a clear roadmap at the national level.

Though a majority of states went ahead and announced that they will drop mask mandates before the CDC’s guidance was ready, the new information could still aid local leaders and public health officials who are facing vastly different versions of the pandemic even within the same state.

And it will also give states and counties a guide to re-implement guidelines if a new variant pops up, which experts warn is a possibility.

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(NEW YORK) — Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States has closely followed what the United Kingdom had done to combat the virus from its early response to its vaccination rollout.

Outbreaks in Great Britain have been harbingers of what’s to come in the U.S., and its policies have often helped shape America’s COVID response.

Over the past several weeks, the U.K. has been lifting COVID restrictions and, on Monday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced he was dropping the remaining rules in England including the requirement to self-isolate after testing positive, contact tracing and free administration of rapid tests.

In a speech to the House of Commons, Johnson said the country had to pivot away from preventing COVID-19 and “learn to live with this virus and continue protecting ourselves and others without restricting our freedoms.”

Seeing America’s closest ally drop its restrictions have led some to wonder if the U.S. should follow suit.

Currently, the U.K. is recording a daily average of 39,000 cases, down from a peak of 183,000 on Jan. 2 and an average of 126 deaths from a peak of 257 on Feb. 5, according to government data. Meanwhile, the U.S. is recording an average of 75,000 cases, down from a peak of 807,000 in mid-January and approximately 1,600 deaths a day compared to the peak of 2,600 on Feb. 2, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Public health experts are split with some saying it’s time for the U.S. to do similarly and treat COVID-19 as an endemic disease while others say lifting rules may not work for the U.S. right now because of a lower vaccination rate and a less robust surveillance system.

COVID spread in England will be ‘minimal’ due to high rate of vaccination

The largest change to the rules in England is that people who test positive for COVID-19 will no longer be legally required to self-isolate, or avoid contact with other people for a period of time to reduce the risk of transmission.

Once approved by Parliament, the requirement ended Feb. 24, although the government will continue to recommend that COVID-positive patients self-isolate but are not required to do so.

Dr. Wafaa El-Sadr, a professor of epidemiology and medicine at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, called the move a step in the right direction towards the “concept of living with COVID” and a shift from a mandate to personal responsibility.

“It’s a state where we expect people to essentially take responsibility and be accountable to doing the right thing,” she told ABC News. “This means someone who tests positive is aware of what they need to do to protect others during the period of time when they are infectious.”

She added that the U.K. government needs to communicate that “this doesn’t mean do whatever you want to do if you know you have COVID-19. It means that now we have shifted the responsibility and are giving you the tools to guide you in how we should behave.”

But other public health experts don’t think that this system can be implemented in the U.S. because it has a lower vaccination rate than England.

In England, 84.9% of those aged 12 and older are fully vaccinated and 65.7% have received a booster shot as of Thursday, according to the UK government.

By comparison, 73.3% of Americans aged 12 and up are fully vaccinated and 44.9% are boosted, according to data from the CDC.

The experts say this means, even if infected people don’t self-isolate, the virus wouldn’t have a major impact on the healthcare system in England as it would in the U.S.

“​​What they are doing is going to lead to more infections, but the consequences of increased transmission in the U.K. will be minimized by their very good rates of vaccination,” Dr. Bill Hanage, an associate professor of epidemiology at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, told ABC News. “That population-level immunity is going to be maintained, so even though the virus is circulating, it doesn’t cause disproportionate damage to healthcare.”

He continued, “There are lots of places in the U.S. that are not able to do that without risking much more severe consequences” in reference to several areas in the U.S. with low vaccination rates.

Genomic surveillance is better in the U.K.

Experts said one of the reasons the U.K. may be able to drop its COVID-19 restrictions is its strong genomic surveillance system, better than that of the U.S.

Genomic surveillance allows scientists to track new mutations and variants of COVID-19 and how quickly they are spreading.

About 60,000 samples are sequenced in the U.K. each week, according to the non-profit Wellcome Sanger Institute, which is contracted by the UK Health Security Agency to sequence COVID samples.

Meanwhile, more than 48,000 samples are sequenced each week in the U.S currently, according to the CDC, despite having nearly five times the population of the U.K.

