Health

(NEW YORK) — As a surge of respiratory viruses, including COVID-19 and influenza, continue to spread across the United States, experts are warning it could lead to a rise in cardiovascular complications.

Weekly COVID hospitalizations are currently sitting at 32,861 for the week ending Jan. 13, lower than the week before but similar to levels seen in January 2023, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Similarly, there were 14,874 weekly flu hospitalizations, lower than the week before but comparable to levels seen in November 2023, the data shows.

Many Americans may assume that complications from respiratory illnesses are limited to sinusitis, bronchitis, pneumonia and other sicknesses that affect the upper or lower respiratory tracts.

However, Dr. Deepak Bhatt, director of Mount Sinai Fuster Heart Hospital in New York City, said there are two potential routes by which these infections can contribute to heart problems.

“The more common pathway is if somebody gets really sick, say with influenza, running a high fever or getting dehydrated, getting hospitalized because of complications of influenza,” he told ABC News. “That’s a setup for having heart problems.”

Fever or dehydration can raise a patient’s heart rate and, particularly for those who have heart disease or heart disease risk factors, this can be very dangerous. Additionally, respiratory infections can cause inflammation, which, in turn, can cause plaques in the blood to form clots — a potential trigger of heart attacks.

“The inflammation is a result of any serious infection but, including infections like influenza and COVID, can then cause inflammation at the site of plaque buildup in a heart artery and that can help promote that plaque to rupture,” Bhatt said. “Or in other words, flowing blood is exposed to the inner contents of that fat and cholesterol and when that happens, blood clots form, and if they block the artery completely, that’s what can cause a heart attack.”

The other pathway, which is more direct but rarer, is myocarditis, which is inflammation of the heart muscle, usually following a virus.

Myocarditis can cause arrhythmias, which are rapid or abnormal heartbeats. It can also cause the heart muscle to weaken, resulting in cardiomyopathy, which affects the heart’s ability to pump blood effectively.

Additionally, in rare circumstances, myocarditis can lead to heart failure and cardiogenic shock — another condition in which the heart can’t pump enough blood to meet the body’s needs — even in otherwise healthy patients.

While these conditions are more likely to affect older adults, those with known heart disease, or those have known multiple cardiovascular risk factors, Bhatt said there may be people who don’t know they’re at risk.

“One challenge with heart disease is not everybody knows that they have it,” he said. “That is, there are people that are walking around with heart disease, but the diagnosis hasn’t been made, because they’ve not had any symptoms yet.”

He continued, “But the stressor of a really severe illness, like influenza, can sort of then unmask what has sort of been there all along, but sitting there silently.”

Bhatt recommends anyone who is not yet vaccinated against flu and COVID, and RSV for older adults, should get their shots now.

CDC data showed that uptake has been lagging. As of Friday, just 21.5% of adults aged 18 and older have gotten the updated COVID vaccine and 46.7% have gotten the flu shot. Additionally, just 2.1% of adults aged 60 and older have gotten the RSV vaccine.

More importantly, if someone is sick and they have chest pain or are out of breath that is worsening, they should call their doctor or 911, regardless of whether or not they have an underlying condition or risk factors, he said.

“If somebody’s having really significant discomfort in the chest and symptoms in the chest, and it’s getting worse, especially rapidly, don’t just assume it’s because, ‘Oh, I have a bad cold, or I have influenza, or I have COVID,” Bhatt said. “Calling 911 is always the right thing to do.”

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(NEW YORK) — The Biden administration announced new steps Monday to expand access to contraception, abortion medication and emergency abortion care at hospitals on what would have been the 51st anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

It’s the latest attempt by the federal government to preserve abortion access and protect reproductive health care since the Supreme Court’s decision in June 2022 to end federal protections for abortion rights.

The initiatives are expected to be announced at a meeting President Joe Biden is holding Monday afternoon with his Task Force for Reproductive Healthcare Access, during which physicians who practice in states where abortion was restricted following the overturning of Roe will discuss their personal experiences.

Woman travels to New Mexico for abortion care not offered to her in Texas, joins suit

To strengthen contraception access, the administration said it will implement several measures, including federal agencies issuing new guidance to “clarify standards” and make sure Food and Drug Administration-approved contraceptive medications are available for free under the Affordable Care Act.

Xavier Becerra, the secretary of Health and Human Services, issued a letter Monday to various insurers — including private companies, state Medicaid plans, Medicare plans and the Children’s Health Insurance Program — reminding them of their obligations to cover contraceptives for those on their plans.

