The group’s new COVID-19 recommendations come amid a tumultuous year for public health, as vaccine skeptics have come into power in the Trump administration and government guidance has become increasingly confusing.

Experts say the increases are driven by warmer temperatures due to climate change and the expanding presence of ticks in more areas in the U.S. and Canada — including places where people are less familiar with the risks and how to prevent disease.

It’s the third record-breaking year in a row for the exemption rate, and the vast majority are parents withholding shots for nonmedical reasons.

The U.S. was once among only a few developed countries with a rate that ensured each generation had enough children to replace itself — about 2.1 kids per woman. But it has been sliding in America for close to two decades as more women are waiting longer to have children or never taking that step at all.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has adopted a recommendation to remove thimerosal from all influenza vaccines distributed in the United States, even though there is no clear evidence of harm from the mercury-based preservative.

Scientists who study and treat diabetes noted that CDC officials released only a 600-word online summary of their new findings — not the raw data nor a peer-reviewed published paper describing how they arrived at the new figure.

The CDC said the national case count surpassed 2019, when there were 1,274 cases for the year and the country almost lost its status of having eliminated the vaccine-preventable illness. That could happen this year if the virus has nonstop spread for 12 months.

The American Academy of Pediatrics announced Wednesday that it would continue publishing its own vaccine schedule for children but now will do so independently of the ACIP, calling it “no longer a credible process.”

The Trump administration’s quiet backtracking from the firings and voluntary retirements — which are also paired with new hires to fill vacancies those departures created — come as federal agencies are still implementing their “reduction-in-force” plans as part of a push for spending cuts.

The COVID-19 variant that may be driving a recent rise in cases in some parts of the world has earned a new nickname: “razor blade throat” COVID.

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. last week announced he would “retire” the entire panel that guides U.S. vaccine policy.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Monday dismissed an expert panel of vaccine advisers that has historically guided the federal government’s vaccine recommendations, saying the group is “plagued with conflicts of interest.”

The Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday that it plans to weaken limits on some so-called forever chemicals in drinking water that were finalized last year, while maintaining standards for two common ones.

Two cases were identified in Missouri, and one each in Florida, Illinois, South Dakota, Utah and Wisconsin, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

Firearm injuries are the leading cause of death among children and teens in the U.S. Emergency medical service encounters for firearm injury spiked in 2021 and remain higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic.

States with active outbreaks include Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Oklahoma, Ohio, Texas, Pennsylvania and New Mexico. The U.S. has more than double the number of measles cases it saw in all of 2024.