What’s more, between Feb. 14 and Feb. 20, the U.S. submitted about 1,000 samples that underwent genomic sequencing to the global database GISAID while the U.K. submitted more than 15,000 samples.

This means the U.K. would be able to detect new variants much more quickly.

“The U.K. demonstrated a really phenomenal level of surveillance for this virus,” Dr. Stuart Ray, a professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University, told ABC News. “They were the ones that helped us recognize the alpha variant and they had a higher level of genomic surveillance for this virus than the U.S. did at many junctures.”

“I think that they have demonstrated the utility of situational awareness of monitoring and testing to try to manage this pandemic. That’s a lesson I hope we took to heart. I’m not sure if relaxing rules while case rates are high is a lesson to learn or not, but we’ll see.”

Almost all adults in England are estimated to have COVID antibodies

As of the week beginning Jan. 31, more than 98% of the adult population in England are estimated to have detectable COVID-19 antibodies either from previous infection or from vaccination, according to the UK government, which some have pointed to as a reason for why restrictions should be dropped.

But the U.S. is not very far behind, with a nationwide seroprevalence survey of blood donors conducted by the CDC estimating 94% of those aged 16 and older have antibodies to the virus from vaccination or infection.

Of those, 28% in the U.S. are believed to be from infection. It’s unclear what the U.K. level from infection is.

Ray pointed out that it’s not clear from antibody tests whether people are immune to infection, severe complication and so on and that a high percentage of people with antibodies does not equate to high levels of immunity from high vaccination levels.

“I think if we had a very high vaccination rate, a very high level of immunity in the U.S., that relaxing some restrictions would make a lot of sense, and we would just need to articulate guidance for people for voluntary protections for themselves and the people around them,” he said.

Other infectious diseases experts say even though the U.S. vaccine rate is not as high as in the U.K, there is enough immunity in the nation.

Dr. Ali Mokdad, an epidemiologist with the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation in Seattle, told ABC News the omicron wave infected as many as 60% of all Americans, giving them some form of immunity.

“We do not have as high a vaccination rate as the U.K., but we have the combination of vaccination and infection,” Mokdad, who helps lead a model that projects COVID-19 cases around the country, said. “In our estimate at IHME, 75% of Americans have immunity against omicron so we are basically very close to the U.K. in that regard.”

Studies have indicated infection with omicron, which is the ​current dominant variant, among vaccinated individuals can boost previously acquired vaccine immunity against other variants.

“Even if they had higher vaccination, we had higher infections, so you add the two together and we’re in the same boat as they are. So, whatever they did, we should do here in the U.S. In my opinion we should also stop these mandates in the U.S.,” Mokdad said.

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(NEW YORK) — A year ago, Denmark culled thousands of minks in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19 in mink farms and curb any potential threat of transmission back to humans.

And just a few months ago, thousands of small animals, including hamsters in Hong Kong were culled after scientists and public health officials became concerned over cases of humans becoming infected with COVID-19 from their pets.

Pets, in particular, are problematic because there are no disease surveillance programs for them or zoo animals, said Dr. Tracey McNamara, professor of pathology at Western University of Health Sciences College of Veterinary Medicine.

While minks and hamsters have been the only animals believed to have transmitted the virus back to humans in some cases, scientists are increasingly concerned that the next coronavirus variant might emerge not from people, but animals, as COVID-19 likely did.

Scientists are monitoring animals both to try to identify any new pandemic-causing viruses, and to try to identify the next COVID-19 variant. If a new variant emerges that is significantly different from any of the variants we’ve seen previously, and if nobody has immunity — that’s effectively a brand-new pandemic.

“There are hundreds, thousands of coronavirus in many animal species,” said Dr. Jeff Taubenberger, deputy chief of the Laboratory of Infectious Diseases at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). “We don’t really know where they all are, we don’t know the full extent of the reservoir. We don’t know what the risks are.”

Bolstering animal surveillance

Now, scientists are hoping to shore up defenses against COVID-19 by monitoring the way the virus circulates in animals.

“Tufts University recently received $100 million for pandemic prevention work globally,” said McNamara. “There is a lot of money going into finding potential pandemic threats in animals before they spread to people internationally, but not enough domestically.”

