(NEW YORK) — A Colorado inmate is the first person in the United States to test positive for bird flu as an ongoing outbreak in the country continues to affect birds and poultry.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment said the man, who is under age 40, was involved in culling poultry that were presumed to be infected with the virus.
According to a press release from the CDPHE, the man, an inmate at a state correctional facility in Delta County — about 100 miles southwest of Aspen — was exposed while working with infected poultry at a commercial farm in Montrose County, about 50 miles away.
The farm work is part of a pre-release employment program in which inmates can work for private companies and be paid a wage.
Colorado health officials detected the virus in a single nasal specimen from the man and the result was confirmed by the CDC on April 27.
The man was asymptomatic and only reported fatigue for a few days, according to the CDC. He has since recovered but is currently isolating and receiving the antiviral drug tamiflu.
Repeat testing of the man for influenza was negative. Colorado officials said “because the person was in close contact with infected poultry, the virus may have been in the person’s nose without causing infection.” The CDC also noted it possible for the detection of bird flu to be the result of surface contamination.
Health officials insisted there is little risk to the general public and there is no evidence the virus spreads from person to person.
“We want to reassure Coloradans that the risk to them is low,” Dr. Rachel Herlihy, state epidemiologist for the CDPHE, said in a statement.
The CDPHE did not immediately return ABC News’ request for comment.
According to the U.S Department of Agriculture’s latest report, since late 2021, bird flu has been detected in commercial and backyard birds in 29 states and in wild birds in 34 states. More than 2,500 people with direct exposure to infected animals have been tested for bird flu and are negative, the CDC said.
Bird flu infections among people are rare but direct exposure to infected poultry or wild birds increases this risk. The first human case of this specific virus was detected by health officials in the United Kingdom in an asymptomatic patient who had been raising birds that became infected.
Officials say it is safe to eat eggs and poultry, with the USDA always advising proper handling and cooking of poultry products.
Health officials said poultry owners or handlers should monitor fowl for signs of the bird flu and monitor feed and water supplies to avoid contamination.
The CDPH recommended people avoid contact with poultry or birds that appear to be ill or dead as well as contact with surfaces that appear to be contaminated with feces from wild or domestic birds.
Those who are required to handle sick or dead birds are advised to wear gloves and wash their hands with soap and water after.
(NEW YORK) — Kristyn Hodgdon is a professional writer, voracious reader, and proud mom of IVF twins. After her own battle with infertility, Hodgdon co-founded Rescripted, a media platform for fertility, providing technology tools and resources for wherever you are on your family-building journey.
I’m embarrassed to admit this, but when my husband and I started trying to conceive, I didn’t know that I needed to ovulate in order to get pregnant.
As someone who has always struggled with irregular periods, I still thought that if we had unprotected sex I would get pregnant right away. This was five years ago; I was 28-years-old. That’s a big problem, and I know I’m not the only 30-something who feels that way.
My story is, unfortunately, a common one. For years, whenever I brought up my irregular menstrual cycles to my doctor I was told to either go on the birth control pill or to “wait and see.”
It wasn’t until my husband and I decided we were ready to grow our family that I was diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) and referred to a fertility specialist, entirely unaware of what I was getting myself into.
Being diagnosed with infertility at 28 years young, there was so much that I didn’t know. I didn’t know what having PCOS meant for my fertility. I didn’t know anyone else who was going through fertility treatments. I didn’t know that committing to IVF would be like having a second job.
I didn’t know how lucky I was to have fertility coverage, unlike over half of all patients, who have to pay tens of thousands of dollars out of pocket for the chance to have a baby. I didn’t know the toll infertility would take on me, physically, mentally, and emotionally. No one warned me about any of it. I’ve never felt more alone.
Despite all of the pregnancy announcements on social media, having trouble conceiving is surprisingly common. Yet many people are completely blindsided when they receive an infertility diagnosis, leading to feelings of guilt, shame, and thoughts that their body isn’t doing what it’s supposed to. I know, because I’ve been there.
Visit a fertility clinic waiting room, and you’ll find no shortage of patients; and yet, they are almost all avoiding eye contact with one another. In fact, in the years I have spent regularly undergoing fertility treatments, I still rarely see anyone looking up from their phones. If that doesn’t paint a clear picture of the stigma that surrounds infertility, I’m not sure what does.
But, I have also noticed something pretty amazing. Nearly every time I have opened up about my fertility journey to someone — and, in turn, given them unspoken permission to do so as well — I have been surprised to find out that infertility has either affected them or someone close to them.
That’s powerful. In sharing our stories, however uncomfortable they might be, we can begin to rescript the conversation around fertility so that no one else ever has to feel as alone as I did on the road to parenthood.