“As a reminder, plans and issuers subject to the requirement to cover preventive services must provide the full range of FDA-approved, -cleared or -granted contraceptives (including emergency contraception), effective family planning practices, and sterilization procedures to prevent unintended pregnancy and improve birth outcomes,” he wrote.

Additionally, the Office of Personnel Management will offer new guidance to insurers making sure contraception access is strengthened for federal workers, retirees and family members.

The HHS is also announcing a “comprehensive plan” to increase awareness and understanding about the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, which requires patients to receive emergency medical care regardless of their ability to pay.

In July 2022, the HHS issued guidance that under the EMTALA, which was passed in 1986, doctors must perform abortions in emergency departments — even in states where the procedure is illegal — if the patient needs “stabilizing medical treatment” for an emergency medical condition.

A court has ruled Texas doctors don’t need to perform emergency abortions. Here’s what that means:

The administration’s new initiative will also include distributing resources about rights for patients and materials for health care providers about complying with federal requirements. It comes as the Supreme Court is set to hear a case about whether abortion care can be provided under the EMTALA.

The Supreme Court is also expected to review a lower court’s decision to restrict nationwide access to mifepristone, one of two abortion pills, which was approved by the FDA in 2000.

In the Monday announcement from the White House, the administration said the FDA and the Department of Justice would defend access to mifepristone before the court.

Separately, Vice President Kamala Harris is kicking off a series of abortion rights events, starting in Wisconsin on Monday, where she is expected to denounce a recent bill presented by Republican lawmakers to limit abortion after 14 weeks.

“Even as Americans — from Ohio to Kentucky to Michigan to Kansas to California — have resoundingly rejected attempts to limit reproductive freedom, Republican elected officials continue to push for a national ban and devastating new restrictions across the country,” Biden said Monday in a statement. “On this day and every day, Vice President Harris and I are fighting to protect women’s reproductive freedom.”

During a press briefing Monday, Jen Klein, director of the White House Gender Policy Council, said Biden has been urging Congress to restore federal protections for abortion.

“The president has been quite clear since Roe v. Wade was overturned, the ultimate solution is to pass federal national legislation to restore the protections in Roe, and we will continue to work to hope that Congress will pass that legislation so the president can sign it,” she said.

Since the Supreme Court’s decision, at least 16 states have ceased nearly all abortion services, according to an ABC News tally.

Arizona, Florida, Nebraska, North Carolina and Utah also have bans in place ranging from 12 weeks to 18 weeks, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that studies sexual and reproductive rights.

 

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Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, is speaking out after revealing she has been diagnosed with malignant melanoma, her second cancer diagnosis within the past year.

“Naturally another cancer diagnosis has been a shock but I’m in good spirits and grateful for the many messages of love and support,” Ferguson wrote in an Instagram post Monday, adding, “I am resting with family at home now, feeling blessed to have their love and support.”

Ferguson — who was previously married to Prince Andrew and is the mother of their two daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie — was diagnosed last summer with breast cancer, for which she underwent a mastectomy.

A spokesperson for the duchess said Sunday that Ferguson’s dermatologist requested several moles be “removed and analyzed” at the same time she was undergoing reconstructive surgery following her mastectomy.

One of the moles that was removed was “identified as cancerous,” according to the spokesperson.

“She is undergoing further investigations to ensure that this has been caught in the early stages,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “Clearly, another diagnosis so soon after treatment for breast cancer has been distressing but the duchess remains in good spirits.”

Ferguson said on Instagram that she hopes sharing her diagnosis will help encourage people to get checked for cancer.

“I believe my experience underlines the importance of checking the size, shape, colour and texture and emergence of new moles that can be a sign of melanoma and urge anyone who is reading this to be diligent,” she wrote.

What to know about melanoma

Melanoma is treated by surgically removing the primary tumor and surrounding normal tissue. Immunotherapy and other targeted therapy may also be used to treat advanced melanoma. The estimated 5-year survival for melanoma ranges from 99.5% for localized disease, to 31.9% for disease that has spread. Death rates have been declining largely due to advances in treatment.

Per the CDC, for every 100,000 people, 20 new cases of melanoma are reported each year, and two people die. It is the sixth most common cause of cancer in men and women. Over two-thirds of melanomas are diagnosed among adults 55 and older.

The USPSTF has found that the current evidence is inconclusive regarding screening asymptomatic adolescents and adults by visual skin examination. Those who have a suspicious skin lesion, or who have a familial syndrome, should be monitored more closely.

Avoiding sunburn and using sunscreen can reduce the risk of melanoma. Also avoiding UV exposure from tanning beds or other devices can also lower risk. Having another type of skin cancer, or breast or thyroid cancer increases your risk of melanoma.

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(NEW YORK) — Dr. Thomas Wagner, founder of the biotech company Orbis Health Solutions and cancer researcher, has made it his life’s mission to find a way to treat cancer without the dreaded side effects that, for some, can become worse than the cancer itself or may even lead to an earlier death.

“The tragedy of cancer is not just that person, the diagnosis, but it’s also the fear of the therapy,” Wagner told ABC News.

Many traditional cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy, work by killing off cancer cells but also kill off non-cancerous cells throughout the body. This can cause a range of side effects including hair loss, nausea, vomiting, or may knock out a person’s immune system putting them at risk of life-threatening infections, Wagner said.

After seeing cancer patients suffer from debilitating side effects of their treatment, Wagner began his mission to develop a cancer treatment that harnessed the power of a person’s immune system instead of eliminating it. This treatment was developed as a vaccine that has now been studied for decades, and each shot is completely personalized to each patient.

Typically, cancer cells evade a person’s immune system because it is recognized as that person’s cells. Wagner developed a tumor lysate particle only (TLPO) vaccine that uses a person’s tumor cells to identify particular parts that are then presented back in the body using the vaccine in a way that can stimulate their immune system to gain the ability to detect these cancer cells like an infection, allowing the immune system to fight the cancer itself.

“People used to ask me the question, ‘When will there be a cure for cancer?’ And I’ve been doing this for 60 years and I could never answer that question,” Wagner said. “Until recently, until the last three or four or five years.”

Wagner believes this type of cancer treatment could be a key to finding the long-awaited cure for cancer, all cancers, if paired with early detection.

What we know about this cancer vaccine so far
Wagner’s TLPO cancer vaccine has been tested in hundreds of patients with advanced forms of melanoma in Phase 2 clinical trials.

The most recent data presented at an academic conference showed nearly 95% of people given only the vaccine were still alive three years after starting treatment and 64% were still disease-free. Among the most advanced forms of melanoma, disease-free survival after three years for people with stage III disease was 60% in the vaccine-only group, compared to about 39% in the placebo group. Disease-free survival for those with stage IV disease was about 68% in the vaccine-only group, and zero in the placebo group.

The most common side effects were redness or pain at the injection site, fever and fatigue after the injection – similar to other vaccines that stimulate an immune response.

Dr. Vernon Sondak, cutaneous oncologist at Moffit Cancer Center who was not involved in the clinical trial but has worked with tumor lysate vaccines throughout his career, told ABC News that these results are promising, but point out that the Phase 2 clinical trials aren’t conclusive. A larger Phase 3 clinical trial will have to ultimately validate if this cancer vaccine will truly be a game-changer in the field.

“We’ve seen over and over again, promising Phase 2 data that didn’t turn out to be so promising in Phase 3,” Sondak cautions.

Based on this data and other studies, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has greenlit Wagner’s vaccine to start a Phase 3 clinical trial. It will be a three-year endeavor with a goal to enroll 500 people and is planned to launch sometime this year, Riley Polk, president of Orbis Health Solutions, told WLOS, an ABC News affiliate in Asheville, North Carolina.

Polk said he has been personally impacted by the success of this vaccine after his father went through numerous lung surgeries for cancer over a decade ago but was left with no other treatment options. His father opted to try Wagner’s cancer vaccine and lived 10 more years before dying from something unrelated to cancer. “You can tell me a lot of things, but you can’t tell me [the vaccine] doesn’t work,” Polk said.

Financial barriers have prevented progress

Polk said the planned Phase 3 clinical trial is a $100 million project – those funds are often drops in the bucket for larger pharmaceutical companies and those backed by venture capitalists.

For smaller, private companies, securing that level of financial resources is a challenge that Polk said limits their ability to fund more clinical trials that could expand the potential indications for Wagner’s cancer vaccine.

To circumvent some of that challenge and get this treatment to more people that can produce more results, Wagner and his team just began what’s called a basket trial, a type of clinical trial approved by the FDA that allows the same vaccine that showed success in the melanoma clinical trials to be tested in anyone with a solid tumor who meets certain inclusion criteria. People in this trial need to have a low or minimal tumor burden so most will have already received some type of treatment prior to getting this vaccine, Wagner said.

The first person to receive this vaccine under this basket trial was Catie King, a native of Asheville, North Carolina, who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer six years ago. King said she felt great after the first round of treatment, only experiencing some redness at the injection site, but no other side effects, WLOS reported.

“Now how many people do you know, with a cancer therapy that say they feel better because of the therapy?” Wagner asked, who has numerous anecdotal accounts of other patients echoing King’s experience of feeling better, some even energized, after starting treatment with this vaccine.

