Health

(WASHINGTON) — Some major medical associations are pushing back against the Department of Health and Human Services’ updated definitions of biological sex in federal policy in the wake of President Donald Trump’s executive order.

HHS issued new guidance on Feb. 19 where it said it “recognizes there are only two sexes: male and female,” adding: “HHS will use these definitions and promote policies acknowledging that women are biologically female and men are biologically male.”

“There is extensive scientific research that supports the complexity of sex and gender beyond binary classifications,” American Psychological Association CEO Arthur C. Evans Jr., Ph.D., told ABC News in a statement. “The new restrictive definition of sex ignores decades of science, increasing harm to youth and families, while undermining critical mental health outcomes.”

The new HHS guidance for the federal government defines “sex” as “a person’s immutable biological classification as either male or female.” It further defines “female” as “a person of the sex characterized by a reproductive system with the biological function of producing eggs (ova)” and “male” as “a person of the sex characterized by a reproductive system with the biological function of producing sperm.” It additionally defines the definition of a “woman” as “an adult human female” and a “man” as “an adult human male.”

The updated HHS guidance also includes definitions for “father” as describing a “male parent” and “mother” as describing a “female parent.”

The HHS guidance doesn’t mention intersex individuals — people born with sex characteristics that don’t fit typical definitions of male or female. The National Institutes of Health estimates that about .018% of the population is considered intersex.

The federal government previously defined “sex” in broader terms.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one of HHS’ agencies, defines sex as “an individual’s biological status as male, female, or something else. Sex is assigned at birth and associated with physical attributes, such as anatomy and chromosomes.”

The CDC’s website defines gender as “the cultural roles, behaviors, activities and attributes expected of people based on their sex.”

After Trump took office, the administration ordered the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration to remove certain public health websites, including the CDC’s page with more gender-inclusive definitions, which were then taken offline. A judge granted a temporary restraining order to restore the pages after organizations filed lawsuits.

A banner at the top of the CDC page currently states: “Per a court order, HHS is required to restore this website as of 11:59PM ET, February 14, 2025. Any information on this page promoting gender ideology is extremely inaccurate and disconnected from the immutable biological reality that there are two sexes, male and female.”

The HHS did not include its own definition of gender in its updated guidance posted Feb. 19.

The second Trump administration has issued a number of executive orders targeting the transgender population, and a number of lawsuits have been filed to challenge them.

Human biology is complex, and not all individuals fit neatly into binary categories, Evans told ABC News. 

“We cannot just ignore the biological science that some people are born with a difference of sex development (DSD),” Evans said in his statement. “DSD are congenital conditions where the development of anatomical, chromosomal or gonadal sex is atypical. It is important that we support access to psychological and medical interventions for such individuals who do not fall into the male or female category, putting them at a higher risk of depression and anxiety.”

Evans also said the new HHS definitions excluded the concept of gender identity.

“It is crucial to recognize the psychological science on the validity of gender identity, as it allows for a more accurate understanding of individual experiences beyond the binary framework of biological sex,” he said. “Research consistently shows that affirming both sex and gender identity is vital for promoting mental health and well-being.”

In its updated guidance, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the Trump administration “is bringing back common sense and restoring biological truth to the federal government. The prior administration’s policy of trying to engineer gender ideology into every aspect of public life is over.”

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said in a statement that it will not change its current definitions of sex and gender, and will use inclusive language “to recognize and affirm all people who seek and receive care from obstetrician-gynecologists.”

The ACOG also called on researchers to diversify studies by including gender-expansive participants and to report study participant characteristics inclusively by using language beyond traditional binary descriptors.

The American Academy of Family Physicians noted its long-standing policy on care for transgender and nonbinary patients, saying in a statement that it will continue to recognize that “diversity in gender identity and expression is a normal part of human existence and does not represent pathology.” It further asserted that “medical decisions are best made by patients, their families and their physicians, supported by medical evidence.”

The American Academy of Pediatrics said it will comply with all applicable executive orders as the law requires. “The AAP continues to hold that medical decisions are best made by patients, their families and their physicians, supported by medical evidence,” the organization said in a statement.

The American Medical Association’s policy on the Medical Spectrum of Gender, first enacted in 2018, appears to remain unchanged. It “affirms that an individual’s genotypic sex, phenotypic sex, sexual orientation, gender and gender identity are not always aligned or indicative of the other, and that gender for many individuals may differ from the sex assigned at birth,” according to the policy.

HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon told ABC News the department has no comment.

ABC News has reached out to the White House for comment.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Thursday, a day after HHS updated its guidance, that Trump “reestablished the scientific and biological truth that there are only two sexes in this country — male and female — that those are biologically based determinations.  They are not based and can never be based on gender identity.”