According to McNamara, the new Tufts funding will fund teams of scientists to bolster surveillance in the Africa and Asia — testing wild animals for any virus that might cause a future pandemic, to better understand how those viruses are circulating in nature.

In North America, scientists have found more and more cases of the COVID-19 virus being transmitted among wild white tail deer. Each case of transmission increases the chances of a new variant developing.

“If the virus is able to infect other species, it will evolve differently,” said Taubenberger. “It could give us a variant that is very different from what we’ve been exposed to, and wouldn’t be covered by our current vaccines.”

Universal vaccine and new pandemic plans

This concern for new variants arising, especially from animal populations, has scientists calling for the development of a universal coronavirus vaccine, which would address a number of coronaviruses, including COVID-19, but likely not all.

“A universal coronavirus vaccine is one that would work against multiple strains or variants,” said John Brownstein, Ph.D., chief innovation officer at Boston Children’s Hospital and a medical contributor for ABC News.

Scientists at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research have been working on developing such a universal vaccine, which is currently undergoing the first phase of human trials.

This universal vaccine would include multiple coronavirus fragments that could trigger immune responses to different strains of COVID-19, with the hopes of boosting immunity against more variants.

It would also be stable at room temperature, potentially making it more globally accessible.

“With the omicron variant, we saw a huge number of breakthrough cases, though the vaccine was holding up against severe illness from COVID-19. In the future, we would like to be providing core support instead of chasing new variants,” Brownstein said.

Meanwhile, the U.S. government has launched a new Pandemic Preparedness Plan to better defend against new viruses that might cause the next pandemic.

As part of this plan, the NIAID will focus research efforts on two areas, “prototype pathogens” and “priority pathogens.”

“Prototype pathogens are viruses that could potentially cause human illness,” said Brownstein. “And priority pathogens are viruses that we know already cause human illness and death.”

By expanding knowledge of these viruses, the Pandemic Preparedness Plan hopes to shorten the time it takes to develop medicines or vaccines effective against future variants that may emerge.

Jonathan Chan, M.D., is an emergency medicine resident at St. John’s Riverside Hospital and a contributor to the ABC News Medical Unit.

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(NEW YORK) — Approximately 5.2 million children have lost a parent or caregiver during the pandemic, according to a new study published in The Lancet medical journal Thursday.

An analysis by the same team of researchers in July 2021 had estimated 1.5 million children were orphaned during the first 14-months of the pandemic, meaning they lost at least one parent. But with new variants and a rising death count, the researchers said they felt compelled to re-evaluate the analysis.

Between May 2021 and October 2021, deaths globally nearly doubled compared to the months prior, a jump attributed predominantly to the delta variant. This new study estimates that approximately 5.2 million children are experiencing COVID-related orphanhood.

“What we found was shocking,” said Dr. Susan Hillis, the study’s lead author and a senior research officer at Oxford University, who completed this work while at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The number of children who lost at least one parent at the end of the first 20-months of the pandemic was greater than the total number of COVID deaths, and this gap is increasing, according to the study.

Children aged 10 through 17 were more likely to have lost a parent, with 2.1 million children affected. Still, over 490,000 children between ages 0 and 4, and 750,000 children between ages 5 and 10 lost a parent or caregiver.

Among all children, 3 out of every 4 lost a father, which is even more significant in low-income countries where the father is more likely to be the primary earner.

“COVID-related orphanhood does not come in waves,” Hillis said. “It is a steadily rising slope with the summit still out of our sight.” Although many may recover from an infection, losing a parent is not something that can be easily recovered from, she said.

“These are 5 million kids in one generation that will be living the rest of their lives in a very different way, and this affects us all,” said Dr. Natasha Burgert, a pediatrician and spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics. Burgert was not involved with the study.

As part of their work, Hillis and her team said they developed a real-time calculator to predict loss of parent or caregiver by current mortality data for every country in the world. By the end of January 2022, the estimate had risen to 6.7 million children worldwide affected by COVID orphanhood, according to the research. In the United States, the researchers estimate over 149,000 children have lost a parent or caregiver.

However, despite these staggering numbers, Hillis say there is hope.

For the last 20 years, the U.S. government has been investing in evidence-based programs to ensure orphaned and highly vulnerable children affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic could be protected and supported to reach their potential, the researchers noted.

