Americans planning to travel outside the country should make sure they’re vaccinated against measles — no matter where they’re headed, U.S. health officials say. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated its guidance last week to recommend measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) shots for all international travelers, The Associated Press reported. In the past, the…  read on >  read on >

Declining vaccination rates are making more and more U.S. children vulnerable to measles and mumps, a new study says. A national decrease in MMR (measles/mumps/rubella) vaccinations among American children has occurred since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers reported June 2 in the Journal of the American Medical Association. More than three-quarters of U.S.…  read on >  read on >

Wildfire smoke could make it harder for people with lung cancer to survive, a new study says. Californians with lung cancer who breathed smoke from wildfires had a 20% increased risk of dying from their cancer, researchers reported Saturday at the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s (ASCO) annual meeting in Chicago. Wildfire smoke contains particle…  read on >  read on >

Federal health officials have pulled back a key recommendation that pregnant women get the COVID-19 vaccine — causing sharp criticism from doctors and other experts. The announcement came Tuesday from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who said the government will no longer recommend COVID shots for healthy children or pregnant women.…  read on >  read on >

About 2 of 5 smokers in the U.S. suffer from some form of disability, a new study says. And in 1 of 7, their disability is so severe it interferes with their daily lives, researchers report. “The prevalence of disability among adults in the USA who currently smoke cigarettes was more than two times higher…  read on >  read on >