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Good morning. A brand new research in contrast 23 monkey species that reveal recurring same-sex conduct to 468 with out. Researchers concluded that being homosexual is “a part of the conventional social lifetime of primates.” And as one colleague stated, I refuse to consider there are 468 species of purely straight monkeys.
Extra staffing modifications on federal vaccine committees
Well being secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appointed two new members to the CDC’s vaccine advisory board yesterday. They’re each OB-GYNs who’ve at instances been essential of mainstream vaccine science. And whereas these new members are unlikely to dramatically change the steadiness of the committee, they seem to additional set the group on a course that’s skeptical of vaccines.
The brand new appointments come as Kennedy is remaking the committee and a working group inside ACIP is reviewing the vaccines advisable for girls throughout being pregnant. Learn extra from STAT’s Daniel Payne and Lizzy Lawrence in regards to the two new committee members. (Trace: In July, certainly one of them was a speaker on a largely skeptical FDA panel about antidepressant use throughout being pregnant.)
We additionally discovered yesterday that the HHS has dismissed no less than one member of a committee that advises the federal authorities on its vaccine harm compensation program. The transfer might sign that, like ACIP earlier than it, the federal equipment is in for additional modifications. Learn extra from STAT’s Chelsea Cirruzzo.
Why extra persons are surviving most cancers than ever earlier than
The five-year survival charge throughout all cancers has reached 70%, based on a brand new report from the American Most cancers Society. That’s a major enhance from the 50% of most cancers sufferers who lived previous 5 years when the Nationwide Most cancers Act was handed in 1971. The regulation catalyzed federal packages supporting most cancers analysis and care.
“For somebody like me, with many years on this area, that’s so gratifying to see,” stated Marcel Van Den Brink, who leads Metropolis of Hope’s most cancers heart. Learn extra from STAT’s Angus Chen about what advances led to the improved survival charges and the place extra work must be performed.
124
That’s what number of new measles instances have been confirmed in South Carolina since Friday, bringing the whole outbreak to 434, based on an announcement yesterday from the state’s well being division. The overwhelming majority of instances are amongst minors and unvaccinated individuals. The state has begun to supply free MMR and flu vaccinations to the general public.
The final time the U.S. noticed greater than 100 instances in a single week was the worst components of the West Texas outbreak final spring, former STAT contributor Meg Tirrell just lately identified. (South Carolina’s outbreak started in October, however confirmed instances have surged within the final week or so.) Whereas your complete Americas area misplaced measles elimination standing in November, because of Canada, the South Carolina outbreak has additionally jeopardized that standing within the U.S.
Trans rights are as soon as once more on the Supreme Court docket
The Supreme Court docket heard oral arguments yesterday for 2 instances revolving across the participation of transgender women and younger girls in sports activities. Whereas it is perhaps simple for spectators to border the difficulty as a pillar of the “tradition wars,” attorneys talking earlier than the court docket used comparable scientific and authorized arguments about what constitutes intercourse discrimination as had been heard in final 12 months’s case on state bans on gender-affirming take care of trans youth. (For a refresher on what science truly tells us about intercourse and gender, learn Megan Molteni’s seemingly evergreen explainer from final January.)
Like within the well being care case, a core query is that if excluding transgender women and girls from sports activities qualifies as a discrimination based mostly on intercourse. Specialists agreed that the justices appeared poised to permit state bans, however how broadly they rule might have implications far past athletics. A sweeping choice might function a “rubber stamp” for different state legal guidelines focusing on transgender individuals, as reporter Madison Pauley defined in Mom Jones.
Selections will possible come towards the tip of the time period in June. For extra specifics on how the oral arguments went, you may also learn detailed updates from the AP.
Extra infectious illness chaos
We’ve been writing lots on this publication these days about vaccinating people. However bear in mind hen flu? In the present day we’ve got a First Opinion essay on vaccinating poultry. Chook flu is predicted to kill thousands and thousands of animals this winter. Whereas egg costs have come down, the issue has not disappeared. Two veterinary scientists write that hen flu is among the most severe threats to American agriculture this century. However we all know learn how to forestall it: “Vaccinate the animals.” Learn extra on the professionals and cons of this strategy, and why it hasn’t but been carried out.
And one other concern that’s gone largely ignored: In late December, CMS introduced that state Medicaid and the Youngsters’s Well being Insurance coverage Program not should report progress on getting kids and youths vaccinated. In consequence, a public well being coverage knowledgeable writes, the U.S. may have much less details about vaccination charges after we want it most. Learn extra on how this might obscure the results of the Trump administration’s modifications.
What we’re studying
Nurses strike enters second day at main New York Metropolis hospitals, AP
Lawsuit dismissed after Trump admin quietly restored tens of thousands and thousands to Deliberate Parenthood, Politico
Ought to Medicare routinely pay for medical gadgets that the FDA deems ‘breakthrough’? STAT
How IVF has led to a report variety of single mothers of their 40s, NPR
Epic sues well being data community over almost 300,000 illegally accessed data, STAT
What’s the phrase? Take a look at your data with at present’s STAT Mini crossword.