Dr. Allia Vaez is a family medicine resident at Southern Regional AHEC and a member of the ABC News Medical Unit. 

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(NEW YORK) — More measles cases are being confirmed across the United States as health officials work to treat patients in an ongoing outbreak in Texas.

The Kentucky Department for Public Health (KDPH) and the Franklin County Health Department announced on Wednesday a confirmed case of measles in an adult resident, the first in the state in two years.

The departments said the resident recently traveled internationally to an area where measles is spreading.

Meanwhile, in New Jersey, health officials confirmed two new measles cases in Bergen County linked to a patient whose case was confirmed earlier this month.

Officials haven’t found any links between the cases in Kentucky and New Jersey, and there’s no evidence the cases in Kentucky or New Jersey are connected to the outbreak in Texas, which has so far sickened 124 people and led to one death in an unvaccinated school-aged child.

Kentucky health officials are now attempting to contact anyone the infected resident may have come into contact with. The resident attended a Planet Fitness in Frankfort on Feb. 17 while contagious, officials said.

“Measles is one of the most contagious viruses in the world,” KDPH Commissioner Dr. Steven Stack said in a statement. “Fortunately, measles can be prevented with the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, which is safe and effective. Vaccines are an essential tool to keep children and adults safe and healthy.”

An official briefed on the situation told ABC News on Thursday that the new cases in New Jersey are members of the same family and were not vaccinated. Because they are in the same family, public health officials are hopeful public spread will have been limited.

The original case tested positive after traveling internationally. The New Jersey Department of Health said people may have been exposed to measles if they visited Englewood Hospital’s Emergency Department on Feb. 5.

Health officials said people who were exposed could develop symptoms until as late as March 6.

Measles is one of the most contagious diseases known to humans. Just one infected patient can spread measles to up to nine out of 10 susceptible close contacts, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Health officials have been urging anyone who isn’t vaccinated to receive the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine.

The CDC currently recommends that people receive two vaccine doses, the first at ages 12 to 15 months and the second between 4 and 6 years old. One dose is 93% effective, and two doses are 97% effective. Most vaccinated adults don’t need a booster.

Measles was declared eliminated from the U.S. in 2000 due to the highly effective vaccination program, according to the CDC. However, CDC data shows vaccination rates have been lagging in recent years.

ABC News’ Matt Foster contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — Longer periods of extreme heat has been found to accelerate biological age in older adults by up to two years, according to new research.

More heat days over time correlated with deterioration at the molecular and cellular level in adults 56 years or older, likely because the biological deterioration accumulates over time and eventually leads to disease and disability, Eunyoung Choi, a postdoctoral associate at the University of California’s Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, told ABC News.

Researchers at the University of Southern California studied blood samples from 3,686 adults starting at an average chronological age of 68 years with varying socioeconomic backgrounds across the U.S. and compared epigenetic aging trends to the number of extreme heat days in the participants’ places of residence, according to a study published Wednesday in Science Advances.

“Epigenetic age is one way we measure biological aging, which tells us how well our body is functioning at the physical, molecular and the cellular levels,” Choi said. “…We know that some people seem to age faster than others, and that’s because biological aging doesn’t always match chronological age.”

Regression modeling showed that more heat days, or longer-term heat, over one and six years increased biological age by 2.48 years. Short and mid-term heat also increased biological age by 1.07 years, according to the paper.

Extreme heat was defined as the daily maximum heat index — derived from both temperature and humidity — with a “caution” range of between 80 degrees to 90 degrees Fahrenheit and an “extreme caution” range of between 90 degrees and 103 degrees Fahrenheit, in accordance with the National Weather Service, according to the paper. “Extreme danger” was defined as any heat index level over 124 degrees Fahrenheit.

The researchers compared the epigenetic age of participants from regions with long periods of extreme heat to those living in cooler climates. There was a 14-month difference in epigenetic age between residents living in places like Phoenix, Arizona, than milder places like Seattle, even after accounting other individual and community-level differences, like income, education, physical activity and smoking, Choi said.

“Two people that had identical sociodemographic characteristics and similar lifestyles, just because one is living in a hotter environment, they experience additional biological aging,” she said.

The 14-month differences is comparable to effects seen with smoking and heavy alcohol consumption — two well-established risk factors of accelerated biological aging, the researchers found.

DNA methylation — the process of chemical modification to DNA that tends to change as people age — is “highly responsive” to environmental exposures like social stress, pollution and, in this case, extreme heat, Choi said.