For King, who is in the farming industry with her husband, the lack of side effects makes a meaningful difference in her life, by not impacting her daily routine at all.

“With this vaccine, there haven’t been any hard days,” King said, which she noted was not the case when she previously underwent low-dose chemotherapy for her cancer.

Polk said seven other people have received the vaccine through the basket trial who have a types of brain, lung and breast cancer. But there have been hundreds of other patients who have received this vaccine or its precursor over the last 20 years.

One of those patients is a woman named Mary Carol Abercrombie who Wagner believes is one of the longest surviving people previously diagnosed with stage 4 melanoma, the most advanced form of the disease. Just before Christmas in 2001, Abercrombie told WLOS she completed a year of cancer treatment with “horrendous” side effects but once the treatment stopped, her cancer advanced. Abercrombie said her doctors told her she only had a few more months to live, telling her to “just enjoy Christmas.”

Abercrombie’s surgical oncologist at the time was working with Wagner on a cancer vaccine. “Sign me up, ’cause there wasn’t anything [else] out there,” Abercrombie said, who was just hoping to live long enough to see her son get married that year. Over 20 years have since passed and Abercrombie said her melanoma has never recurred. She not only saw her son get married, but she’s watching her four grandchildren grow up.

Before this vaccine can be more widely available to treat people with melanoma, it needs to show success over years in a phase 3 clinical trial and then get final approval by the FDA. Before it can have even broader use, it will need to show success in the basket trial, then move into more specific clinical trials for other indications which will take years and millions of dollars.

Polk said he hopes data from the basket trial will get the attention of larger pharmaceutical companies. Through that type of partnership and with other funding mechanisms, they could eventually do more extensive trials through the FDA.

Dr. Jade A Cobern, MD, MPH, is a board-certified pediatrician, specialized in preventive medicine, and is a fellow of the ABC News Medical Unit. Justin Berger, reporter with WLOS, an ABC News affiliate in Asheville, North Carolina, contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — Taking a daily multivitamin supplement may improve memory and slow cognitive decline in aging adults, according to a new study.

The results could have major implications for the millions of Americans who are suffering from dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

The study, published Thursday, is the third in a series conducted under the COcoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes Study (COSMOS), a large, nationwide clinical trial testing cocoa extract and multivitamin supplements to see if they can improve cognition and decrease the risk of Alzheimer’s.

In two prior studies, the group found daily multivitamins did have a positive effect on cognition. The current study combines a study of more than 500 participants with meta-analysis of data from more than 5,000 participants.

“Cognitive decline is among the top health concerns for most older adults, and a daily supplement of multivitamins has the potential as an appealing and accessible approach to slow cognitive aging,” first author Chirag Vyas, an instructor in investigation in the department of psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), said in a statement announcing the study.

For the first part of the study, researchers administered in-person cognitive assessments to 573 people. The results, published the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, showed that a daily multivitamin improved memory and cognition over two years, compared to a placebo.

Those who took multivitamins displayed memory that was equivalent to someone nearly five years younger than they and had cognition equivalent to someone who was two years younger.

Additionally, statistically significant benefits were seen in improvements for episodic memory – that is, the capacity to recall a memory – but not for executive attention, which is the ability to block out distractions and focus on a task.

The team also conducted a meta-analysis based on the three separate studies, with non-overlapping participants, and similarly found that taking a multivitamin showed benefits for memory and cognition.

“These findings will garner attention among many older adults who are, understandably, very interested in ways to preserve brain health, as they provide evidence for the role of a daily multivitamin in supporting better cognitive aging,” said Dr. Olivia Okereke, senior author of the report and director of geriatric psychiatry at MGH, in a statement.

There are currently an estimated 6.7 million people in the U.S. living with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, a number that is expected to rise to 14 million by 2060, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Previous research has already shown that the risk of dementia can be slowed by maintaining a healthy lifestyle, including controlling high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and depression. Cutting down on smoking, refraining from binge drinking, and getting plenty of physical exercise, may also improve brain health, according to the CDC.

The new study did have limitations, including that the multivitamin used was the Centrum Silver brand, meaning other multivitamin brands may not produce the same results. It’s also unclear what particular vitamins in the multivitamin itself contributed to the positive effects.

Additionally, 98% of participants in the study were white, so the new study’s results may not be generalizable to the non-white population.

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(ATLANTA) — Doctors are now being encouraged to consider more blood testing for PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals,” according to guidance released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The federal agency is recommending providers have a discussion with their patients regarding consumer and environmental exposures to large levels of the chemicals, and if blood testing may be of benefit.

