Category: Health

(WASHINGTON) — The Trump administration announced new federal dietary guidelines on Wednesday, encouraging Americans to limit highly processed foods and to reduce refined carbohydrates.

The guidelines also recommend eating whole foods like fruits and vegetables, incorporating healthy fats, prioritizing protein-rich meals and consuming full-fat dairy with no added sugars.

The new Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which are updated every five years, come as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has made nutrition policy a cornerstone of his Make America Healthy Again agenda.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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(NEW YORK) — Earlier this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention abruptly changed the childhood immunization schedule, reducing the number of recommended shots for all children from 18 down to only 11.

According to the new schedule, shots will now be categorized in three groups: those recommended for all children, those recommended for only certain high-risk children and others left up to shared clinical decision making, meaning only given if recommended by an individual’s doctor or based on parental preference.

Some pediatricians told ABC News that this decision will only cause more confusion and fuel a growing trend of vaccine skepticism and refusal amid a rise in some vaccine-preventable illnesses around the U.S. 

Dr. Anita Henderson, a pediatrician at the Pediatric Clinic in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, told ABC News that removing seven shots from the schedule recommended for all kids is “reckless” and confusing.

This isn’t the first change to vaccine recommendations that has been made in the past year by the Department of Health and Human Services under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

In 2025, guidance for vaccinating healthy children against COVID-19 was reversed and the universal birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine was eliminated. Kennedy also fired all 17 members of the CDC’s vaccine advisory panel and handpicked their replacements, and has been criticized.

“Pediatricians are already facing families who are confused about vaccine recommendations. This confusion is intentional and meant to weaken vaccination rates in the US and sow seeds of doubt and division,” Henderson said. 

Under the updated schedule, only seven vaccines are recommended based on shared clinical decision making between a doctor and parent and are no longer universally recommended for all children.

These include shots that protect against influenza, COVID-19, rotavirus and some types of bacterial meningitis and viral hepatitis. All of these vaccine-preventable illnesses can lead to severe infections or death and have limited to no treatment options.

“These latest changes will undoubtedly shake confidence in vaccines even further, to the detriment of the children we care for,” Dr. Molly O’Shea, a practicing pediatrician and spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics, told ABC News. 

O’Shea said that, in her practice, she’s had to navigate more vaccine skepticism and refusal over the past year, but wants parents to know that the science on effectiveness and safety hasn’t shifted “even though the recommended vaccine schedule has shifted.”

She continued, “The reason for that shift has nothing to do with whether or not vaccines are safe and effective and all children benefit from avoiding illness and being healthy, to attend school and be a part of the community.”

To address growing concerns about vaccines, O’Shea said the pediatric offices she works in have had to change their workflow to allow more time for discussions about vaccines and to address vaccine misinformation.

While happy to have these conversations with families, O’Shea said reserving time for these additional visits for vaccine counseling becomes more difficult during flu season, when more kids need to be seen due to illnesses.

She added that the offices have already had to scale back ordering some vaccines in bulk because uptake has decreased for some shots. 

Henderson and O’Shea both reaffirmed that vaccines are safe — far safer than the dangerous illnesses they prevent.

“Over the last 30 years, I have hospitalized hundreds of children with complications from influenza, RSV, rotavirus and other vaccine-preventable diseases that have now been removed from the CDC schedule,” Henderson said. “I have never hospitalized a child from a vaccine reaction. Vaccines are safe and effective and protect our most vulnerable patients … our babies and children.”

“Vaccines are the safest way for a child’s immune system to become familiar with any of these illnesses, way safer than the disease itself,” O’Shea added. 

Doctors are also concerned that the vaccination schedule updates may have secondary impacts, including how often children and families see their pediatrician.

Pediatric wellness checks include recommended vaccines, particularly in young childhood, but pediatricians say that there’s more to those visits than shots alone. Skipping visits could miss critical windows of a child’s growth, development, and recommended screenings.   