Previous research has linked extreme heat to serious health risks like cardiovascular disease, kidney dysfunction, hospitalization and even death, Choi said. But prior to this research, scientists did not fully understand what is occurring at the biological level before those health issues appear, Choi added.

“The physical toll of the heat might not show up right away as a diagnosable health condition, but it could be taking a silent toll at the cellular and the molecular level,” Choi said.

It’s important to uncover potential hidden effects of heat on the body because it can serve as an “important precursor” before they turn into more serious health conditions, Choi said.

“We can intervene at the earlier stage,” she added.

Humidity also plays a big role in how the body responds to heat, especially for older adults, Choi said.

“As we age, our bodies don’t cool down as rapidly,” she said.

The new research provides a foundation for the development of targeted public health interventions, the researchers said.

“This provides strong evidence critical for guiding public policy and advocacy initiatives aimed at developing mitigation strategies against climate change,” Choi said.

ABC News Medical Unit’s Dr. Jessica Yang contributed to this report.

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(LUBBOCK, Texas) — An unvaccinated school-aged child in Texas has died of measles, the first associated with an outbreak in the western part of the state that has infected more than 100 people.

Lubbock city spokesperson Lauren Adams confirmed the death to ABC News on Wednesday.

In a press release, the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) said the child was hospitalized in the northwestern city of Lubbock last week and tested positive for measles.

As of Wednesday, 124 cases of measles have been confirmed associated with the outbreak, according to data from DSHS.

Almost all of the cases are in unvaccinated individuals or individuals whose vaccination status is unknown, and 18 people have been hospitalized so far, DSHS said.

Children and teenagers between ages 5 and 17 make up the majority of cases with 62, followed by 39 cases among children ages 4 and under.

The outbreak began in Gaines County, which has become the epicenter, with 80 cases confirmed among residents, according to DSHS.

The outbreak has since spread to several counties in the region and is “suspected” to have spread into New Mexico, according to New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH). Nine cases have been confirmed in Lea County, which borders Texas. Of the nine cases, four are among children, according to NMDOH.

“This death underscores the real danger of measles — it’s a severe disease that can take lives despite being preventable with vaccination,” said Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and ABC News contributor. “Every new case is a reminder of why vaccination is critical. Tragically, with an outbreak of this scale, a fatal case was not unexpected, especially among those unvaccinated. Given how contagious measles is, we anticipate more cases in the coming weeks.”

During Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting, Health and & Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. responded to a question about the outbreak, saying the agency was following the cases in Texas.

Kennedy appeared to downplay the outbreak, noting there have been four outbreaks so far this year compared to 16 last year. However, the number of cases in Texas alone amount to nearly half of the 285 cases confirmed in 2024.

“It’s not unusual; we have measles outbreaks every year,” he said.

Measles is one of the most contagious diseases known to humans. Just one infected patient can spread measles up to nine out of 10 susceptible close contacts, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Health officials have been urging anyone who isn’t vaccinated to receive the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine.

The CDC currently recommends people receive two vaccine doses, the first at ages 12 to 15 months and the second between 4 and 6 years old. One dose is 93% effective, and two doses are 97% effective. Most vaccinated adults don’t need a booster.

Measles was declared eliminated from the U.S. in 2000, due to the highly effective vaccination program, according to the CDC. However, vaccination rates have been lagging in recent years.

About 93% of kindergarteners nationwide received select routine childhood vaccines, including the MMR vaccine, for the 2022-23 school year, according to a November 2023 CDC report.

This is about the same as the previous school year, but lower than the 94% seen in the 2020-22021 school year and the 95% seen in the 2019-2020 school year, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The latter percentage had been the standard for about 10 years.

ABC News’ Youri Benadjaoud contributed to this report.

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(LUBBOCK, Texas) — An unvaccinated school-aged child in Texas has died of measles, the first associated with an outbreak in the western part of the state that has infected more than 100 people.

Lubbock city spokesperson Lauren Adams confirmed the death to ABC News on Wednesday.

In a press release, the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) said the child was hospitalized in the northwestern city of Lubbock last week and tested positive for measles.

As of Wednesday, 124 cases of measles have been confirmed associated with the outbreak, according to data from DSHS.

Almost all of the cases are in unvaccinated individuals or individuals whose vaccination status is unknown, and 18 people have been hospitalized so far, DSHS said.

Children and teenagers between ages 5 and 17 make up the majority of cases with 62, followed by 39 cases among children ages 4 and under.

The outbreak began in Gaines County, which has become the epicenter, with 80 cases confirmed among residents, according to DSHS.