Now, after five years, two IVF babies, and more blood draws, ultrasounds, and injections than I can count, I have discovered that while so much of infertility still remains out of my control, there are ways to be proactive rather than reactive when trying to conceive.
Here are a few ways I have learned how to advocate for myself on my fertility journey (and how you can, too):
1. See a fertility specialist, early: While I was initially uneasy about starting fertility treatments, I will say that in hindsight, I’m happy I sought help when I did. Being proactive about getting information and advice about your fertility potential can make a big difference when it comes to treatment and outcomes.
As a general rule, you may want to see a fertility specialist if you are under 35 and have been trying to get pregnant for 12 months without birth control, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The same applies if you are over 35 and have been trying to get pregnant for six months, if you are 40 or older, or if you have had one or more miscarriages.
Even if you aren’t ready to have kids yet, it never hurts to make an initial appointment to find out more about your ovarian reserve, hormone levels, and overall reproductive health so that you can make informed decisions for your future.
2. Don’t be afraid to ask questions: Whether you start with your OBGYN or jump right to a fertility specialist, don’t be afraid to bring up everything that’s on your mind.
Do you have irregular menstrual cycles? Ask the question. What about pain during sex? Ask the question. It might seem embarrassing, but if it could potentially help you get to the bottom of an underlying issue that could be preventing you from getting pregnant, you’ll be glad you inquired.
When it comes to your health and fertility, no question should be off-limits.
From how to interpret test results to what a potential treatment plan could look like, your provider’s answers will help ensure that you feel comfortable and at ease with your care team and their strategy for moving forward. If not, don’t hesitate to get a second opinion.
3. Be as healthy as you can be: This might go without saying, but a healthy lifestyle has been shown to have a positive epigenetic impact on eggs, sperm, and pregnancy outcomes.
So, make sure you are getting good quality sleep, eat the rainbow, take a quality prenatal vitamin, and exercise regularly, according to the CDC. It really can make a difference when it comes to your fertility; just try not to drive yourself too crazy.
4. Find support: Dealing with fertility challenges is extremely stressful, and you don’t have to do it alone. Join an online fertility community, find a therapist that specializes in infertility, or start a new hobby. You can’t pour from an empty cup, so be sure to take care of your body and mind during this time, even if that means taking a break from treatment.
If you’re struggling to conceive or grieving a miscarriage, I feel your pain.
I also promise that despite what it might feel like right now, you are not alone. If I could go back and tell my 28-year-old self anything, that would be it.
There is an amazing community of infertility warriors who have made it their mission to support others through this heartbreaking, expensive, and often overwhelming process. There are millions of us who get it, and we’re rescripting fertility, together.
(NEW YORK) — The number of ways in which climate change is predicted to affect human life and vitality continues to increase.
Scientists now believe that global warming will significantly increase the number of viral transmissions across species in the coming decades, therefore posing further risk to other animals and humans of infectious diseases, such as COVID-19, according to a study published in Nature on Thursday.
As the global temperatures continue to rise, many animal species will likely migrate to new environments, taking their parasites and pathogens with them and facilitating viral sharing between species that previously had no interactions, according to the study. That increase could then assist in “zoonotic spillover,” or the transmission of pathogens from wild animals to humans.
The researchers suggest at least 15,000 new cross-species viral transmissions are forecast to happen by 2070, driven by climate change of 2-degrees Celsius, which is the worst-case scenario highlighted under the Paris Agreement.
While novel encounters between mammal species are expected to occur everywhere in the world, they are especially expected to take place in tropical regions home to most of the infectious diseases capable of the zoonotic spillover transmission, such as regions of tropical Africa and southeast Asia that have a high population density of humans as well.
These novel virus sharing events are predicted to be driven predominantly by bats, which are likely to harbor viruses with a high chance of being transmissible to humans.
Climate-driven shifts in hotspots for species dispersal and viral evolution may already be happening, given that warming is already well underway, the authors wrote.
The COVID-19 virus likely originated from animal to human transmission, the World Health Organization determined. The virus likely transmitted from a bat to another animal and subsequently to humans, according to a joint report by China and the WHO released in March 2021.
“I think we will continue to see risks from female viruses like Ebola, from corona viruses, from flu in particular,” Colin Carlson, a research professor at Georgetown University’s Center for Global Health and Science Study and author of the study, said during a press conference Thursday.
The findings suggest that climate change has the potential to become a dominant driving force in cross-species viral transmission, which could increase the risk of transmission of infectious diseases to humans, the authors said, highlighting the need to combine viral surveillance with assessments of changes to species range as a result of climate change.