“Absent vaccine, kids are really going to miss out on important other screening aspects of the wellness visits if their parents are opting out,” O’Shea said.

Pediatricians continue to urge parents to talk to their own child’s doctor and to trust their medical guidance.

“Your pediatrician really is your trusted source of information, and we have nothing to gain in the way things are going here,” O’Shea said.

“Vaccines are certainly not a way in which we make any money,” she went on. “But [a] pediatrician’s goal is to partner with parents to make the right decision for your child, and so, bringing your concerns and questions to your pediatrician is the best way to get quality information.”

Amid the shrinking childhood vaccine schedule, many vaccine-preventable illnesses remain common in the U.S. and other diseases, such as measles and whooping cough, are increasing.

Last year, the U.S. saw more measles cases than at any other time in the last 30 years and three people died from the disease. Two children died from whooping cough during an outbreak in Louisiana and more kids died from influenza than in any other year on record since it became a reportable illness in 2004. 

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(NEW YORK) —  Flu activity could continue to increase in the U.S. over the next few weeks, according to a top flu epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“There’s a lot of influenza out there right now,” Dr. Carrie Reed, chief of the epidemiology and prevention branch of the CDC’s influenza division, told ABC News.

“We often see activity continue into the spring … I think the reality is that it’s going to continue to be elevated for a little bit longer,” she continued.

The CDC’s latest estimates indicate that there have been at least 11 million illnesses, 120,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths from flu so far this season.

“That’s likely a low estimate based on the data that we’re seeing so far,” Reed said, adding that the federal health agency typically publishes the lower range of the estimates.

A new variant that first emerged in the summer, known as subclade K, has become the dominant strain, CDC data shows. Subclade K is a variant of the H3N2 virus, which is itself a subtype of influenza A.

Of the 994 flu samples tested since Sept. 30, nearly all were influenza A. Of those samples that underwent further testing roughly ​90% were H3N2, CDC data shows.

“Subclade K has acquired some mutations in the virus that make it a little bit different than what’s in the vaccine and what was circulating over the last couple years,” Reed said.

Public health experts currently recommend that everyone ages 6 months and older, with rare exceptions, get an annual flu vaccine.  

Although the current flu vaccine is not a perfect match to subclade K, it is still expected to offer some protection against the new variant and lower the risk of serious disease, hospitalization and death.

Reed added that the new variant does not appear to be driving more severe illness yet.

“There are still benefits to vaccine, even if the virus [has] somewhat drifted from what’s in the vaccine,” she said. “We haven’t seen increases in hospitalization and mortality yet in the ways that we have with [doctors’ visits], although that’s something that we continue to watch for as well.”

For those who have gotten sick, there are medicines available, known as antivirals, that may help reduce the severity and length of illness.

Reed said for those who contract the flu and have a higher risk of severe disease, they should seek care early and speak with their doctor about receiving a prescription for flu antivirals.

She explained that flu antivirals have been found to reduce the duration of illness as well as lower the risk for severe disease, hospitalization and death.

Health officials have stressed that it is not too late for people get a flu shot if they haven’t received one yet.

“There’s still time to get a flu vaccine,” Reed said. “It does take a couple weeks for your immune response to pick up after vaccination, but that does mean there’s many more weeks of flu activity to benefit from the protection of an influenza vaccine.”

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(NEW YORK) — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced on Monday it is changing the childhood immunization schedule.

The federal health agency is removing the universal recommendation for multiple shots, in what it calls an attempt to mirror the schedules of peer countries.

Instead of being universally recommended for almost all children at certain age cut offs, vaccines are now split into three categories: vaccines for all children, vaccines for certain high-risk groups and vaccines based on shared clinical decision making.

Shared clinical decision making is the term used by CDC to imply that patients, and parents, should talk to their provider about whether they should be vaccinated.

Some of the vaccines and immunizations that are no longer universally recommended include RSV, flu and COVID, as well as the hepatitis and meningococcal vaccines. 

For children not in certain high-risk groups, no vaccine is recommended before the age of two months.