The outbreak has since spread to several counties in the region and is “suspected” to have spread into New Mexico, according to New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH). Nine cases have been confirmed in Lea County, which borders Texas. Of the nine cases, four are among children, according to NMDOH.

“This death underscores the real danger of measles — it’s a severe disease that can take lives despite being preventable with vaccination,” said Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and ABC News contributor. “Every new case is a reminder of why vaccination is critical. Tragically, with an outbreak of this scale, a fatal case was not unexpected, especially among those unvaccinated. Given how contagious measles is, we anticipate more cases in the coming weeks.”

Measles is one of the most contagious diseases known to humans. Just one infected patient can spread measles up to nine out of 10 susceptible close contacts, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Health officials have been urging anyone who isn’t vaccinated to receive the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine.

The CDC currently recommends people receive two vaccine doses, the first at ages 12 to 15 months and the second between 4 and 6 years old. One dose is 93% effective, and two doses are 97% effective. Most vaccinated adults don’t need a booster.

Measles was declared eliminated from the U.S. in 2000, due to the highly effective vaccination program, according to the CDC. However, vaccination rates have been lagging in recent years.

About 93% of kindergarteners nationwide received select routine childhood vaccines, including the MMR vaccine, for the 2022-23 school year, according to a November 2023 CDC report.

This is about the same as the previous school year, but lower than the 94% seen in the 2020-22021 school year and the 95% seen in the 2019-2020 school year, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The latter percentage had been the standard for about 10 years.

ABC News’ Youri Benadjaoud contributed to this report.

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(LUBBOCK, Texas) — An unvaccinated school-aged child in Texas has died of measles, the first associated with an outbreak in the western part of the state that has infected more than 100 people.

Lubbock city spokesperson Lauren Adams confirmed the death to ABC News on Wednesday.

In a press release, the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) said the child was hospitalized in Lubbock, located in northwestern Texas, last week and tested positive for measles.

As of Wednesday, 124 cases of measles have been confirmed, according to data from DSHS.

Almost all of the cases are in unvaccinated individuals or individuals whose vaccination status is unknown, and 18 people have been hospitalized so far, DSHS said.

Children and teenagers between ages 5 and 17 make up the majority of cases with 62, followed by 39 cases among children ages 4 and under.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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(DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO) — The World Health Organization has reported that there is a deadly “unknown disease” spreading in one region within the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Local health officials in Congo are partnering with the World Health Organization to investigate.

The phrase “unknown disease” primarily means that the disease has not yet been identified.

In previous cases, the cases are linked to a known disease, but a lack of available testing leads to lack of certainty.

For example, there was a separate report of an “unknown disease” in December of last year in Congo that was later attributed to illnesses from malaria and respiratory illnesses.

The latest numbers from the WHO’s Africa Region show that there are 431 cases linked to the outbreak and 53 deaths since January.

Early investigations traced the outbreak’s origin to three kids, all under 5 years old, who developed symptoms after eating a bat carcass.

Symptoms included fever, headache, diarrhea and fatigue – which later progressed to signs associated with hemorrhagic fevers and death.

Ebola and Marburg have already been ruled out, officials say. Nearly half of deaths occurred within 48 hours after symptoms start.

“The remote location and weak healthcare infrastructure increase the risk of further spread,” the WHO notes in its report.

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(WASHINGTON) — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Monday that the new coronavirus found in bats is currently not a cause for concern.

There is no reason to believe the virus poses a threat to public health at the moment and no infections have been detected in humans, according to the federal health agency.

“CDC is aware of a publication about a new bat coronavirus, but there is no reason to believe it currently poses a concern to public health,” the agency said in a statement. “The publication referenced demonstrates that the bat virus can use a human protein to enter cells in the laboratory, but they have not detected infections in humans.”

Chinese researchers, including from the Wuhan Institute of Virology and Guangzhou Medical University, published a paper in the journal Cell on Friday indicating they had discovered a new bat coronavirus that could have the potential to infect humans.

The newer coronavirus is known as HKU5-CoV-2 and is a type of merbecovirus, which is the same family of another coronavirus known to infect humans called Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).

In a lab study, the new coronavirus was found to have the potential to enter cells through the ACE2 receptor, a protein found on the cells’ surface.

This is the same way the virus that causes COVID-19 infects people, which theoretically means the new coronavirus could pose a risk to spilling over into humans.

The spike protein of the new coronavirus infected human cells that had high levels of the ACE2 receptor in test tubes, as well as in small models of human airways and intestines.

The researchers found that the virus did not enter human cells as readily as the virus that causes COVID-19 — which is called SARS-CoV-2 — writing that the “risk of emergence in human populations should not be exaggerated.”