“We actually know the models that work,” Hillis says. “We have an opportunity to lead by example.”

Experts say these findings underscore the importance of vaccinating adults across the globe.

“Vaccines are keeping people alive in the face of this terrible virus and keeping families whole,” says Burgert.

While authors continue to call for equitable access to vaccines and treatment globally, the millions of children already orphaned still need support, they said.

“We need to be supporting our childcare centers, local schools and larger university systems with the resources needed to create a cushion of support and a safe place for social-emotional learning,” says Burgert. “Educators, counselors, administrators, physicians and legislators need to be preparing for the upcoming impact, and they will need everyone’s help.”

The CDC, WHO and many top experts around the world have agreed to the importance of adding an additional pillar to the world-wide COVID response: Caring for and protecting these children.

There is currently no governmental funding in the United States aimed at acknowledging and protecting these children in their hidden pandemic, the researchers noted.

“We have an unprecedented opportunity to change the narrative in our country away from divisiveness towards shared hope,” says Hillis. “It is a moral imperative for us to do what we know works to help the ones at home and to encourage every country in the world to do the same.”

Emily Molina, MD, an internal medicine resident physician at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, is a contributor to the ABC News Medical Unit.

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(NEW YORK) — For the first time, medication abortion now makes up the majority of abortions in the United States, according to data released Thursday by the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive rights organization.

According to the institute’s survey of known abortion providers in the U.S., 54% of abortions in 2020 were done by medication abortion, a process that involves taking two pills. The number marks a significant increase from the last survey, done in 2017, when medication abortions made up 39% of all abortions.

The increase in medication abortion comes as access to abortion in the U.S. has the potential to be dramatically altered this year. The Supreme Court is expected to rule this spring on a case that has the potential to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 landmark case that made abortion a federally protected right in the U.S.

If Roe is overturned, more than half of the nation’s 50 states are prepared to ban abortion, according to a Guttmacher Institute report released last year.

At the same time, many states are already enacting restrictions on abortion access, including medication abortion.

More than one dozen state legislatures have introduced bans or restrictions on medication abortion so far this year, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

Seven states have legislation pending that would ban the use of medication abortion, while five states are considering laws to prohibit the mailing of abortion pills and eight states are considering barring the use of telehealth to provide medication, according to Guttmacher.

Texas, which last year implemented an unprecedented six-week abortion ban, has already enacted a law restricting access to medication abortion, including banning the mailing of abortion-inducing drugs and narrowing the window in which physicians are allowed to give the medication to seven weeks.

Medication abortions were first approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2000. FDA guidelines advise that abortion-inducing pills are safe to use up to 70 days, or 10 weeks, after conception, though evidence shows it can be safe even later in pregnancy, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG).

In most cases in a medication abortion, mifepristone is taken first to stop the pregnancy from growing. Then, a second pill, misoprostol, is then taken to empty the uterus.

Of the two medications, mifepristone is more restricted by the FDA. Since 2011, the agency had applied a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy (REMS) to mifepristone, preventing it from being distributed at pharmacies or delivered by mail like other prescription drugs.

In December, under the Biden administration, the FDA permanently lifted its restriction on mifepristone that required providers to dispense the drug in person, allowing it to be delivered by mail.

In its updated guidance online, the FDA cited the need to “reduce burden on patient access and the health care delivery system.”

Women still must obtain the pill through a certified health care provider though and the FDA’s decision is subject to state laws that can criminalize the practice.

Telemedicine for medication abortion is effectively banned in 19 states, which require a provider to be physically present when administering the pill, according Guttmacher.

Complications from at-home medication abortions are rare, happening in less than 1% of cases in one study of nearly 20,000 medication abortions, according to ACOG, which says medication abortion “can be provided safely and effectively by telemedicine.”

Proponents of the FDA’s decision to lift its restriction on mifepristone say that allowing greater access to medication abortion, including via telemedicine, gives more options to the people who need them the most.

Around 75% of abortion patients are low-income residents, and nearly 60% of U.S. women of reproductive age live in states where access to abortion is restricted, according to Guttmacher.

ABC News’ Anne Flaherty contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — Yoga is practiced by tens of millions of people in the United States, but some practitioners are sounding the alarm about what they say is a dangerous spread of anti-science views, including around COVID-19.

Laura Rose Schwartz said she grew so disturbed by what she saw and heard that she left the yoga studio she opened in Virginia.

When she subsequently moved to California, Rose Schwartz said she ran into the same concerns there, too.

“With the pandemic, pretty immediately, I saw a lot of conspiracy theories floating around on social media among yoga and wellness practitioners, misconceptions about the vaccines,” she told Good Morning America. “It seems that anti-vax sentiment is very widespread within the yoga world.”

Cécile Simmons studies disinformation as a research manager at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a nonprofit organization that studies disinformation and extremism. She wrote an essay last year about her surprise at finding conspiracy theories and disinformation in her local yoga class.

“During the pandemic, more and more yoga influencers have started spreading misleading claims about vaccination,” Simmons told GMA. “We have seen people who have embraced anti-vaccine views and who didn’t have them before.”

Derek Beres, co-host of the podcast “Conspirituality,” which tracks the yoga and wellness communities, said the spread of health misinformation in the yoga community is not new with COVID-19.

“Misinformation has spread in the yoga community for decades,” Beres told ABC News’ Kaylee Hartung. “There is a constant sense of this idea of sovereignty and yoga that I know better than the doctors. I know better than the system.”

Social media has furthered the spread of misinformation, according to Beres.

“It just allows disinformation to spread like nothing we’ve experienced before,” he said. “People are really confused because they see someone that they know and trust and they’re getting misinformation.”

According to Beres, disinformation can be hard to spot on social media. It can also be hard for people to know how to engage with people who deny the science around COVID-19 vaccines.

Beres’ advice is to “listen first and foremost.”

“Start asking them questions based on what they’re actually saying and actually make them self-reflect in the moment about the information they’re giving you,” he said. “It could be contentious, but you might open them up to other possibilities.”

To help counter the spread of misinformation in the yoga community, Yoga Alliance, an organization that describes itself as the largest nonprofit representing the yoga community, told ABC News it has created an “online resource center” with information on COVID-19.

“We are also working closely with public health experts to share timely and relevant information with the yoga community as we all continue to navigate these challenging times,” the Alliance said in a statement.

“We urge everyone in the yoga community, including practitioners, to stay vigilant and active in our shared responsibility by doing what we can to stop the spread of misinformation both online and in our communities,” the statement continued. “This includes only sharing information from credible sources such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and its peer agencies around the world, following science-backed recommendations from these organizations, reporting misinformation on social media platforms, and flagging misinformation when you see it.”

The Alliance continued: “In addition to the human toll, the COVID-19 pandemic has been devastating to small businesses like yoga teachers and studio owners. We believe that the fastest and most effective route to recovery lies in everyone working together, with the tools available to each of us, so that we can all put this pandemic behind us.”

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(NEW YORK) — As the United States faces a growing mental health crisis among young people, spurred on by the coronavirus pandemic, a nonprofit organization focused on mental health in schools is increasing its efforts thanks to a $15 million donation from Mackenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon’s Jeff Bezos.

Scott, who has so far donated billions of dollars in her pledge to give the majority of her wealth back to society, gave the $15 million donation earlier this month to the JED Foundation, which works with high schools and colleges across the country.

The money, the largest single donation in the JED Foundation’s history, will allow the foundation to scale its work to reach over 12 million students, according to JED Foundation CEO John MacPhee.

“We’re aiming for large, wide-scale impact across the country and her gift is going to is going to help us get there more quickly,” MacPhee told ABC News’ Good Morning America. “Our goal is to triple the number of students that we are covering.”

Scott’s donation, which is unrestricted, meaning the foundation can use it any way it sees fits, comes at a time of “greater than ever” need amid the pandemic, according to MacPhee

“Students have not been in school and now they’re coming back and the schools are just overwhelmed,” he said. “You could also argue that schools are less equipped to be able to actually provide [mental health] support than they were before COVID-19, so we’re hearing just a tremendous need.”

Washington, D.C., and Idaho have one school psychologist for every 500 students, according to a report released last week by The Hopeful Futures Campaign, a coalition of organizations focused on mental health supports in schools. In some states — including West Virginia, Missouri, Texas, Alaska, and Georgia — there is only one school psychologist per over 4,000 students, according to the report.