The change comes after President Donald Trump signed a memo in early December last year directing Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to examine how other nations structure their childhood vaccine schedules.

HHS officials say the change will not affect health insurance coverage of vaccines.

“President Trump directed us to examine how other developed nations protect their children and to take action if they are doing better,” Kennedy said in a statement. “After an exhaustive review of the evidence, we are aligning the U.S. childhood vaccine schedule with international consensus while strengthening transparency and informed consent. This decision protects children, respects families, and rebuilds trust in public health.”

The changes drew rebuke from doctors, who expressed concern that such a change did not undergo further debate before being implemented.

The CDC’s vaccine advisory committee met last month to discuss the childhood vaccine schedule, but only voted to remove the universal recommendation for the hepatitis B vaccine at birth.

“I thought there might be proposals that were debated amongst experts in a public meeting, and then maybe something like this resulting from that, but not in the way this has been done, where a new schedule is released, which has already been signed on to by all the health advisors for the president,” Dr. Dave Margolius, an internal medicine physician and director of public for the city of Cleveland, told ABC News.

Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, former director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said altering the schedule without consulting U.S. experts in pediatrics, infectious diseases and public health “undermines both scientific rigor and transparency.”

He told ABC News that the American health care system is unique, which makes it difficult to align the U.S. vaccine schedule to those of peer nations.

“Vaccine schedules should be crafted to reflect the specific patterns of disease and access to healthcare in the United States; unfortunately, these vital factors were not adequately considered in the development of the new schedule,” Daskalakis said.

In a press briefing representing the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), Dr. Sean O’Leary, an infectious disease physician and chair of the AAP Committee on Infectious Diseases, said the federal government can no longer be trusted in its role to protect American children from vaccine-preventable diseases.

“Tragically, our federal government can no longer be trusted in this role,” O’Leary said. “Unfortunately, our government is making it much harder for pediatricians to do our jobs, and they’re making it much harder for parents to know what to do.”

O’Leary confirmed the AAP was not consulted by HHS ahead of this decision to change the vaccine schedule. 

Additionally, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), a physician and chair of the Senate’s health committee, distanced himself from the CDC’s decision to change the childhood vaccine schedule.

“Changing the pediatric vaccine schedule based on no scientific input on safety risks and little transparency will cause unnecessary fear for patients and doctors, and will make America sicker,” Cassidy wrote in a post on X, rejecting the recent changes.

Cassidy added that the schedule is “not a mandate,” but rather a recommendation that gives parents the “power” to choose which vaccines their children receive.

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(NEW YORK) — Flu activity is continuing to climb across the U.S. as hospitalizations rise, according to newly released data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The percent of outpatient visits for respiratory illnesses are now at the highest rate on record.

About 8% of visits to a health care provider were labeled as flu-like illness, surpassing any levels seen since 1997, the earliest for which data is available. Flu-like illness accounts for patients that have a fever as well as a cough and/or sore throat.

These visits are largely among children and young adults. About 35% of outpatient visits for a respiratory illness were among people unde. 24 years old and children under age 5 made up ​about 20% of those.

The CDC estimates there have been 120,000 hospitalizations so far this season, a 48.1% increase from the prior week.

Additionally, the CDC says there have been at least 11 million illnesses and 5,000 deaths due to flu so far this season, including at least nine pediatric deaths.

In New York, health officials recently reported the highest number of flu hospitalizations recorded in a single week.

“This is really quite a severe flu season right now,” Dr. James McDonald, health commissioner for New York state, told “Good Morning America” on Saturday.

Recently, New York also reported a record-breaking number of flu cases in a single week with 72,133 infections for the week ending Dec. 20, according to health department.

Data shows that the majority of this season’s cases are linked to a new flu strain called subclade K — a variant of the H3N2 virus, which is itself a subtype of influenza A.

Subclade K has been circulating since the summer in other countries and was a main driver of a spike in flu cases in Canada, Japan and the U.K.

