The measles outbreak in rural West Texas has grown to 90 cases across seven counties, the state health department posted online Friday, and 16 people are hospitalized.

In neighboring eastern New Mexico, the measles case count is up to nine, though state public health officials said Thursday there’s still no evidence this outbreak is connected to the one in Texas.

Measles is a highly contagious disease. Here’s what you should know about how to protect yourself against measles, as well as what’s happening in Texas and New Mexico.

Read more at AP.

A measles outbreak in West Texas is continuing to spread. And with kindergarten vaccination rates dipping across the country, more communities may be at risk of outbreaks.

But it’s not just kids who should be vaccinated. Infectious disease experts say some adults may need to get revaccinated, too.

Measles can spread incredibly fast — it’s one of the world’s most contagious diseases, more than flu, polio, COVID, or just about any other infectious disease.

Read more at NPR.

Colleen Thomas’ son was born missing a part of his immune system. The Indiana mother didn’t know that immediately, but there were signs. The little boy was always sick — constant congestion and respiratory infections. Thomas had to hold a breathing mask over her son’s face as he slept and wheezed.

“That was just for a cold,” Thomas recalled. “It was horrible.”

Thomas’ son was 3-years old when he was diagnosed with an immunodeficiency that made him susceptible to severe illness if he was exposed to respiratory infections.

Read more at The 19th.

The Trump administration has directed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to indefinitely postpone a public meeting of its vaccine advisory panel, a key forum for the nation’s discussion of information about vaccine safety and effectiveness.

The decisioncame Thursday from officials at the Department of Health and Human Services, CDC’s parent agency, led by anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. who has long criticized the panel and the CDC.

Read more at The Washington Post.

To earn the vote he needed to become the nation’s top health official, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made a special promise to a U.S. senator: He would not change the nation’s current vaccination schedule.

But on Tuesday, speaking for the first time to thousands of U.S. Health and Human Services agency employees, he vowed to investigate the childhood vaccine schedule that prevents measles, polio and other dangerous diseases.

“Nothing is going to be off limits,” Kennedy said, adding that pesticides, food additives, microplastics, antidepressants and the electromagnetic waves emitted by cellphones and microwaves also would be studied.

Read more at AP.

The flu is widespread in Colorado, but the virus hasn’t hit the state nearly as hard as some others.

Nationwide, confirmed flu hospitalizations and outpatient visits for flu-like illnesses both hit their highest levels since at least 2009. In California, hospitals have struggled with an influx of severely ill flu patients, and some parts of the country have reported seeing unusual complications, particularly in children.

Colorado hospitals admitted 425 people for flu in the week ending Feb. 1, which was the busiest week for flu hospitalizations since at least fall 2019. Still, it isn’t as bad as the 2017-2018 flu season, state epidemiologist Dr. Rachel Herlihy said.

Read more at The Denver Post.

Well, it’s official—RFK Jr. is now the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), the department that oversees everything from the FDA and CDC to Medicare and Medicaid. A man who has devoted a large amount of his life to eroding trust in vaccines is now in the nation’s top health post.

This is a big deal.

While beyond heartbreaking to those of us who strive for evidence-based medicine, this confirmation is a mile marker: growing mistrust in institutions, changing information landscape thanks to social media, and a growing consensus among Americans that systems are making them sicker (and in some ways, they aren’t wrong).

Read more at Your Local Epidemiologist.

The number of measles cases in an outbreak in the South Plains region of northern Texas has grown from 24 illnesses to 48 in just the past 3 days, the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) reported today. 

Thirteen patients (27%) have required hospital care. All patients are unvaccinated, or their measles vaccine status remains unknown. The first cases in the region were confirmed on January 23. Since then, the DSHS reported 6 cases on February 5 and 24 cases on February 11.

Gaines County is the hardest hit, with 42 of the 48 cases. Other affected counties are Terry (3 cases), Yoakum (2), and Lynn (1).

Read more at CIDRAP.

Anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is now America’s top health official. Kennedy was confirmed by the Senate on a largely party-line vote Thursday as the new U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Kennedy is a key ally of President Donald Trump and was endorsed by Democratic Colorado Gov. Jared Polis after the presidential election.

“The problem with RFK is that he says some things that people can that everyone can get behind,” Democratic State Sen. Kyle Mullica said. “That we want a healthier community, that we want to get sugars out of our foods, and that we want healthier foods too. We can get behind that, but then he follows it up with trying to spread disinformation.”

Read more at 9 News.

If you feel lousy, you’re not alone.

Cases of influenza are spiking now in Colorado and across the U.S.

Many people are suffering with chills, fevers, a cough, runny nose, sore throat, headache and body aches. While those symptoms can also be consistent with COVID-19, experts say cases of influenza A are dominating the winter respiratory virus season right now. (Don’t confuse influenza with extremely contagious stomach bugs, like norovirus, which some people also call the stomach flu.)

So far, the 2024-2025 flu season has been tough. According to officials with the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the flu this season has thus far caused:

Read more at UC Health.