“This is happening,” Gregory Albery, co-author of the study and disease ecologist at Georgetown University, said during the news conference. “It is not preventable even in the best case climate change scenarios, and we need to put measures in place to build health infrastructure to protect animal and human populations.”
(WASHINGTON) — U.S. and global health officials are sounding the alarm about an increasing number of mysterious cases of severe hepatitis occurring among children.
Earlier this month, researchers in the United States and Europe announced they were investigating small clusters of the cases emerging across the globe. Soon after, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released an alert to doctors and providers to be on the lookout for the unusual cases.
Globally, around 170 cases have been identified, according to World Health Organization officials, with many of the children under the age of 10.
“What is particularly unusual is that the majority of these children were previously healthy,” Dr. Philippa Easterbrook, a medical expert with the WHO’s Global HIV Hepatitis and STI Programme, said during a press conference on Thursday.
The causal agent of these cases of acute hepatitis, or liver inflammation, in children, remains unknown. Experts say hepatitis is often caused by an infection, but not always.
In an effort to identify what may be driving the outbreaks, the WHO has initiated a full investigation, encouraging countries to report concerning cases, with their scientists hoping to find any potential connection.
Domestically, Alabama, Delaware, Illinois, New York, North Carolina and Wisconsin confirmed to ABC News that a total of more than 20 cases of severe hepatitis have been identified in the U.S.
At least four children in the U.S. have required a liver transplant.
On Wednesday, officials from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services issued a health alert over concerns over the discovery of a recent cluster of cases in children of acute hepatitis. Of the four cases identified, two children developed severe outcomes, including one child who required a liver transplant, and one child who died.
Likewise, at the University of Alabama Hospital at Birmingham, physicians have been investigating a concerning uptick in the number of children infected with severe acute hepatitis since the fall.
“What caught our attention, from the beginning, was that all of these cases were testing positive for adenovirus,” Dr. Helena Gutierrez, medical director of the UAB and Children’s of Alabama Pediatric Liver Transplant Program, told ABC News on Thursday, adding that officials were also alarmed by the severity of the cases.
Nine patients with pediatric hepatitis in Alabama have been shown to be positive for the adenovirus-41 strain through blood work, two of whom have required liver transplants, according to state officials. However, an official correlation has yet to be confirmed.
The majority of these children, mostly under the age of 10, and many of them under the age of 5, came to the hospital with similar symptoms — diarrhea and vomiting, which subsequently led to dehydration, according to Gutierrez. These initial symptoms were followed by jaundice, with the skin turning yellow, and then the sclera, or white, of the eyes subsequently turning yellow.
Experts say these outbreaks are very “unusual”, and there is likely a confluence of factors behind the rise in severe cases.
“These unexplained cases of hepatitis have always existed, but at a very low level, where the standard tests have been done, and there’s no clear cause. And these happen at a very low level in most countries,” Easterbrook said.
WHO officials reported that one of the “leading threads of investigation” is the potential connection to the adenovirus. However, a direct link has yet to be made.
“At the end, most likely, this is all going to be multifactorial, it could be a virus that’s driving it, plus an exaggerated response from these patients to try to combat these viruses,” Gutierrez said. “Knowing that there are different centers that are seeing more of these cases, it is definitely rare, and it’s not the norm.”
With a hepatitis outbreak, physicians often look for infectious and non-infectious causes to explain the uptick in disease, according to WHO officials. Thus far, none of the common hepatitis viruses (A, B, C, E) can be traced to this outbreak, and there have been no other known potential exposures to drugs, environmental agents, or toxins.
The emergence of these clusters of severe hepatitis among children comes after many children have been forced to stay inside and distance themselves from social activities, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. One hypothesis, that the outbreak could potentially be linked to a lack of exposure to other germs, is one that health experts are investigating, Gutierrez said.
The COVID-19 pandemic reduced the circulation of other viruses, and now that life is getting back to normal, officials have seen an increase in adenovirus.
It is still unclear what role COVID-19 is playing in this outbreak, according to Dr. Richard Peabody, who leads WHO Europe’s high-threat pathogens team. It could “potentially” be playing a role, but any link “really needs further investigation to understand whether [COVID-19] might be a factor.”
There is also no evidence, at this time, that vaccination against COVID-19 is related to the outbreaks, as the majority of the children were unvaccinated.
When asked what parents could do to protect their kids, given the lack of information pertaining to the causal agent for the hepatitis infection, Gutierrez said that parents should not to be alarmed, given that kids get sick routinely, and if they developed symptoms such as diarrhea and vomiting, it is critical to keep them hydrated.
However, she urged parents to seek medical attention if the children developed symptoms that are not normal.
If symptoms “continue to be an issue, and hydration is a problem, just like any other type of illness, just go to your pediatrician, but especially if you see that your kid starts to have skin that’s turning yellow, or the white of their eyes turning yellow, or urine that’s very dark in color,” Gutierrez said.
Such symptoms should be brought up to the attention of the pediatrician, so that the child can be assessed, and to determine if care should be escalated.
Dinendra Haria/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — The head of the Food and Drug Administration on Thursday said the agency would move along to review Moderna’s data for its kid vaccine regardless of when Pfizer submits its data on kids under five, a move that will be welcome news to some parents who were upset that waiting to authorize the vaccines together would delay the timeline.
The FDA was considering reviewing the Moderna data for kids under six, which was submitted for an emergency use authorization on Thursday, alongside Pfizer’s data, which is expected to be submitted in the next few weeks, so that the vaccines could be compared side-by-side.
But on Thursday, FDA Commissioner Robert Califf told reporters the FDA would not “hold up” the Moderna application to wait for Pfizer.
“Most of the experts that I’ve talked with would say it would be ideal if they could be considered together. But if they don’t come in at the same time, then there’s not going to be a hold up on the Moderna application, just to make it come in at the same time,” Califf told reporters Thursday after a hearing on Capitol Hill, in comments that were later confirmed by an FDA spokesperson to ABC News.
A senior administration official also confirmed to ABC News the FDA would act “as expeditiously as possible” to authorize the Moderna vaccine, so long as it meets its standards.
The official said there would be no delay and the application would be judged “on its merits.”
Moderna, which is a two-shot vaccine, is different from Pfizer’s vaccine, which is a three-shot vaccine. Pfizer hasn’t finished gathering its data yet, but some expect it to be more effective because booster shots, or third shots, have shown to boost immune response in adults.
In the meantime, Moderna’s vaccine data is ready for review, though the company will continue to submit more data for its applications over the week or so.
Moderna’s trial found that the shots generated a strong immune response with no significant risks. The vaccine generated an antibody response roughly equivalent to the antibody response seen in adults, the company said.
At the same time, experts have questioned the low efficacy numbers against infection. During the omicron surge, two doses of the vaccine were roughly 51% effective against COVID-19 infection, including asymptomatic and mild infections, for children 6 months to 2 years old, and 37% effective among kids 2 years to 6 years old.
But Moderna’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Paul Burton, defended the vaccine’s efficacy against infection, arguing that omicron led to more breakthrough infections, but that the shot produced an antibody response that was even stronger in the young kids than it was in the 18-24-year-olds.
“I think moms and dads and caregivers, doctors and nurses should be reassured by this result,” Burton told ABC News.
“The antibody levels that we saw here were high, and we can translate that to what we see in adults where we get really good protection against severe disease and hospitalization,” he said.
Moderna is also studying third shots across all age groups, including for a variant-specific vaccine that could more effectively target some of the newer strains of the virus.
It’s not clear if the FDA’s decision to move ahead separately on Moderna will significantly affect the timeline for kids under five getting vaccinated.
While Moderna hopes its vaccine will be authorized within a month, which is the usual timeline for vaccine authorization during the pandemic, the company still has to submit more data to the FDA in the coming weeks to complete its submission.
The FDA has signaled that the Moderna submission will take some time to sift through because it has to also review the company’s data on its vaccines for kids up to age 17, which haven’t been authorized yet.
Burton said that the FDA should have the bulk of what it needs to do the review, though.
The FDA is expected to put out more information tomorrow on the timing of its meeting of FDA independent advisors, who will publicly review and discuss the data to kick off the process.
Pfizer’s CEO Anthony Bourla has said that he expected the company to submit data to the FDA in the “coming weeks,” and that it could be authorized in June.
(WASHINGTON) — The Food and Drug Administration announced on Thursday a proposed ban on menthol cigarettes and all flavors in cigars, a move that could further drive down smoking rates in the U.S.
The FDA will solicit comments from the public before finalizing the rule, a process that could take years. But advocates say it’s a step in the right direction, pointing to one research model that estimated banning these flavors could lead to a 15% decline in tobacco use by 2026.
Smoking is the main cause of lung cancer, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In the U.S., menthol cigarettes represent over a third of cigarette sales, with almost 19 million users. Black Americans have disproportionately high rates of menthol smoking, a consequence of years of racially targeted advertising.
In fact, 85% of Black smokers use menthol cigarettes compared to 30% of white smokers, according to the FDA. Moreover, other groups have been successfully targeted with various marketing strategies including young people, women, low-income and LGBTQ communities, according to Dr. Andrea Villanti, associate professor in the Department of Health Behavior, Society and Policy at Rutgers School of Public Health and deputy director of the Center for Tobacco studies.
Menthol added to cigarettes and cigars results in a cooling effect when inhaling smoke, said Villanti.
“It actually dampens any sort of respiratory response to smoke being an irritant. So it kind of makes the smoke go down easier,” she explained. “Especially for a young person or someone who hasn’t used the product before.”
She added, “[Menthol] helps people start, it makes it harder to quit.”
Menthol cigarette smokers, especially Black American smokers, are less likely to successfully quit smoking compared to non-menthol cigarette smokers, according to an FDA report. Robin Koval, CEO and president of Truth Initiative, a nonprofit public health organization committed to tobacco cessation, said nearly half of Black smokers would try to quit if there was a rule banning menthol.
Multiple countries and governing bodies, including the European Union, Canada, Brazil, Ethiopia, and Turkey, as well as some U.S. states and municipalities, including Massachusetts and Washington, D.C., already have menthol bans in effect.
Canada, which banned menthol cigarettes in 2017, is already seeing effects. Research led by a team at the University of Toronto found high levels of quitting behavior in menthol smokers, with 24% of daily menthol smokers quitting by one year and 12% by two years.
“The Canadian experience shows that removing menthol and other additives from cigarettes is certainly feasible,” said Dr. Michael Chaiton, associate professor in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto.
According to Chaiton, a U.S. ban is “likely to save hundreds of thousands of lives.”
But in the U.S., the menthol and other flavor ban won’t take effect overnight. The rule-making process and implementation of the ban could take up to several years, according to Kevin Schroth, an associate professor at the Rutgers University Center for Tobacco Studies.
During this time, education and good communication to the public will be important to “reduce misperceptions about the goal of the ban,” according to Vallanti, as well as provide the resources for patients to quit.
“Tobacco companies are the target … not communities,” said Vallanti.
Koval said a comprehensive ban that includes not only menthol cigarettes but flavored cigars as well would reduce “loophole” options in getting around the ban.
Because youth and Black Americans are the primary smokers of menthol and other flavors, a ban “has the potential to improve health equity,” said Vallanti.
“Taking flavors off the market, overall, will prevent the initiation of another generation into becoming addicted to nicotine and lifelong customers of the tobacco industry,” Koval said. “Eliminating menthol cigarettes will have significant effects on health, especially for populations … who are most vulnerable: young people, people of color.”
(NEW YORK) — The vaccine company Moderna on Thursday announced it submitted its request for the Food and Drug Administration to authorize its vaccine for children ages 6 months to 6 years, marking a hopeful development in the long journey for parents who are desperate to get their young kids vaccinated.
“I think for these little children, they really represent an unmet medical need,” Paul Burton, chief medical officer for Moderna, told ABC News. “I would be hopeful that the review will go on quickly and rigorously — but if it’s approvable, this will be made available to these little children as quickly as possible.”
Once the FDA reviews the data, it will call a meeting of its independent panel of advisors to publicly discuss the safety and efficacy of the vaccine before taking a vote. The FDA would then take the panel’s consensus into account and decide whether to authorize the vaccine.
After that, the process heads to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for its advisors to review the data and for the CDC director to recommend the vaccine to the public.
But questions remain about how soon the FDA will be able to authorize Moderna’s vaccine, and whether regulators would prefer to review it alongside Pfizer’s vaccine, which is expected to be submitted for review in the coming weeks.
Dr. Peter Marks, who oversees vaccines for the FDA, said on Tuesday that the FDA would put out a timeline for the review within the next week.
Marks couldn’t clarify whether the FDA would review both vaccines together or not until the agency had seen the data from the companies, but said that the FDA would move “quickly” once that data is in. Burton, with Moderna, stressed that kids under 5 currently have no vaccine options.
“I think every day that [kids] are without a vaccine is obviously another day that somebody can get infected, can get hospitalized. So I would hope that, you know, they can move as quickly as possible,” Burton said.“Typically, they seem to take about a month, so I’d be hopeful for that kind of timeline, but you know, they’ll do the very best job necessary.”
Moderna, which is a two-shot vaccine, is different from Pfizer’s vaccine, which is a three-shot vaccine, and because Pfizer hasn’t finished gathering its data yet, it’s not yet clear which shot will be more effective.
Moderna’s data, which is in, found that the shots generated a strong immune response with no significant risks found. The vaccine generated an antibody response roughly equivalent to the antibody response seen in adults, the company said.
At the same time, experts have questioned the low efficacy numbers against infection. During the omicron surge, two doses of the vaccine were roughly 51% effective against COVID-19 infection, including asymptomatic and mild infections, for children 6 months to 2 years old, and 37% effective among kids 2 years to 6 years old.
But Burton defended the vaccine’s efficacy against infection, arguing that omicron led to more breakthrough infections, but that the shot produced an antibody response that was even stronger in the young kids than it was in the 18- to 24-year-olds.
