NEW: Pa health workers fighting the largest ongoing measles outbreak in US are using a behind-the-scenes strategy: giving vaccines around a family’s kitchen table. Literally meeting ppl where they are. Me + @rachel_roubein washingtonpost.com/health/20…

Pennsylvania reports 2 people died of measles. They were unvaccinated. The US was already experiencing the deadliest measles outbreak in more than 30 years, before these preventable deaths. Needless tragedy.

Good question. Your immune memory is physical. It's stored in memory B & T cells and in the antibodies circulating in your blood, built up from every infection and vaccine in your life. Measles virus enters cells through a receptor called CD150, which is found on immune cells, including those memory lymphocytes. So infection kills off part of the archive. Studies measuring children before and after measles found it depleted a substantial fraction of their circulating antibodies against other viruses and bacteria, reducing both the diversity and the amount. Immunologists call it immune amnesia. You come out of measles immune to measles, and partially stripped of protection you'd already earned against other things. It rebuilds over the following years through re-exposure and revaccination, which is thought to explain why mortality from other childhood infections stays elevated for 2-3 after measles.

I joined @andersoncooper on @CNN to talk about the President's executive order on childhood vaccines. Here's the tldr: As a physician and public health professional, I want vaccine guidance built on the best evidence, and constantly questioned, updated, and improved. What we saw today does none of that, for three reasons. Todays EO was politics, not public health. It elevated ideology over immunology and epidemiology. No new science was presented. No clinical rationale for splitting the MMR shot was provided. What it will do is confuse parents trying to make good decisions for their kids. A presidential mandate, especially this one, just won't make anyone healthier. The order also fails operationally. Vaccine recommendations come from ACIP and the CDC, not an executive order. Standalone measles, mumps, and rubella shots don't exist in the US and wouldnt be available for years, even if they started the process to make them today. And it's states, not the White House, that set school requirements. And lastly, the EO fails legally. This is a rerun of an approach a federal judge already blocked this year, ruling that HHS's changes to the vaccine schedule were likely unlawful. I don't expect a different outcome this time. Here's what the administration is missing, just months out from the midterms—this isn't the fight most Americans want! What people actually want is addressing healthcare adfordability. This administration has done nothing meaningful to address that bigger concern. In fact, today’s order does the opposite: more visits, more copays, for the exact same protection. Full conversation here:

Vaccine recommendations for our kids should be based on evidence and data, not political posturing. An Executive Order issued by a US politician does not magically change the mountain of evidence that underpins the US childhood vaccine schedule.

The Africa Health Security Index gives countries the data and financing needed to stop outbreaks before they become pandemics. "A collaborative approach grounded in data and built for action," notes @JenniferNuzzo. pandemics.sph.brown.edu/news…

Good piece. Includes this: "A glaring gap remains, which reveals the high price of the US's withdrawal from @WHO: CDC’s globally renowned experts are not part of the @WHO-@AfricaCDC incident management team deliberations, remotely or in person. Nor is

This is not true. The CDC can talk to and work with WHO colleagues on the Ebola outbreak. It’s important we’re clear about what is true and what is not.

I joined @MeetThePress to talk about the current state of the Ebola outbreak, what impact the humanitarian cuts have had on the response, and what is needed now to start to get a grapple on the outbreak. piped.video/aZNTnikceO4?si=4gWu…

The White House is intent on keeping Ebola out, at all costs. The U.S. is planning to send Americans exposed to or infected with Ebola to Kenya, instead of bringing them home for care. Please read and share—this is unbelievable and infuriating. craigaspencer.substack.com/p…

Amidst everything else going on, today's Tracking Report by the @pandemiccenter finds that the # of measles cases* reported in the US in 2026 has exceeded that of 2025--breaking last year's record for the most measles cases since elimination. *we use report date, not rash onset

FDA’s own report shows no child deaths definitively caused by COVID vaccination biospace.com/fda/fdas-own-re…