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Parents Rush to Vaccinate Children After Measles Outbreak Hits Texas
Five-year-old Shado is one of dozens of children being rushed to a health center in the U.S. state of Texas to get the measles vaccine, after the recent death in the area of a child who was not immunized against the highly contagious virus. “Look at you, you’re so brave,” the nurse administering the shot tells the young girl, who is sitting on her father’s lap.
The death came as immunization rates have declined nationwide, with the latest cases in the west Texas town of Lubbock concentrated in a Mennonite religious community that has historically shown vaccine hesitancy. Mark Medina brought his children, Shado and her brother Azazel, after they heard about that death.
“It kind of sparked fear and we’re like, ‘Alright, it’s time to go get vaccinated. Let’s go,'” the 31-year-old father told AFP. Rachel Dolan, a Lubbock health official, said the initial outbreak spread rapidly through the community south of the town, potentially fueled by a lack of vaccination.
Texas Measles Outbreak Grows to 146 Cases, Children and Teens Most Impacted
The number of measles cases associated with an outbreak in western Texas has grown to 146, according to new data released Friday. Almost all of the cases are in unvaccinated individuals or individuals whose vaccination status is unknown, with 79 unvaccinated and 62 of unknown status. At least 20 people have been hospitalized so far, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS).
Just five cases have occurred in people vaccinated with one dose of the measles, mumps, rubella vaccine. Children and teenagers between ages 5 and 17 make up the majority of cases with 70, followed by 46 cases among children ages 4 and under.
So far just one death has been reported in an unvaccinated school-aged child, according to DSHS. It marks the first measles death in the U.S. in a decade, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
House OKs Ending KY’s Drinking Water Fluoride Mandate. Experts Say Kids’ Teeth Will Suffer
Lexington Herald-Leader reported:
A Republican-backed bill to make the fluoridation of Kentucky’s tap water optional is progressing through the General Assembly over the concerns of experts who warn of the tooth decay in children that will likely follow, disproportionately impacting people with limited access to reliable dental care.
The House of Representatives approved House Bill 16 from Rep. Mark Hart, R-Falmouth, on Wednesday, which would remove the 1950s-era statewide mandate for drinking water systems to be fluoridated, instead wresting control of that decision to the local “governing body of a water system.”
The bill — which racked up more than 30 Republican co-sponsors — passed 68 to 29, with several GOP lawmakers casting no votes alongside most Democrats. It now heads to the Senate for consideration. This bill “does not ban fluoride, nor does it prohibit . . . adding fluoride to the water,” Hart said on the House floor. “It allows water fluoridation to become a local option. Water fluoridation is a medical treatment without consent.”
Harsh Flu Season Has Health Officials Worried About Brain Complications in Children
This year’s harsh flu season — the most intense in 15 years — has federal health officials trying to understand if it sparked an increase in a rare but life-threatening brain complication in children. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates 19,000 people have died from the flu so far this winter, including 86 children.
Thursday, the CDC reported at least nine of those children experienced brain complications, and it has asked state health departments to help investigate if there are more such cases.
There is some good news: The CDC also reported that this year’s flu shots do a pretty good job preventing hospitalization from the flu — among the 45% of Americans who got vaccinated. But it comes a day after the Trump administration added to the uncertainty roiling government health agencies by canceling a meeting of experts who are supposed to help choose the recipe for next winter’s flu vaccine.
Children Exposed to Pesticides Experience ‘Cellular Distress’ and Chronic and Acute Diseases, Study Finds
It is well established that children are more vulnerable than adults to environmental insults such as pesticides, from conception onward. Children living in agricultural areas are exposed differently from those in urban areas. A study of rural children by researchers at Mexico’s Universidad Atónoma de Nayarit compared two communities located less than a quarter of a mile from agricultural fields with one control community located more than a mile away.
The study shows that children in the field-adjacent towns are clearly exposed to pesticides and are experiencing cellular distress as a result. The state of Nayarit is on the west coast of Mexico near Mazatlan. Rural children encounter aerial application, spray drift, and erosion. If their parents are agricultural workers and especially if they apply pesticides, they bring home residues on their clothes.
Residential storage of pesticides and small children’s propensity to play in dirt and put things in their mouths exacerbate their exposures. Urban children get hit by pesticides in their homes, schools, and parks.
The researchers took blood and urine samples from 431 children aged six to 12 and collected questionnaires as to pesticide exposures from the parents or guardians. They assayed the samples for biomarkers known to be linked to various cellular stressors, principally oxidative stress triggered by reactive oxygen species. A very common result is inflammation, which contributes in multiple ways to chronic and acute diseases in numerous neurological, digestive tract, cardiovascular and other systems.
New York City Has More Children in Poverty Than Nearly a Decade
Child poverty in New York City has surged to its highest level in eight years, according to a new report from the Robin Hood Foundation. The findings underscore the increasing economic struggles that many families face across the city.
Newsweek reached out to the New York City Mayor’s office via email for comment.
The latest report reveals that nearly one in four children in NYC lives in poverty, a staggering increase compared to when the report was first created. This shift has significant implications for education, healthcare and the overall well-being of the city’s youngest residents.
With rising living costs and the expiration of pandemic-era financial relief programs, more families are struggling to afford basic necessities. Experts warn that without immediate intervention, the long-term consequences could be devastating for both individuals and the city’s economic future.
