MIKE STOBBE Medical Writer, Author at The Rapid City Post

FILE - A sign marks the entrance to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters, Aug. 27, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)

Government shutdown means many CDC experts are skipping a pivotal meeting on infectious disease

October 20, 2025

An annual conference about infectious diseases is seeing a dramatic attendance decline, in part because Centers for Disease Control and Prevention experts can’t participate. IDWeek is being held in Atlanta. Experts are discussing the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of threats including bird flu, superbugs, measles, HIV and worrisome germs that most people have never heard about. The CDC typically sends scores of researchers and outbreak investigators. But nearly all had to miss the conference because of the government shutdown. Federal scientists aren’t being paid and conference appearances are postponed unless they are funded outside of annual government budgets.

FILE - Vials of the Jynneos vaccine for monkeypox are taken from a cooler at a vaccinations site, Aug. 29, 2022, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (AP Photo/Jeenah Moon, File)

California mpox cases raise concerns. But health officials say the risk remains low

October 16, 2025

Investigators suspect that two Californians diagnosed with mpox may be the first U.S. cases resulting from the local spread of a different version of the virus. The Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services this week confirmed the case through testing at a state lab. Los Angeles County officials on Thursday said they too had such a case. These are not the first U.S. cases of what is known as clade I mpox. Six U.S. cases were reported previously. But the earlier cases were international travelers who were believed to have been infected abroad. Health officials stress that the risk to the public remains low.

Committee member Dr. Martin Kulldorf, speaks during a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices at the CDC on Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025, in Chamblee, Ga. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

CDC stops recommending COVID-19 shots for all, leaves decision to patients

October 6, 2025

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has adopted recommendations by a new group of vaccine advisers, and has stopped recommending COVID-19 shots for anyone. The government health agency has announced the change Monday, saying people should decide for themselves in consultation with a medical professional. That goes along with a decision last month by an advisory panel handpicked by U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Before this year, U.S. health officials recommended annual COVID-19 boosters for all Americans ages 6 months and older.

FILE - This 1971 microscope photo provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows Neisseria gonorrhoeae bacteria, which causes the sexually-transmitted disease gonorrhea. (CDC via AP, File)

Sexually transmitted disease cases fall, but not syphilis in newborns

September 24, 2025

New government data shows another decline in sexually transmitted disease rates for U.S. adults, but also a continued rise in syphilis in newborns. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday posted the provisional data for 2024. It shows a third consecutive year of decline in gonorrhea cases. It also shows a second consecutive year of fewer adult cases of chlamydia and the most infectious forms of syphilis. But health officials have not yet been able to turn around the rise in congenital syphilis cases, in which infected moms pass the disease on to their babies. Those cases were up by less than 2% from 2023. But health experts say no cases should be happening.

‘Nightmare bacteria’ cases are increasing in the US

September 23, 2025

Government scientists say infection rates from drug-resistant “nightmare bacteria” have been increasing dramatically. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention scientists say rates rose almost 70% between 2019 and 2023. They published their findings Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine. A subgroup of bacteria with a gene that provides a level of drug resistance that is extremely difficult to treat primarily drove the increase. The rate of those cases jumped more than 460% in recent years in 29 states. Once considered exotic, these bacteria are now more common in the U.S.

FILE - Demonstrators rally for support of the CDC during a meeting of the Advisory Committee in Immunization Practices, June 25, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File)

Kennedy’s vaccine committee plans to vote on COVID-19, hepatitis B and chickenpox shots

September 15, 2025

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s new vaccine advisory committee meets this week, with votes slated on whether to change recommendations on shots against COVID-19, hepatitis B and chickenpox. It’s not clear what questions the committee plans to vote on. Officials at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to questions. But some public health experts say they are worried that the votes will raise unwarranted new questions about vaccines in the minds of parents. Perhaps even more consequential would be a vote that restricts a government program from paying for vaccines for low-income families. The committee meets Thursday and Friday in Atlanta.

FILE - U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attends a news conference, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025, in Anchorage, Alaska. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen, File)

Trump administration to award a no-bid contract on research into vaccines and autism

September 12, 2025

Federal health officials intend to award a no-bid contract to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to investigate whether there is a link between vaccinations and autism. That’s according to a government procurement notice posted this week. The notice says the Troy, New York-based university is getting the contract because of its “unique ability” to link data on children and mothers. Federal health officials did not immediately respond to questions about the notice, including how much the contract is for or what exactly the researchers intend to do.