Of the 994 flu samples tested since Sept. 30, nearly all were influenza A. Of those samples that underwent further testing roughly ​90% were H3N2, CDC data shows.

Experts expect flu-like illnesses to continue to climb in the coming weeks and warn that this season’s peak has likely not been reached yet.

In addition to influenza, COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are also circulating this time of year and are contributing to respiratory illness activity.

Currently, the CDC recommends that everyone ages 6 months and older, with rare exceptions, get an annual flu vaccine.  

The federal health agency states on its website that getting an annual flu shot prevents millions of illnesses and flu-related doctors’ visits every year and is especially important for those at higher risk of serious complications.

Amid surging cases and hospitalizations, the number of adults and kids who have received a flu shot remains relatively unchanged. As of Dec. 13, around 42.2% of adults and 42.3% of kids have received the flu vaccine despite the flu shot being widely available across the country.

Last season, 289 children died from flu and nearly all were unvaccinated. This was the highest number of deaths ever recorded since tracking pediatric deaths became mandatory in 2004. One additional pediatric death was reported this week from the 2024-2025 flu season to reach the record.

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(ATLANTA) — Flu activity is continuing to climb across the U.S. as hospitalizations rise, according to newly released data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC estimates there have been 120,000 hospitalizations so far this season, a 38.8% increase from the prior week.

Additionally, the CDC says there have been at least 11 million illnesses and 5,000 deaths due to flu so far this season.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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(NEW YORK) — A major update to federal women’s health preventive guidance will make it easier for women to get screened for cervical cancer, including a self-collection option that allows some women to test themselves at home instead of going to a doctor for a pelvic exam.

The new option will be covered by private insurance beginning in January 2027.

The updated Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) guidance now advises that people receive a high-risk HPV test – which checks for the virus types most likely to cause cervical cancer – every five years for average-risk women ages 30 to 65 as the preferred screening approach. This can be done with a clinician-collected sample or by the patient at home. 

Women in that age group still have other choices: a combination of an HPV and Pap test every five years, or Pap testing alone every three years if HPV testing isn’t available. 

“The addition of self-collection really empowers women to make this choice for themselves,” Ann Sheehy, MD, the HRSA’s chief medical officer, told ABC News. “We do retain the option for Pap smear … this is just an additional choice for women.”

For women ages 21 to 29, the recommendations stay the same: Pap tests every three years, which Sheehy said aligns with available evidence.

“By doing this, we’re going to get some of those people that have been falling through the cracks and not getting this testing done in advance,” Tom Engels, administrator of the HRSA, told ABC News. “And by doing that, we’re going to save lives.”

Engels emphasized that the update is meant to expand testing options, not replace the Pap test. Self-collection is intended to remove barriers for women who find in-office screening difficult to schedule, uncomfortable, or hard to access, he stressed. 

American Cancer Society (ACS) guidelines updated in December, by contrast, recommend that cervical cancer screening should begin at age 25 and centers on primary HPV testing, including self-collection tests.

“The combination of good evidence of the benefits of self-collection, which include increased access to cervical cancer screening, combined with FDA approval, led the ACS and HRSA to include self-collection in their guideline update,” Dr. Robert Smith, senior vice president, Early Cancer Detection Science at the American Cancer Society and author of the organization’s updated guidelines, told ABC News.

Cervical cancer screening is often cited as a major public health success. Over the last 50 years, cervical cancer incidence and deaths have fallen by more than 50% in the U.S., according to the American Cancer Society, largely because screening can catch precancerous changes early, before patients notice any symptoms.

When cervical cancer is found early, five-year survival is higher than 90%, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data suggests. But the HSRA guidance notes that more than half of diagnoses happen beyond the earliest stage, after the disease is spread to other areas of the body. In those later stages, five-year survival is only about 20%, according to the CDC.

Wide use of the HPV vaccine is expected to push cervical cancer rates even lower over time, but most of the historical decline happened before widespread vaccination efforts.

Sheehy said she has seen the consequences when screening doesn’t happen, and why early detection matters.