“I think moms and dads and caregivers, doctors and nurses should be reassured by this result,” Burton said.
“The antibody levels that we saw here were high, and we can translate that to what we see in adults where we get really good protection against severe disease and hospitalization,” he said.
Asked about Moderna’s plan for a third shot for kids, which would then put it on par with Pfizer, which is planning on submitting data for a three-shot vaccine, Burton said that Moderna intends to give children a booster with a variant-specific vaccine in the fall or winter, if a booster is necessary.
“We’re working on a variant-specific booster, we released some data a couple of weeks ago. We’re still working on even another booster candidate that will cover omicron, as well as the original virus. And if these little kids do need an additional booster, I think that’s the one that we would likely offer them in the fall or winter,” Burton said.
The company is currently testing boosters across all age groups.
But Burton said he was confident in the two-dose regimen Moderna is putting before the FDA.
“If these children need an additional booster dose, a third dose later in the winter, we’ll have those data on hand and we can discuss that with regulators then, but I think everybody can be well reassured of the result here,” Burton said.
None of the children in the Moderna study became severely sick, so the company was unable to provide an efficacy estimate for its ability to prevent severe illness.
Pfizer is expected to submit its data in the coming weeks. The company’s CEO, Anthony Bourla, said in a recent interview that he expected authorization sometime in June. Many experts expect the vaccine to be strong because data has consistently shown more immunity from third shots, or boosters, in adults.
For parents, the authorization of vaccines for the youngest population in the country has been a stressful, arduous wait.
The expected timeline for shots has slipped twice in the past year.
While children 5 and older have had a vaccine since the fall, younger kids have weathered the delta and the omicron waves without them. And a lot of them are too young to wear masks, which experts only recommend for kids over 2.
A CDC report on Tuesday revealed that the lack of vaccination has made young kids a bigger target for the virus. Around 75% of kids and adolescents under 17 have had COVID, according to a nationwide study — the highest percentage of people who’ve had COVID-19 of all the age groups.
Still, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said it’s vital for everyone, including children, to get vaccinated when they’re eligible, regardless of prior infection.
“Those who have detectable antibodies from prior infection, we still continue to encourage them to get vaccinated,” Walensky said.
“We don’t know … when that infection was, we don’t know whether that protection has waned. We don’t know as much about that level of protection than we do about the protection we get from both vaccines and boosters,” Walensky said.
(WASHINGTON) — The worst days of the COVID-19 pandemic may be over in the United States, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said this week. Some experts urged caution, however, and said the pandemic is still a threat in the long-term.
“We are certainly right now in this country out of the pandemic phase,” Fauci told PBS NewsHour Tuesday. “Namely, we don’t have 900,000 new infections a day and tens and tens and tens of thousands of hospitalizations and thousands of deaths. We are at a low level right now.”
He continued, “So, if you’re saying, are we out of the pandemic phase in this country, we are.”
Some public health experts stressed Fauci is not saying the pandemic is over, which he also later clarified to CBS News, but rather that the virus is no longer having the same impact in the U.S. as it was a few months ago.
In fact, Fauci stressed at the end of the PBS interview, “So, if you look at the global situation, there’s no doubt this pandemic is still ongoing.”
This doesn’t just mean fewer cases, hospitalizations and deaths being reported but also fewer school closures and staffing shortages in hospitals as well as people resuming activities again, they say.
“We’re not having mass closures of hospital beds like we did in January 2022,” Dr. Cameron Wolfe, an associate professor of infectious diseases at Duke University School of Medicine, told ABC News. “We’re still seeing staffing shortages, but they’re not to the same extent that they were for the last couple of years. Activities are coming back online, so I’m at an in-person meeting for the first time in two years.”
Wolfe said the danger of overwhelming hospitals and high death rates is greatly reduced because of the number of Americans who’ve been vaccinated as well as previously infected.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 82.4% of the eligible U.S. population — those aged 5 and older — have had at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose and 70.3% are fully vaccinated.
What’s more, a new CDC analysis released Tuesday estimated three out of every five Americans have antibodies from a previous COVID-19 infection, up from one-third before the omicron wave.
“We’re in a phase right now that the number of vaccinations, and also frankly the number of people who have been infected, where our community level of immune protection is good enough that there’s not as many infections taking place as we saw in January.” Wolfe said. “So, the impact that has on the way our community ticks along becomes less.”
Wolfe said another reason the U.S. is doing well handling COVID-19 is because there are more treatments available for people who contract the virus.