In the last months of 2021, the U.S. surgeon general warned of a growing mental health crisis among young people, and organizations representing child psychiatrists, pediatricians and children’s hospitals declared a national emergency for youth mental health.

“I’m deeply concerned as a parent and as a doctor that the obstacles this generation of young people face are unprecedented and uniquely hard to navigate and the impact that’s having on their mental health is devastating,” U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said in testimony before senators in December.

As the rates of anxiety and depression among young people increase, schools, where young people spend most of their days, can provide a unique safety net in identifying kids who are struggling and offering support, according to MacPhee.

The JED Foundation focuses on more than just making sure schools have mental health professionals on hand. The goal of the foundation’s efforts, according to MacPhee, is to make mental health awareness and support part of the culture of schools.

“Everyone in the school, everyone in the community has a role to play to support the mental health and well-being of young people,” he said. “It’s a culture of caring where there is really no wrong door, so it is everyone’s responsibility to notice and support someone who might be struggling.”

In New Jersey, the JED Foundation partnered with a high school in need of changing its mental health culture after two alumni died by suicide their freshman year of college.

The high school, Northern Highlands Regional High School in Allendale, New Jersey, sought out the JED Foundation’s help at the urging of a parent, according to Dr. Jessica Verdicchio, the school’s supervisor of wellness and equity.

“We are a pretty high-achieving district and there’s a lot of pressure surrounding college and the kind of college that you go to and a lot of anxiety around academics and academic pressure,” said Verdicchio. “Our school community was not naïve to the fact that we have and have had challenges.”

Verdicchio said the school’s partnership with the JED Foundation came at just the right time.

“We have seen a pretty huge increase of students who are seeking out services even from last year to this year,” she said. “It’s been quite busy, just making sure that our students feel heard and feel supported, but also connecting them to other resources, sometimes outside of school, and having conversations with families and students.”

When the school started working with the JED Foundation last year, it created an interdisciplinary group of students, parents, teachers, administrators and alumni, led focus groups and conducted surveys to identify areas of change, according to Verdicchio.

Over the past year, the school has launched a speaker series for parents on topics including substance abuse and mental health. It has also trained the entire 1,300-member student body in identifying students who are struggling with mental health and knowing what to do about it, according to Verdicchio.

The school now also does quarterly mental health check-ins with each student and follows up to make sure they are connected with a counselor if they are struggling.

In addition, students formed a Wellness Club, which gives them even more of a role and a voice in mental health support at school, according to Verdicchio.

“Our students really like to have their voices heard,” she said. “They have tons of ideas on how we can continue to support the mental health of students, and I love hearing what they feel like works and what doesn’t.”

Verdicchio said that mental health awareness is now a “part of the fabric of our school.”

“With the JED partnership, what it’s allowed us to do is have a very clear vision of how this is supposed to work and make sure that not just pockets of people are trained, but that our whole staff is trained, and that we’re offering parent training and infusing language regarding mental health and how to cope and how to ask for help as part of the fabric of our school,” she said. “It’s allowed our school as a whole to feel supported.”

How to make sure schools support kids’ mental health

One of the “silver linings” of the coronavirus pandemic, according to MacPhee, is that it has sparked a greater conversation around mental health and kids, particularly in schools.

Part of the change comes from parents who should feel empowered to make sure their kids’ school is a healthy environment, according to MacPhee.

Here are four tips from MacPhee on how parents can get involved to support schools:

1. Ask for the schools’ plan to support mental health. “Every school should have a written plan of how they’re supporting students’ mental health and how they’re reducing suicide,” said MacPhee, noting that schools should have plans to improve mental health.

2. Know the mental health resources available at your child’s school, including mental health professionals on staff and trainings available to staff, students and parents, recommends MacPhee. “In addition to the academic support and the college guidance, parents should be asking about mental health supports as well,” he said.

3. Make sure the school administration supports mental health efforts. “The message to school leadership is that this needs to be a priority, and they control its success by making it a priority of the school,” said MacPhee.

4. Ask how parents can get involved. “Mental health should be a focus of the parent teacher association and other parent groups that are in the community,” said MacPhee.

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