“I’ve seen women who didn’t have access to screening, and their cancer presented at a very late stage,” she said. “Most women who have early-stage cervical cancer or precancer lesions are asymptomatic, and the only way we’re going to detect that is with screening.”

The updated guidance aims to address stubborn gaps despite the decades of progress, she added, pointing out that about half of women diagnosed with cervical cancer have either never been screened or their screening isn’t up to date, and about one in four women in the U.S. are not up to date with screening, according to the CDC.

Only FDA-approved tests are recommended for self-collection. The FDA first expanded approvals in May 2024 to allow patients to self-collect samples in a clinical setting. In May 2025, the FDA approved the first at-home self-collection cervical cancer screening kit.

The at-home option is available by prescription. Exactly how patients access a covered self-collecting test may vary by insurer and plan.

“There’s some FDA tests that are approved for self-collection in an office-based setting and there is one that is available for self-collection at home,” Sheehy noted.

Sheehy and Smith both added that a positive HPV result is not a cancer diagnosis, but it can mean additional testing is necessary.

The updated guidance also aims to reduce costs that can pile up after an abnormal screening result by clarifying what insurers must cover without cost-sharing, including follow-up testing and diagnostic evaluation such as Pap testing, biopsy, and lab work, depending on individual needs.

A separate HRSA guideline that took effect Jan. 1 also requires insurance coverage for patient navigation services that help women schedule screenings, address care challenges, and follow up after abnormal results.

“We know the health care system is incredibly complicated for patients to navigate,” Sheehy said.

Both Engles and Sheehy emphasized how optimistic they are about the potential benefits of expanding access to cervical screening.

“This could be really, really, game-changing for women,” Sheehy said.

Radhika Malhotra, MD, is an internal medicine-preventive medicine resident at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and a member of the ABC News Medical Unit. 

ABC News’ Liz Neporent contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — New York is reporting the highest number of flu hospitalizations recorded in a single week, the state’s health department said on Friday.

During the week ending Dec. 27, 4,546 people were hospitalized with flu, a 24% increase from the 3,666 who were hospitalized the previous week, according to data from the New York State Department of Health (NYSOH)

It comes after the state reported a record-breaking number of flu cases in a single week with 72,133 infections during the week ending Dec. 20.

NYSDOH issued a declaration last month stating influenza is prevalent in New York, which requires health care facilities and agencies to ensure any staff who have not received this year’s flu vaccine wear masks in any areas where patients and residents may be present.

“We are having a more severe flu season than prior years, almost 1,000 more people were admitted to a hospital during this most recent seven-day period compared to the prior week,” Dr. James McDonald, the state’s health commissioner, said in a statement on Friday.

Meanwhile, flu activity is also spiking nationwide. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates there have been at least ​7.5 million illnesses, ​81,000 hospitalizations and ​3,100 deaths from flu so far this season.

New York is one of 20 states recording “very high” levels of respiratory illness activity, according to the latest CDC data.

Public health experts previously told ABC News that many of this season’s cases are linked to a new flu strain called subclade K — a variant of the H3N2 virus, which is itself a subtype of influenza A.

Subclade K has been circulating since the summer in other countries and was a main driver of a spike in flu cases in Canada, Japan and the U.K.

Of the 1,600 flu samples tested by the CDC, roughly ​92% were H3N2. Of those samples, nearly ​90% belonged to subclade K.

Experts expect flu-like illnesses to continue to climb in the coming weeks after holiday gatherings and colder weather.

Currently, the CDC recommends that everyone aged 6 months and older, with rare exceptions, get a flu vaccine.  

The federal health agency states on its website that getting an annual flu shot prevents millions of illnesses and flu-related doctors’ visits every year and is especially important for those at higher risk of serious complications.

The flu vaccine is currently available to New Yorkers aged 2 years and older at a health care provider’s office or at participating pharmacies while children aged 6 months and older can receive the flu vaccine at a health care provider’s office, according to the state health department.

