The Trump administration is making viruses great again

The Guardian

15 hours ago

Do you enjoy getting sick from preventable diseases? Do you have a hankering to make once-declining viruses great again? If so, why not pop over to the US where the health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, and his anti-vaccine cronies are making a valiant effort to overturn decades of progress in modern medicine?
Let's start with measles cases, which are at their highest rate in 33 years in the US. The blame for this doesn't rest entirely with the Trump administration, of course, but officials certainly don't seem too bothered by it all. RFK Jr has downplayed the number of deaths that have occurred from measles and complained about all the headlines they're generating.
Like the rest of his peers in the Trump administration, RFK Jr seems to have absolutely no idea what he is doing, and appears to be just making things up as he goes along. Indeed, the health secretary memorably told Congress in mid-May that he doesn't really think people should be taking medical advice from him. He seems to have forgotten that statement the moment the words left his mouth, however. Not even a couple of weeks later Kennedy announced that the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) would stop recommending Covid-19 booster shots for healthy children and pregnant women. This was a highly unusual move, as the health secretary doesn't normally make unilateral changes to vaccine recommendations like this.
While Kennedy seems to govern by vibes, actual medical experts, who rely on things like evidence and data, are deeply alarmed by the removal of the shots from officials' recommended immunization schedule.
'[D]espite the change in recommendations from [health and human services], the science has not changed,' the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) said in a statement. 'It is very clear that Covid-19 infection during pregnancy can be catastrophic and lead to major disability, and it can cause devastating consequences for families.'
Kennedy's decision is now facing legal opposition. In the same week that the US reached its dark measles milestone, a number of leading medical associations sued the Trump administration. 'This administration is an existential threat to vaccination in America, and those in charge are only just getting started,' said the lead counsel for the plaintiffs in a statement.
Restoring trust in public health agencies and vaccines, especially among pregnant women, will take far more than a lawsuit. Two new surveys, published as a research letter in Jama Network Open, have found that only 35% to 40% of US pregnant women and parents of young children say they intend to fully vaccinate their child. To reiterate: we are now at a place where a majority of pregnant women and parents don't plan to accept all recommended kids' vaccines.
'Given the high decisional uncertainty during pregnancy about vaccinating children after birth, there may be value in intervening during pregnancy to proactively support families with childhood vaccination decisions,' the researchers wrote. Unfortunately, under this administration, that's a lot easier said than done.
The president is throwing a fit over backlash to his administration's sudden U-turn on the 'Epstein Files'. On Wednesday he accused his voters of being gullible 'weaklings' who had fallen for the 'Jeffrey Epstein Hoax' which, according to him, is a 'SCAM' cooked up by the 'Lunatic Left' to discredit him. (If it's all a hoax, why is Ghislaine Maxwell in prison, eh?) Then, on Thursday, Status News reported that Trump had called the editor-in-chief of The Wall Street Journal to try to block its story on Trump's relationship with the disgraced financier. No matter how many insults he flings around or threats he makes, Trump can't bury the bigger Epstein story. Instead people are more invested in finding out who Epstein's associates were than ever before and polls show most Americans believe the government is concealing information. Trump may want to look up the Barbra Streisand effect.
The 25-year-old's father allegedly felt threatened because she helped support him financially.
The poet and performance artist died of ovarian cancer. 'Whenever I leave this world, whether it's sixty years from now, I wouldn't want anyone to say I lost some battle,' Gibson once wrote. 'I'll be a winner that day.' Gibson was a winner this week, but the world has lost a force for good.
Back in 2014, the Oscar-winning actor had surgery to remove 30 uterine fibroids– non-cancerous tumors that can cause severe pain and heavy menstrual bleeding. Black women are three times more likely to develop fibroids than white women. July is Fibroid Awareness Month and, on Tuesday, the actor helped introduce a US uterine health legislative package aimed at introducing better prevention and screening protocols and less invasive treatments. 'I hope to seek answers for the far too many women dealing with uterine fibroids,' Nyong'o said. 'We must reject the normalization of female pain.'
'We are deeply concerned about women's access to health care, especially maternal health care, in ICE detention,' the caucus wrote in a letter. They reference the case of a woman who delivered a stillborn baby after being detained in immigration custody and allegedly having medical care delayed.
Sign up to The Week in Patriarchy
Get Arwa Mahdawi's weekly recap of the most important stories on feminism and sexism and those fighting for equality
after newsletter promotion
The Tufts University doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk writes about her 45 days in a south Louisiana processing facility.
Someone needs to give that man contraceptive advice, but OK.
In her new memoir, Southern says Tate strangled her in a hotel bed in 2018 and assaulted her. 'No one wants to be a victim, especially not when you come from my political background,' Southern wrote. 'I know exactly what's coming. I'll be crucified online. I'm not looking for sympathy, and I don't expect a victim trophy from any side. I'm publishing this simply because it's the truth and far too few people are telling the truth these days.' Tate, who has been accused of rape and bodily harm by multiple women, responded by accusing Southern of drumming up publicity for her memoir.
Husam Masrouf, a poet from Gaza, has a surreal and haunting piece in Flaming Hydra about the lengths some starving Palestinian women are going to try to obtain nutritional supplements.
You think the US is turning into a police state? I'm afraid things are not any better in the UK, where armed police may threaten to arrest you simply for peacefully holding a Palestinian flag. We live in an upside down world where accused war criminals like Benjamin Netanyahu are wined and dined by politicians, while protesting against the murder of more than 17,000 children is treated as some sort of crime.
Turns out your canine companion may secretly be judging you for your reality TV habit. A new study has found that dogs engage meaningfully with the TV and have certain viewing preferences. I reckon my little chihuahua is a big fan of Game of Bones and RuPaw's Drag Race.
Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist