HHS Postpones Third Straight Meeting Of US Preventive Services Task Force
The group that makes recommendations on preventive health care services has not met in a year, and this latest meeting has not been rescheduled. Meanwhile, the Camp East Montana immigration facility in Texas is off-limits to outsiders amid a measles outbreak.
Yet another scheduled meeting of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has been postponed, HHS confirmed Tuesday. The task force, which typically meets three times a year, hasn't convened since March of last year, with meetings in July and November abruptly canceled. (Henderson, 3/3)
One of the most powerful voices in the biopharma industry, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, Ph.D., has weighed in with sharp criticism of the FDA鈥檚 Vinay Prasad, M.D., and his performance as the chief of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), which regulates vaccines in the U.S. 鈥淲e have a problem with the leadership of CBER,鈥 Bourla said Monday at the TD Cowen healthcare conference. 鈥淚 think the current director is not following the recommendations of his staff.鈥 (Dunleavy, 3/3)
Moderna Inc. agreed to pay $950 million to settle litigation related to the delivery technology behind its Covid shot, removing a looming financial risk for the struggling vaccine maker. The company has settled all litigation worldwide with Arbutus Biopharma Corp. and Genevant Sciences GmbH over its existing and future vaccines, with no future royalties owed. At issue were claims that Moderna had infringed on patents owned by Genevant and Arbutus related to lipid nanoparticles, or tiny bubbles of fat that Moderna used to deliver its Covid shot inside patients. (Smith and Muller, 3/3)
On the spread of measles 鈥
A large immigration detention camp in Texas has been closed to visitors and attorneys due to a measles outbreak, a lawmaker said Tuesday. There are 14 active measles cases at the detention center on the Fort Bliss Army base and 112 people are being isolated, said U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, an El Paso Democrat whose district includes the facility, known as Camp East Montana. It will remain closed to visitors and attorneys until March 19 or March 20. (3/4)
The Global Academy of South Carolina, a public charter school, is housed in a glittering modern building on a sprawling campus, a 10-minute drive from the spunky downtown Spartanburg. It has Ukrainian- and Russian-language teachers on staff, reflecting that many of its roughly 600 students belong to a thriving Slavic community, whose lives revolve around the evangelical churches in surrounding Spartanburg County. But on Oct. 8, South Carolina鈥檚 public health department made an ominous announcement: Global Academy was one of two schools in Spartanburg County where measles had been detected. Only 21 percent of its students were vaccinated, one of the worst rates for a public school in the state. (Hartocollis, 3/3)
On covid, RSV, flu, and swine flu 鈥
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) was associated with 190,000 to 350,000 hospitalizations from July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025, as well as 10,000 to 23,000 deaths, according to data published last month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). During the same time, COVID-19 was associated with an estimated 290,000 to 450,000 hospitalizations and 34,000 to 53,000 deaths. (Szabo, 3/3)
The American College of Physicians (ACP) recommends adults age 75 and older receive one dose of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine, according to a statement yesterday. In its guidelines, published in Annals of Internal Medicine, the ACP said that adults age 60 to 74 may consider receiving an RSV vaccine if they have medical conditions that increase their risk of serious disease. (Szabo, 3/3)
COVID-19 infection is a significant predictor of chronic kidney disease (CKD), acute kidney injury (AKI), end-stage renal disease (ESRD), and kidney failure, suggests a聽study by Penn State researchers published in Communications Medicine. (Van Beusekom, 3/3)
More than half of people in a cross-sectional聽study reporting on post-COVID condition (PCC) symptoms, or long COVID, in 2021 said their ability to work was poor, yet most were still working, suggesting a substantial burden of 鈥減resenteeism,鈥 or reduced productivity while on the job. (Bergeson, 3/2)
In spite of fears of immune evasion by a widely circulating H3N2 influenza variant called subclade K, a Public Health Alerts report published today shows that the current flu vaccine produces antibodies that efficiently recognize subclade K in almost 40% of people. (Wappes, 3/3)
Over the weekend, health officials in Spain reportedly informed the World Health Organization (WHO) of a possible human case of swine flu that may have been caused by person-to-person transmission. The WHO's reference laboratory for influenza in Britain is conducting additional tests to confirm the diagnosis, according to Reuters. The patient in Spain did not have direct contact with pigs, according to the wire agency. (Kekatos, 3/3)