“There is still time to get a flu shot and remember, flu can be treated with antiviral medication if started within 48 hours of symptom onset and your doctor deems appropriate,” McDonald said.

ABC News’ Youri Benadjaoud contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — Children who miss early vaccinations are far more likely to miss the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine by age 2, a new study found.

The findings come as the U.S. recently surpassed 2,000 measles cases for the first time in more than 30 years, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

CDC data shows that MMR vaccination declined over the last several years, but the authors say that factors linked to delayed or missed vaccination since the COVID-19 pandemic have not been well studied.

For the new study, published Friday in the journal JAMA Network Open, the team looked data from Truevata, an electronic health records database that includes several U.S. health care systems.

Participants included more than 321,000 children who received routine care within the first two months, first year and second year of life between Jan. 1, 2018 and April 30, 2025.

The CDC currently recommends that people receive two doses of the MMR vaccine, the first at ages 12 to 15 months and the second between 4 and 6 years old. One dose is 93% effective, and two doses are 97% effective against measles, the CDC says.

Most children during the study period received the MMR vaccine on time, with 78.4% doing so.

About 13.9% of children had delayed vaccination, 1% received the MMR vaccine early and 6.7% did not receive the MMR vaccine by age 2, according to the study.

The strongest predictors for no MMR vaccination was delay in receiving the recommended 2-month and 4-month vaccines, the study noted.

These early vaccines included diphtheria, tetanus, and acellular pertussis (DTaP); Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib); pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV); and the inactivated poliovirus vaccines (IPV).

Nina Masters, lead author of the study and senior applied research scientist at Truveta, told ABC News that it’s not surprising children who miss early vaccines also miss later vaccines, but it highlights that some parents become vaccine hesitant when their children are young.

“This also means the opportunity for intervention to engage parents and provide more education about the safety and effectiveness of vaccines has to happen very early,” she said. “This may be challenging as parents may have yet had the time to forge a strong bond with their child’s pediatrician, but the study highlights the importance of pediatric providers having vaccination discussions and building trust as early as possible with parents.”

Results from the study showed that those who received their 2-month vaccines on time were seven times more likely to get the MMR vaccine.  

The team found that the percentage of children who received the MMR vaccine on time changed over the study period, increasing from 75.6% in 2018 to 79.9% in 2021, and then falling to 76.9% in 2024.

This decrease between 2021 and 2024 was associated with an increase in the percentage of children who did not receive the MMR vaccine by age 2, increasing from 5.3% in 2020 to 7.7% in 2024, according to the study.

Children who were more likely to be unvaccinated for the MMR shot by age 2 were boys, and white and non-Hispanic or Latino, the study found.

Rural residence slightly increased the risk of no MMR vaccination, even among children receiving routine care, according to the study.

The study only included children with regular access to care, so real-world vaccination delays may be worse in the broader U.S. population, the team noted.

The authors added that these results point to increased vaccine hesitancy or unmeasured access challenges, highlighting the importance of timely intervention so children are less likely to delay or miss vaccination.

Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, who was not involved in the study, said the findings have major public health implications because there are questions about whether the U.S. will retain its measles elimination status and increasing vaccination is “the way out of this problem.”

“If you want to live in a society where measles is a problem of the past, where we don’t have to think about it, where schools don’t have to come up with contingency plans, where we don’t have children unnecessarily dying from measles, then that’s a reason to get the vaccine,” he told ABC News.

Adalja added that vaccination doesn’t just protect the individual against infection, but it also has a community benefit.

“The higher the vaccination level is in a given community, the more resilient that community will be to those infectious diseases,” he said. “And if you’re someone that’s immunocompromised, you may want to live in to live in an area that has high vaccination rates because you are at higher risk, and if you’re in a high vaccination area, there’s going to be a lowering of that risk because of the community level immunity that exists in that area.”

Crystal Richards, MD, MS is a pediatric resident doctor at New-York Presbyterian Hospital Columbia University Medical Center and a member of the ABC News Medical Unit.

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