Shady CDC page, measles, Americans are unhappy, egg prices down, and infant formula
The Dose (March 24)
Here’s your national health check-up—including infectious diseases, why parents shouldn’t panic about infant formula, and the state of our collective sanity.
Something shady is going on
Over the weekend, a shadow CDC page on vaccines and autism (called the realcdc[.]org) was revealed. It looks exactly like an official CDC page—the same branding, fonts, and style. The difference was that it had false information about MMR vaccines causing autism, including videos of parent testimonials.
Here’s the kicker: This shadow site was hosted by Children’s Health Defense (CHD)— a non-profit, anti-vaxx organization started by Secretary Kennedy.
What they were going to do with this page is unclear, but we can imagine a number of scenarios, including directing Americans toward false information. As the New York Times found, RFK Jr. quickly asked them to take it down. Regardless, this confirms that CHD is backhanded, dishonest, and deceitful. The site is now inactive, but I bet it’s not the last we see of it.
What does this mean to you? It’s clear now more than ever that we are in an information storm with people’s health at stake. There are a lot of legitimate-looking news websites that are actually just organizations masking as something else. Here are 9 tips from YLE on spotting falsehoods.
Flu: We’re on the way out (mostly)
Influenza-like illnesses—cough, fever, runny nose—are packing their bags. While it’s still high in the Northeast and Northwest (probably because it’s still a bit cold), levels are moderate to low across the U.S. overall.
One strain of flu—Influenza A—showed its teeth this winter but continues its steep decline. We sometimes see an increase this time of year of another flu strain—Influenza B. This year it has increased slightly but not enough to disrupt the overall downward trend.
What it means to you: The end of flu season is just around the corner.
Measles: The comeback tour no one asked for
Measles continues to be a problem. As of Saturday, the U.S. had 407 measles cases across 19 states, 355 of which are associated with the outbreak in Texas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma.
Lubbock’s Public Health Director warned that the panhandle outbreak could take a year to contain. She’s probably right, but boots on the ground will do everything possible to prevent that. If this outbreak takes more than 12 months to contain, the U.S. will lose its measles elimination status—a title we’ve held for 25 years.
Another outbreak popped up in Kansas—up to 10 cases in two counties. This may be connected to the Texas outbreak, but there is no confirmation yet.
In the past week, we’ve also seen sporadic measles cases in the following places from international travel:
Maryland: 2 at Prince George’s County
Virginia: 1 at Dulles airport
California: 1 in Fresno and 2 in Tuolumne County
Ohio: Ashtabula County
Washington: King County
What does this mean to you? You are very well protected if you’re up to date on your MMR vaccine. If you’re in a hot zone, especially with a child under 12 months old, remain vigilant by following updates from your local health department.
Students at the Yale School of Public Health (where I am an adjunct professor) continue to put together a fantastic SITREP. Below is the latest if you’re looking for more details!
Americans sure are not happy
In a finding that I don’t think surprises anyone, the U.S. hit its lowest-ever ranking—24th place—in the latest World Happiness Report. The U.K. also hit rock bottom at 23rd. Happiest country? Finland (again). Costa Rica and Mexico made the top 10 for the first time.
Factors that are foundational to people’s happiness, according to the report:
GDP per capita
Perceptions of corruption
Personal connections and having people to count on
Eating with others
Trust
Believing in others’ kindness
This report is based on data from last summer—right after Biden dropped out of the presidential race. Given everything that’s unfolded since, a fresh ranking today would likely be fascinating. I know I’m not feeling very happy lately.
Egg prices: Finally, some good news
The price of an egg dropped significantly last week for an average of $3.27 per dozen.
Why? Two simultaneous factors:
We’re seeing a slowdown in bird flu outbreaks. This is great for the birds and us since it means the virus has less of a chance to mutate.
Demand dropped since people didn’t want to pay exorbitant prices for eggs.
What does it mean to you? Don’t run to the store yet. These are wholesale prices. Prices of eggs on store shelves haven’t changed everywhere yet. Easter could shake things up, though.
Infant formula report and Operation Stork Speed
Megan Maisano, the YLE nutrition expert and mom to 5-week-old twins, will take this away…
Last week, Consumer Reports released their investigation on 41 types of powdered infant formula. Results were mixed:
Good news: More than half contained low to no levels of contaminants, and none had detectable or harmful levels of cadmium and mercury. This includes the most popular brands, like Enfamil, Similac Advance, and Kirkland ProCare.
Bad news: Half contained at least one substance with concerning levels (including arsenic, lead, and PFAS).
This sounds scary, and parents are rightfully concerned if their formula was one of the 10 that landed in the “worst choices” category. So what’s going on?
Despite being one of the most tightly regulated products in the U.S., infant formula can become contaminated.
Contaminants can come naturally from heavy metals in soil and water or man-made pollutants like industrial and agricultural byproducts.
We are exposed to these contaminants daily, as they are found throughout the entire food system (and monitored by the FDA’s Total Diet Study).
However, exposure can be harmful to growing young children (it is linked to brain development and immune function). The report identifies considerable variation in contamination among formula products, raising questions regarding safety regulations.
One day after this report was released, the FDA announced Operation Stork Speed, an initiative to enhance the quality, safety, and nutrition of infant formulas, including increased testing for contaminants. While the Biden administration’s similar Closer to Zero effort aims to reduce contaminant exposure in the entire food system, this plan offers a unique focus on infant formula.
Some thoughts:
I welcome this as a health expert and a parent. The last FDA review of infant formula was over 25 years ago.
However, I’ll be curious how the FDA properly tackles this operation, given recent cuts to health agencies and considerable deregulatory actions at the EPA.
If you’re using infant formula, this isn’t a reason to panic. None of the samples exceeded E.U. limits for formula, except for the presence of BPA in one product. (The U.S. does not have established limits specific to infant formula.) Nevertheless, the report shows there’s room for improvement.
Dr. Jessica Knurick has a fantastic and detailed article on this topic here.
Question grab bag
YLE received many comments and questions after the autism post. (I swear, the comments section of YLE is the best. I learn from it every. single. post.) One common reaction to the CDC autism study was: “Couldn’t this be a good thing? I can imagine a sizable impact for a vaccine-autism study conducted under the aegis of such a noted vaccine skeptic (to say the least) that nonetheless found no evidence of a link.”
I think this is an interesting point. However, it assumes that yet another study on vaccines and autism is a good faith effort. It is incredibly easy to lie using statistics, and RFK Jr. has a track record of sowing doubt in vaccines. Evidence has mounted up over the past 25 years against a link but still people are unconvinced. This also may have an indirect effect—people assuming there is an open-ended question when there is not.
Bottom line
You’re caught up to start your week!
Love, the YLE team
Your Local Epidemiologist (YLE) is a public health newsletter with one goal: to “translate” the ever-evolving public health science so that people feel well-equipped to make evidence-based decisions. This newsletter is owned and operated by Dr. Katelyn Jetelina— an epidemiologist and mom. This is free to everyone, thanks to the generous support of fellow YLE community members. To support the effort, subscribe or upgrade below:
re: the fake CDC site.
Government websites always end in .gov. They do not end in .org, .net, .com or anything else.
eg:
https://www.cdc.gov/
For more details:
https://get.gov/domains/eligibility/
"The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) manages the .gov top-level domain. We verify the identity of everyone who requests a .gov domain and we make sure that their organization meets the criteria for having a .gov domain."
If a URL does not end with .gov, it isn't an official government site.
Whether, and for how long we can trust government websites is a topic for another time. :=(
Thanks Dr. Jetelina!
The news about the fake CDC website, sponsored by Children's Health Defense (CHD), which was sired by federal Health & Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. makes my blood boil!
This should not only permanently discredit CHD, I believe it's valid grounds for removing RFK JR from office, despite his request to bring down the site. That simple request to stop spreading lies is not enough: he should repudiate CHD, disinformation-based anti-vaxxers, and by way of mea culpa, resign as a penance for ever having spawned CHD in the first place. As we know from the Samoa measles outbreak, these lies can cost the lives of innocents.
We live in a post-truth global culture. People have been lying since time immemorial, but never before has our access to the truth been so radically encumbered by liars who use The Algorithm to gain a viral audience, with dreams of celebrity and wealth. Their messages rely on ignorance, fear and the thrall of conspiratorial phantasms.
Their messages are all variations of: "You are smarter than everyone else because you believe me. Keep following me and tell your friends. Everyone who disagrees with us is wrong and because you are smart, you will believe and do the exact opposite of what our opponents say."
This is an existentially serious situation. A clear remedy eludes me.