“This information is intended for individuals and communities around the country, who are concerned about exposure to PFAS to have productive conversations with their medical providers” Dr. Aaron Bernstein, Director of CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH) and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), told ABC News.

“Over 90% of people in this country have been exposed to PFAS and many, many communities around the country…there have been very high exposures. And we’ve learned more and more in recent years about how exposures to PFAS may increase risk for many disease” he added.

Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS, are a group of chemicals used in consumer products including clothing, furniture, adhesives, food packaging, heat-resistant non-stick cooking surfaces, and electrical wire insulation, according to the CDC. They typically are used to resist heat, oil, stains, grease, and water.

Potential health effects associated with PFAS exposure include higher cholesterol, lower birth weight, kidney and testicular cancer, pregnancy-induced hypertension and preeclampsia, and elevated liver enzymes, according to the CDC.

The new guidance advises providers to consider an individual’s exposure history; the results of PFAS testing from a patient’s water supply, food sources, or other exposures; and whether those results can inform regarding ways to reduce future exposures.

Most Americans are exposed to PFAS through drinking water, according to Bernstein, who also notes that many municipal water agencies are already testing for PFAS, and those test results are typically publicly available.

People can reach out to their local water supply to learn about if and how they may be addressing PFAS, as well as ask them to test the water for PFAS, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Those who use a personal well for drinking water should contact their state environmental or health agency for detailed advice on testing methods.

While blood tests for PFAS may help guide exposure reduction or provide psychological relief to patients, such tests do not help identify the source of exposure, nor can they be directly linked to a health condition. There are also currently no approved medical treatments available to reduce PFAS in the body, according to the CDC.

“A PFAS level is one piece of data that needs to be taken in a broader context. We need to understand the individual’s health history, their family history, what other exposures they may have that might increase the risk of diseases that can also be associated with PFAS,” Bernstein said.

Blood testing may also not be widely available across the country, with some laboratories offering tests that are covered by insurance and others potentially requiring out-of-pocket payments. The tests can be expensive, costing hundreds of dollars, and may not be able to test for all of the thousands of PFAS.

“What is clear is that this is an evolving landscape…we are at a point in time that both the science around PFAS, the accessibility of testing, and what is being tested for is changing,” Bernstein said.

“We are committed at CDC to stay on top of it and update this information as needed,” he added.

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(NEW YORK) — As many as 30 million people see a doctor each year due to a cough, according to statistics from the National Library of Medicine.

If you’re one of the many this winter who either has a lingering cough or knows someone who has one, emergency medicine physician and ABC News medical correspondent Dr. Darien Sutton has the tips you need to get on the road to a full recovery or know when to seek medical help.

I think I’m over a cold or flu but I’m still coughing. What is going on?

Even though someone may be in the tail end of a cold or flu infection, the airways may still be irritated, leading to a lingering cough.

“We have small air sacs in our lungs. They help exchange oxygen to our blood so that we can get the air that we need but during this cough season, you have a buildup of mucus and irritants and that stimulates what we have, cough receptors in our chest and that causes the cough reflex,” Sutton explained on “Good Morning America” Thursday.

In addition, multiple factors can lead to the development of mucus.

“Many things can cause that buildup of mucus. Common things being viral illnesses but also acid reflux, allergies, asthma, things of that sort can all increase your buildup of mucus, so it’s about figuring out what’s the cause,” Sutton continued.

How long does a cough typically last? Some people have been dealing with coughs that last for weeks on end. Is this normal?

Different types of infections and illnesses can trigger a cough so it may be necessary to see a doctor to rule out what is or isn’t a cause.

“A lot of the causes are the viral illnesses that we’re seeing. We’re seeing increases in flu, RSV and COVID,” Sutton said.

“That’s the typical time where you’re going to have that cough,” Sutton explained.

“After that, the three to six-week mark, that’s what we call subacute,” he continued. “That’s the time when we’re a little bit more investigative. We’re doing imaging, we’re trying to figure out what else could also be the cause, but it can also be something called post infectious, which is just your lungs healing.”

If you have had a cough for two months, Sutton said that’s when you should see a medical provider and will likely get tests and imaging to determine why you have a chronic cough.

“After eight weeks, that’s something called chronic cough and that’s what needs an additional workup, including imaging and sputum testing and just trying to figure out exactly what could be the cause,” Sutton said.

What are some things I can do to take care of a cough and get rid of it as fast as possible?

When you’re at home, there are simple remedies you can turn to in the kitchen to feel better more quickly.

“We all have been taught from a young age that soups and broths are helpful from our parents, our grandparents. It’s true. It’s absolutely true,” Sutton said.

“You have your teas, your honey, even eucalyptus oil. If you put it in warm water, it smells fantastic or you put it in your vaporizer, a few drops to help clear your airway. It can be an anti-inflammatory,” Sutton added.

While doctors say honey is a common and helpful remedy for a cough, it is not safe for children less than a year old.

When it comes to kids, doctors say parents should talk to their child’s pediatrician about what to do for their child’s specific symptoms and before giving them any over-the-counter medications to make sure it’s the right option or dose.

“Many patients have that question. They come in and their cough is sometimes lasting more than four or five weeks, which is definitely a concern and should be worked up,” Sutton said.

“After three weeks, you should get an exam. You should get some type of imaging and then after that, that dictates what the intervention is,” Sutton recommended. “Some people find benefit in over-the-counter medications. These medications, although they may help your symptoms, they’re not going to change your outcome. And so you might need additional interventions like steroids or albuterol inhalers and that only comes after a formal exam and a workup.”

 

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(NEW YORK) — Despite having a very effective and easily available vaccine, measles outbreaks have continued to pop up in the United States over the last two decades.

Most recently, there have been eight cases confirmed in Philadelphia since December 2023, all among unvaccinated individuals. Additionally, a person with measles traveled through D.C.-area airports and cases have been identified in Delaware, New Jersey and Washington state, according to local reports.

In 2023, there were 41 confirmed cases of measles, according to incomplete data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

While the number of measles cases in the past few years are not at record highs and the 2023 numbers are lower than recent years, the fact that outbreaks are still occurring is a trend that concerns health officials and experts.

Measles was declared eliminated in 2000 — meaning the disease “is no longer constantly present in this country.” However, the dip in routine childhood vaccinations in recent years as well as travelers bringing measles into the country has resulted in outbreaks.

“The fact that we’re seeing sporadic measles cases, to me, says that we probably have pockets in the United States where we’re not doing a good job vaccinating and I’m worried that this is a trend that’s been getting worse over the years,” Dr. Peter Hotez, professor of pediatrics and molecular virology at Baylor College of Medicine, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine and co-director of the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, told ABC News.

Lagging vaccination rates

A CDC report in November found that exemptions for routine childhood vaccination among U.S. kindergartners are at their highest levels ever.

About 93% of kindergarteners received select routine childhood vaccines, including the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine, which protects against measles, for the 2022-23 school year, according to the CDC report.

This is about the same as the previous school year but lower than the 94% seen in 2020-21 school year and the 95% seen in the 2019-20, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The latter percentage had been the standard for about 10 years.

Hotez said there may be areas of the U.S. where the vaccination exemption rates, both for medical and non-medical reasons, are higher.

“For instance, when we studied this in 2018, looking at the states that allow vaccine exemptions for non-medical reasons, we would find counties that maybe 10 to 20% of the kids were not getting their childhood immunizations and that’s what measles exploits,” Hotez said. “So, if were uniformly 93%, it’s not ideal, but probably that wouldn’t be enough to stimulate measles outbreaks.”

About one in five people in the U.S. who get measles will be hospitalized. Measles can cause serious health complications especially in children younger than age 5 including ear infections, diarrhea, pneumonia, encephalitis (swelling of the brain) and even death, according to the CDC.

The first measles vaccine, a single-dose vaccine, was introduced in the U.S. in 1963. In the decade prior, there were three to four million cases annually, which led to 48,000 hospitalizations and 400 to 500 deaths.

The CDC recommends that people get two doses with the first dose at 12 to 15 months old and the second dose between ages 4 and 6. One dose is 93% effective and two doses are 97% effective.

Since then, hospitalizations and deaths have dropped dramatically. There were three deaths in the Americas in 2000 and just one in 2022, according to a November 2023 CDC report.

“We can prevent this, we can stop this. Parents should be scared of measles,” Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center and an attending physician in the division of infectious diseases at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, told ABC News. “They should be scared of this virus as my parents were. The difference was [my parents] couldn’t do anything about it.”

“Now you can do something about it, which makes it all the more unconscionable when you see children come into our hospital who could have gotten vaccinated and didn’t,” he added.

Rise in vaccine misinformation

There are a few reasons for a drop in vaccination rates, according to experts. One is a 1998 paper published in The Lancet by Andrew Wakefield claiming the MMR shot caused autism. The paper has since been debunked, subsequent studies have found no link and the journal retracted the paper, but fears still exist.