During the first wave of the pandemic, there were few treatments approved or authorized for emergency use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
But, over time, several treatments were developed and they are now more widespread. Currently, COVID-19 patients can receive monoclonal antibodies, which is an infusion of antibodies in a lab that mimic antibodies generated by the body, or pills developed by Pfizer and Merck.
These treatments have been shown to not only reduce the number of days a person is experiencing symptoms but also dramatically lower the risk of hospitalization and death, preventing healthcare systems from becoming overwhelmed.
“We’re in a much better state in terms of having treatment availability,” Wolfe said. “Having access to good medicines that are liberally now available and do a good job in terms of preventing the severe outcomes from COVID I think is a real bonus that we just didn’t have six months ago.”
However, other experts are not sure the U.S. is out of the pandemic phase.
“We have the potential for spread of new variants across this country, and it tells us that we are not necessarily out of this pandemic phase,” said Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist at Boston Children’s Hospital and an ABC News contributor. “This virus has global impact and it means that we see spread in one part of the world.”
He continued, “We will likely see a surge here. And so as much as we want to head towards that normal life, I think we’re still months away from fully understanding whether we’re in a position where this virus is not disrupting our daily lives.”
ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos contributed to this report.
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(NEW YORK) — The World Health Organization and UNICEF are warning of a “perfect storm” of circumstances fueling the potential for large-scale measles outbreaks, underscoring worrying signs of increased risk as infections around the globe this year are far above what they were this time last year.
In the first two months of 2022, reported measles cases worldwide increased by nearly 80%, compared to the same timeframe in 2021, the organizations said in a joint news release, adding that conditions are “ripe” for serious outbreaks of the vaccine-preventable illness.
“Pandemic-related disruptions, increasing inequalities in access to vaccines and the diversion of resources from routine immunization are leaving too many children without protection against measles and other vaccine-preventable diseases,” the organizations said, adding that the risk for large outbreaks “has increased as communities relax social distancing practices and other preventive measures for COVID-19 implemented during the height of the pandemic.”
Almost 17,338 cases of the highly contagious disease were reported worldwide in January and February 2022, compared to 9,665 during the first two months of 2021.
Brewing humanitarian crises have inflamed the issue.
“With millions of people being displaced due to conflicts and crises, including in Ukraine, Ethiopia, Somalia and Afghanistan, disruptions in routine immunization and COVID-19 vaccination services, lack of clean water and sanitation, and overcrowding increase the risk of vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks,” the organizations said.
“The agencies are concerned that outbreaks of measles could also forewarn outbreaks of other diseases that do not spread as rapidly,” WHO and UNICEF said, noting that besides its direct effect on the body, which can be lethal, the measles virus also weakens the immune system and makes a child more vulnerable to other infectious diseases such as pneumonia and diarrhea for months after the measles infection — among those who survive.
This is not the first time global health agencies have warned of lagging pediatric immunizations being an issue of urgent address.
In an April meeting, the WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts noted that disruptions to routine immunization programs puts “millions of children at risk of disease outbreaks,” and “large and disruptive outbreaks of measles have occurred in at least 19 countries during the past 12 months.”
And in the U.S., as ABC has reported, vaccination coverage for kindergarteners fell below the nationwide target during the 2020-2021 school year, according to CDC data, raising concerns about vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles, mumps and whooping cough.
Experts worry pandemic disruptions could inadvertently lead to a growing number of vaccine-preventable illnesses among children.
In 2020, 23 million children missed out on basic childhood vaccines through routine health services, the highest number since 2009 and 3.7 million more than in 2019, the WHO and UNICEF said Wednesday.
As of April 1, 57 vaccine-preventable disease campaigns in 43 countries that were scheduled to take place since the start of the pandemic are still postponed, impacting 203 million people, most of whom are children, the agencies said. Nineteen of those postponed are measles campaigns, putting 73 million children at risk of measles due to missed vaccinations.
In Ukraine, the measles catch-up campaign of 2019 “was interrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic and thereafter due to the war,” the WHO and UNICEF said. “Routine and catch-up campaigns are needed wherever access is possible to help make sure there are not repeated outbreaks as in 2017-2019, when there were over 115,000 cases of measles and 41 deaths in the country — this was the highest incidence in Europe.”
As of this April, the agencies said there have been 21 large and disruptive measles outbreaks around the world in the last 12 months. Most of the measles cases were reported in Africa and the East Mediterranean region.
Countries with the largest measles outbreaks since the past year include Somalia, Yemen, Nigeria, Afghanistan and Ethiopia.
The figures are likely higher, as the pandemic has disrupted surveillance systems globally, with potential underreporting, the agencies said.
The agencies cited insufficient measles vaccine coverage as the primary reason for the outbreaks “wherever they occur.”