None of the animal studies that were conducted examined the virus’s ability to cause disease or its transmissibility.

If the virus were to infect humans, the researchers suggested antiviral drugs and monoclonal antibodies — laboratory-produced proteins that mimic the antibodies the body naturally creates when fighting a virus — could be effective.

There are hundreds of coronaviruses circulating in nature. Only a few can infect humans, causing illnesses ranging from mild respiratory tract infections to more severe conditions such as bronchitis or pneumonia.

Coronaviruses include some variations of the common cold, the virus that causes MERS, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and the virus that causes COVID-19.

The researchers wrote that “bats harbor the highest proportion of genetically diverse coronaviruses,” posing a risk of spilling over into humans.

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(NEW YORK) — Flu activity remains “elevated” in the United States but is starting to show signs of abating, according to new federal data published Friday.

The 2024-25 flu season was classified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a “high” severity season overall and for all age groups, making it the first high severity season since 2017-2018.

During the week ending Feb. 15, 6.8% of visits to doctors’ offices were for flu-like illness, down from 7.7% of visits over the previous two weeks, CDC data shows.

Emergency department visits for flu also fell to 6.4% during the week ending Feb. 15 from more than 8% for the two weeks prior.

Additionally, 26.9% of tests came back positive for flu during the week ending Feb. 15. This is higher than the peak of 18.2% last flu season but lower than the 31.4% recorded over the previous two weeks.

The CDC estimates there have been at least 33 million illnesses, 430,000 hospitalizations and 19,000 deaths from flu so far this season

At least 86 pediatric flu deaths have been recorded so far, with 18 reported the week ending Feb. 15.

It comes as overall respiratory illness activity is listed as “high” nationwide, CDC data shows.

As of Friday, nine states are listed as having “very high” levels of respiratory virus activity and 14 states are listed as “high.” The remaining states are listed as having “moderate” or “low” levels.

Comparatively, 12 states were listed as “very high” and 20 states were listed as “high” last week.

Meanwhile, although COVID-19 activity is “elevated” in many areas of the U.S., CDC data shows emergency department visits are at low levels and the number of laboratory tests coming back positive is stable.

Respiratory syncytial virus activity was also described as “elevated” but declining in most areas of the U.S., according to the CDC.

Public health experts have recommended children and adults receive the flu and COVID vaccine as well as older adults receive the RSV vaccine, but coverage is “low,” according to the CDC.

As of Feb 8, only 45.3% of adults were vaccinated against the flu and 23,1% were vaccinated with the updated 2024-25 COVID-19 vaccine. Additionally, just 46.7% of adults ages 75 and older have received the RSV vaccine, according to CDC data.

Nearly half of all children are vaccinated against the flu at 45.8%, but just 12.1% have received the updated COVID-19 vaccine.

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(AUSTIN, Texas) — The number of measles cases linked to an outbreak in western Texas has grown to 90, according to new data released on Friday.

Almost all of the cases are in unvaccinated individuals or individuals whose vaccination status is unknown, and 16 people have been hospitalized so far, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. Five cases included those who have been vaccinated.

A DSHS spokesperson previously told ABC News that this marks the largest measles outbreak in the state in more than 30 years.

Children and teenagers between ages 5 and 17 make up the majority of cases with 51, followed by 26 cases among children ages 4 and under.

Gaines County is the epicenter of the outbreak, with 57 cases confirmed among residents, according to DSHS. State health data shows the number of vaccine exemptions in the county have grown dramatically.

Roughly 7.5% of kindergarteners had parents or guardians who filed for an exemption for at least one vaccine in 2013. Ten years later, that number rose to more than 17.5% — one of the highest in all of Texas, according to state health data.

Meanwhile, in neighboring New Mexico, at least nine cases have been confirmed in Lea County, which borders Texas, a spokesperson for the state Department of Health told ABC News on Friday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has separately confirmed 14 cases in five states so far this year, which does not include the recent Texas or New Mexico cases or recently confirmed cases in Georgia.

Similarly to the local outbreaks, all of the nationally confirmed cases are in people who are unvaccinated or whose vaccination status is unknown.

Measles is one of the most contagious diseases known to humans. Just one infected patient can spread measles up to nine out of 10 susceptible close contacts, according to the CDC.

Health officials have been urging anyone who isn’t vaccinated to receive the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) shot.

The CDC currently recommends people receive two vaccine doses, the first at ages 12 to 15 months and the second between 4 and 6 years old. One dose is 93% effective, and two doses are 97% effective.

In the decade before the measles vaccine became available, an estimated 3 to 4 million people were infected every year, according to the federal health agency.

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