During an outbreak in Columbus, Ohio that lasted from November 2022 to February 2023, public health officials said many parents of the unvaccinated children infected with measles had chosen not to have their kids receive the MMR shot due to misconceptions that it causes autism.

“Ever since that Anfrew Wakefield article, people have developed important misconceptions from that misinformation and continuing disinformation about the MMR vaccine,” Dr. Gregory Poland, head of the Mayo Clinic’s Vaccine Research Group, told ABC News. “He claimed there was an association with autism. Some 24 studies have subsequently found none. Not one indicate a hint of autism risk.”

“Once you scare people, it’s hard to unscare them, so people then then sort of started to back away from that vaccine,” Offit added. “So we saw cases again.”

Experts said the COVID pandemic caused another problem. Firstly, during the early days of the pandemic, people were scared to go to doctor’s’ offices, which led to a delay in children being up to date on vaccinations.

Then, after COVID vaccines became politicized, this may have caused a decrease in confidence in vaccination overall.

There has been “an acceleration of anti-vaccine sentiments that we’ve seen during the COVID 19 pandemic,” Hotez said, “And I think what we may be seeing also was a spillover that extended beyond COVID vaccines to all childhood immunizations.”

Another reason for the decline in vaccination rates may be that, because the diseases have been circulating at low rates due to vaccines, people have forgotten how serious they were before the advent of vaccines, according to the experts.

It’s not just a problem in the U.S. Global cases of measles have been on the rise in recent years, increasing 18% from 2021 to 2022, following a drop in vaccinations over the past few years, according to a report from the WHO and CDC released last year.

Deaths also increased globally by 43% from during the same period with a total of 37 countries experiencing large outbreaks in 2022 compared to 22 countries in 2021.

Experts say they are continuing to educate parents about the safety of vaccines and even advocate for starting vaccine education in adolescence.

“It’s a dangerous game we’re playing by leaving a critical percentage of children unvaccinated,” Offit said. “It is a dangerous and unnecessary game we’re playing. This is a safe and effective vaccine. This is a virus that can cause considerable suffering and hospitalization and occasional death. Don’t play around with this virus or we will pay an even bigger price than we’re paying now.”

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(NEW YORK) — A new meta-analysis of more than a dozen studies found that drinking 100% fruit juice is linked to weight gain in children.

ABC News medical correspondent Dr. Darien Sutton joined ABC News’ Good Morning America to explain the key findings from the new study, published Tuesday by the Journal of the American Medical Association Pediatrics, and shared some helpful insights for parents and caregivers to reduce their kids’ sugar consumption.

“What they found is just one glass of that 100% juice is associated with an increase in weight gain and increase in BMI (body mass index),” Sutton said. “This is important because more than almost 15 million children live with childhood obesity in this country and that’s correlated to other types of diseases, such as metabolic disease [and] liver disease, aside from obesity-related cancers.”

“It’s about controlling these habits now so we can have a better future,” Sutton added.

How much sugar is hiding in 100% fruit juice?

Juice labels may state “no added sugar,” but Dr. Sutton explained that because in 100% fruit juice, “there’s already enough sugar in it.”

“Orange juice has 4.5 teaspoons of sugar and one gram of fiber, as opposed to a whole orange which has three teaspoons of sugar and three grams of fiber,” he said, illustrating that the whole fruit would be a more nutritious choice than juice.

A cup of apple juice, Dr. Sutton further said, contains six teaspoons of sugar and zero grams of fiber, whereas a whole apple has three grams of fiber.

“The reason it’s important to address the fiber is because that helps children stay full,” Dr. Sutton explained. “As opposed to juices, fruits also break down more slowly in the body that leads to less spikes in your blood glucose, that leads to less spikes in your insulin. And that eventually will lead to, if you don’t treat it, insulin sensitivity which is the basis of diabetes.”

Healthy swap and alternatives to fruit juice

While it may be hard to entirely eliminate fruit juices from a child’s diet, Dr. Sutton suggests getting creative with water to reduce their intake.

For example, you can use sliced fruits — like strawberries, oranges and mangoes, for example — to provide some sweetness to water. You can also freeze sliced fruits to use as ice cubes, and add them to water or sparkling water to make it more flavorful.

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(NEW YORK) — Deaths from cancer have declined by 33% since 1991, averting 4.1 million deaths. However, more people are being diagnosed with cancer than ever before, and at an earlier age, according to a major new report from the American Cancer Society.

Experts say one big reason cancer deaths have declined is due to decreases in smoking rates, as well as improved treatments and targeted therapies. Still, experts are worried about the increase in some cancers in adults 50 and under — and say it’s urgent to understand what’s behind the troubling trend.

Especially concerning is the rising number of deaths of young people from colon cancer — the same illness that killed Marvel actor Chadwick Boseman at the age of 43.

Colon cancer is now the number one cause of death among men younger than 50, and the number two cause of death in women of the same age group. Colon and breast cancer now exceed lung cancer as leading causes of cancer death for those under the age of 50.

“It’s something that wasn’t represented in statistics yet – that there has been a creep toward younger age of onset of certain common cancers. Colorectal and breast are the dominant ones,” said Dr. Larry Norton, oncologist and researcher at Memorial Sloan Kettering, and doctors and researchers have been noticing this in their practice and research.

For the first time, the projected number of new cancer diagnoses in the United States will top two million, which is equivalent to an alarming 5,480 diagnoses each day. Although the new data shows an overall continued decline in cancer death rates, the report reveals increased rates for 6 of the 10 most common cancers, including breast, prostate, uterine, pancreas, oral, liver, kidney and melanoma, as well as colorectal and cervical cancer in young adults.

Experts still aren’t sure why certain cancer rates are increasing in younger adults, but say it could be due to rising rates of obesity, and still unknown environmental factors.

“I think we’re all grappling with what is the broadly spoken environmental factor which is changing the cancer incidence and mortality amongst the young,” said Dr. William Dahut, the chief scientific officer at the American Cancer Society.

Colon cancer and breast cancer top lung cancer as leading causes of death in those under 50

The nationwide report is consistent with prior smaller studies that have pointed to this trend.

In recent years, health officials have dropped the age for people with average risk to start screening from 50 to 45 for colon cancer, and 50 to 40 for breast cancer.

“Early diagnosis is really critically important for curing cancer. I like to find things earlier because it’s not only an opportunity to cure people who otherwise might not be cured, but it’s also an opportunity to cure them with less noxious therapy,” said Norton.

For colon cancer, oncologists say that the trends in the U.S. are matched by other high-income countries and say it’s possible the increase could be due to new lifestyles or environmental exposures for younger generations.

Environmental factors, such as exposure to chemicals in foods and in the air, and other currently unidentified factors, such as the recent legalization of cannabis and increased cannabis use, can’t be ruled out as risk factors, said Norton.

“There are studies that even show that risk factors like whether or not you were breastfed, whether or not you had antibiotics at a high rate as a child — that these factors might be predicting your chances of getting cancer when you’re an adult,” said Dr. Folasade May, gastroenterologist and researcher at UCLA Health.

Still, 30% of diagnoses for those under the age of 50 are related not to outside exposures, but rather to an underlying family history or genetic mutation, putting them more at risk, according to the American Cancer Society.

Whatever the reason, oncologists say people must get a colonoscopy when recommended, or earlier if they have symptoms such as blood in their stool, losing weight without trying, or a change in bowel habits that lasts more than a few days. There are also newer colon cancer screening tools that some patients may prefer, such as at-home stool testing.

“A lot of these younger folks that are dying from colorectal cancer, it’s because they’ve had symptoms for a year or two before they finally talk to their doctor. And by the time they’re getting into my clinic and getting a colonoscopy, that cancer is advanced to stage four. Survival for stage four is 13%,” said May.

For breast cancer, the underlying reason for the higher death rates in younger Americans is likely due to a combination of factors. Researchers note that other trends such as a decrease in fertility and increasing obesity — are both risk factors for breast cancer.

Uterine cancer is the only cancer where survival has decreased, likely due to racial disparities

According to the new report, uterine cancer was the only cancer for which death rates across all age groups have been increasing over the past 40 years.

“There are a number of troubling statistics about this cancer,” said Dr. Ursula Matulonis, chief of the division of gynecologic oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Compared to white Americans, the risk of dying of uterine cancer is 33% higher in Black people, and 51% higher in American Indians and Alaska Natives. This is primarily due to growing racial disparities.

Specifically, Black women are less likely to get a timely diagnosis — which dramatically decreases the chance they will survive their cancer. According to the report, 56% of Black women were diagnosed in earlier stages, versus 72% of white women. Black women were half as likely to receive diagnostic procedures that were in line with current medical guidelines.

According to oncologists, primary care doctors and the general public should understand these stark racial disparities for uterine cancer, so patients and doctors alike can advocate for potentially life-saving cancer screenings.

“I think we’re poised to develop new treatment paradigms, that I’m confident will impact how patients are treated – from a prevention standpoint, early detection standpoint. There’s not an early detection test for uterine cancer,” said Matulonis.

“Equity research and equity outreach is a very, very important part of our entire approach towards screening for cancer,” said Norton.

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