“Measles is more than a dangerous and potentially deadly disease. It is also an early indication that there are gaps in our global immunization coverage, gaps vulnerable children cannot afford,” UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said in a statement. “It is encouraging that people in many communities are beginning to feel protected enough from COVID-19 to return to more social activities. But doing so in places where children are not receiving routine vaccination creates the perfect storm for the spread of a disease like measles.”
ABC News’ Sony Salzman contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Parents eager to vaccinate their toddlers and preschoolers last fall were told a COVID shot for the youngest age group was on its way, with data expected by the end of the year. That deadline slipped. Then it slipped again.
Now, with summer travel just around the corner, parents of kids under 5 are fed up. They describe feeling stuck in a kind of cruel pandemic time warp, even as much of the country moves on and people have stopped wearing masks, including on airplanes.
Many parents are ready to assign blame.
“I want you, Joe Biden, to call the FDA (US Food and Drug Administration) and tell them that they need to act with all possible speed because every day they delay there are children being infected and some of those children could die,” said Sarah Liebman, a mom outside Portland, Oregon, whose 2-year-old remains too young for a shot.
Emmie Fital, a mom of two boys ages 4 and 1, living outside Philadelphia, has opted to keep her kids home from school because her oldest son’s asthma has resulted previously in a hospital stay after he contracted the common cold.
“We’ve been kind of living in Groundhog’s Day, every day for two years … It is ludicrous what we are having to deal with as parents right now,” Fital told ABC.
In coming weeks, the nation’s two big vaccine makers — Pfizer and Moderna — are poised to deliver key pieces of data that the FDA needs to authorize a vaccine.
Moderna was expected by week’s end to submits its official request for FDA authorization for its 2-shot version. Pfizer says it expects to have final data on its three-shot version by the end of June.
How soon though regulators will give either shot a green light remains unclear. Government and industry officials say the data sets for vaccine trials can be complex, and Moderna will likely submit additional information on a rolling basis even after its official request is made.
The FDA has declined to comment on pending vaccine applications — necessary to avoid legal hot water — but suggested its hands are tied until company officials submit their data. The agency also has promised to make public a new tentative timeline for advisory committee meetings, a final step before authorization of any vaccine.
“Just remember that we can’t actually finish our reviews until we actually have complete applications in the FDA,” said Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, told a Senate panel on Tuesday.
Parents though say they are frustrated by these kinds of cryptic comments and that they seem to be learning more about the vaccine’s progress from press leaks than regulators. Last week, a Politico report suggested the FDA might wait on Moderna’s authorization request until Pfizer could offer more data on its version.
In an interview with CNN+, Biden’s top medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci confirmed there were concerns within the FDA about authorizing the two different vaccines — with different amounts of dosing and shots — on separate timelines. Authorizing them together would give parents a side-by-side comparison before they made their choice, some officials thought.
“What the FDA wants to do is to get it so that we don’t confuse people,” Fauci said.
His comments sparked swift pushback from frustrated parents, including Liebman.
“We were told over and over that the best shot was the first one to get into your arm,” she said. “So I don’t understand why the FDA seems confused. I am not confused. I’m not at all confused.”
Fatima Khan, who helped to start up a grassroots advocacy group and Facebook page called “Protect Their Future,” which advocates for swift authorization of a pediatric vaccine, said she wishes the FDA was more transparent about what it needs from vaccine makers and what concerns it has.
“I feel like we’ve been getting yanked around a lot. You know, no one really gives anyone a clear answer, and it shouldn’t be that difficult,” said Khan.
Still plenty of questions remain, including whether at the FDA should send parents down the path of a two-dose vaccine if an alternative three-dose is found to be more effective just a couple of weeks later.
Moderna has said its two-dose vaccine produced the same level of immune response as seen in adults. But because none of the participants in the study became severely sick, Moderna couldn’t give an estimate of how effective the vaccine is at preventing severe illness.
Dr. Julie Morita, a pediatrician who has advised the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the past, said premature or complex data can make speaking openly difficult for regulators.
“You want to be careful about what information you’re sharing because you don’t want to have misunderstandings. Because once you the information is out there it’s really hard to pull it back,” said Morita, executive vice president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Overall, children are at significantly less risk of hospitalization and death of COVID-19 compared to adults.
Still, the number of children who became infected in recent weeks due to the omicron variant is staggering. The American Academy of Pediatrics estimates that nearly 124,000 kids were infected in the past month alone.
Since the pandemic began two years ago, 468 children have died as a result of complications from the virus.
Fital said she is irked hearing public health officials say repeatedly that the best way to protect yourself and others is to get vaccinated, when so many kids can’t.
“What do you say to the 20 million children that have no option?” she asked. “They have nothing.”
ABC News’ Sony Salzman contributed to this report.
