In a statement emailed to Ars Technica after publication, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said that “Secretary Kennedy and CDC Director Dr. Erica Schwartz continue to make clear that the MMR vaccine is the most effective way to prevent measles.”
Blocked alert
Days before the seventh preventable measles death, The Washington Post reported on Kennedy’s latest push to thwart public health efforts: Career scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—which is under Kennedy’s control—were blocked from publishing an urgent health alert to clinicians regarding the risk and management of measles cases during pregnancy.
Given the previous success of vaccines and vaccination campaigns, many clinicians have never seen such cases in their careers. But measles infections during pregnancy pose severe, life-threatening risks to both pregnant people and fetuses. As such, CDC scientists wanted to issue an informational advisory through the CDC’s Health Alert Network.
But the CDC Director’s Office declined to provide the required approval for the alert, sources told the Post. The scientists have since moved to trying to publish the information in the CDC’s publication, The Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). But the peer-review process for the publication is longer than that of an advisory. Further, vaccine-related studies already approved for publication in MMWR have been suspiciously delayed, the Post reported. The scientists are now considering publishing the information outside the agency to avoid onerous clearance.
In response to the Post’s reporting, the HHS spokesperson told Ars Technica that CDC is closely tracking measles and “providing clinicians and public health officials with guidance to protect mothers and babies.” Information on measles is “moving through CDC’s scientific review and clearance process, which informs publication decisions and timing.”
Source: arstechnica.com