In this photo provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a female Culex quinquefasciatus mosquito, also known as the southern house mosquito, sits on a person’s skin before taking a blood meal in 2022. (Lauren Bishop/CDC via AP)

West Nile virus cases running higher than normal, prompting health warnings

September 10, 2025

Health officials say West Nile virus infections are intense this year, with 40% more cases than usual. More than 770 cases have been reported as of early September. Typically, around 550 cases are reported by this time. Most cases occur in August and September, prompting officials to ramp up warnings. The virus was first reported in the U.S. in 1999 and peaked in 2003 with nearly 10,000 cases. Colorado has reported about 150 cases, more than double other states. Officials say a higher share of mosquitoes are carrying the virus this year. People can protect themselves by wearing long-sleeved shirts and pants and by using EPA-registered insect repellents.

A sign marks the entrance to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters in Atlanta, on Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

With CDC in chaos, scientists and physicians piece together replacements for agency’s lost work

August 29, 2025

The CDC is in turmoil, with outside groups stepping in to handle work once done by the agency. The upheaval follows Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s sweeping restructuring and downsizing of the Atlanta-based agency. Public health veterans see a leadership crisis fueled by staff losses, budget cuts and political interference. Tensions peaked when the White House ousted Director Susan Monarez, prompting top resignations. Even before her firing, organizations had begun taking on roles once central to CDC: issuing vaccine guidance, sharing data and maintaining health tracking. Experts warn, though, such efforts lack federal resources.

FILE - The campus of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is seen in Atlanta, on Wednesday, June 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File)

HHS moves to strip thousands of federal health workers of union rights

August 22, 2025

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has moved to strip thousands of federal health agency employees of their collective bargaining rights. HHS officials confirmed Friday that the agency is ending union recognition for many employees. It’s the latest move by the Trump administration to end collective bargaining with federal employee unions. Previously affected agencies include the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Environmental Protection Agency. The American Federation of Government Employees argues that strong union contracts support a stable workforce, especially in public health emergencies.

CORRECTS THAT OFFICER WAS KILLED, NOT WOUNDED - A memorial is seen in the aftermath of a shooting near the CDC where DeKalb County Police Officer David Rose was killed while responding, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Georgia man may have tried to enter CDC campus two days before he attacked agency

August 21, 2025

An internal CDC email reveals that the Georgia man who shot at CDC buildings on Aug. 8 likely tried to enter the campus two days earlier. Security video suggests Patrick Joseph White attempted entry on Aug. 6 but was turned away. The email, viewed by The Associated Press, states that law enforcement believes it was White. White blamed the COVID-19 vaccine for his depression. He killed a police officer and fired over 180 shots before killing himself. No one at CDC was injured. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation says its investigation is ongoing.

At least 600 CDC employees are getting final termination notices, union says

August 20, 2025

At least 600 employees of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are receiving permanent termination notices. The notes come in the wake of a recent court decision that protected some CDC employees from layoffs but not others. Many have been on administrative leave since the U.S. Health and Human Services Department sent layoff notices to thousands of employees at federal health agencies in April. But now, according to a union that represents CDC employees, at least 600 have been fired. The permanent cuts include about 100 people who worked in violence prevention.

This electron microscope image provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows Vibrio vulnificus bacteria in 2005. (Janice Haney Carr/CDC via AP)

How to protect yourself from Vibrio vulnificus, the bacteria found in some coastal waters

August 20, 2025

States are warning beachgoers about a summertime surge in infections from a frightening, flesh-eating bacteria found in coastal waters. Vibrio vulnificus are becoming an annual threat along the Gulf Coast and — increasingly — up the Eastern Seaboard. Vibrio bacteria thrive in seawater and in the mix of fresh and saltwater found in estuaries and lagoons. Most infections are reported from May to October. Some people become infected by eating eat raw or undercooked shellfish — particularly oysters. But a large percentage fall ill when the person is in ocean or brackish water and the bacteria enter the body through small breaks in the skin.

FILE - A pharmacist holds a Pfizer and BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine shot on Thursday, April 24, 2025, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)

US pediatricians’ new COVID-19 shot recommendations differ from CDC advice

August 18, 2025

For the first time in 30 years, the American Academy of Pediatrics is substantially diverging from U.S. government vaccine recommendations. The group’s new COVID-19 recommendations were released Tuesday. They come amid a tumultuous year for public health, as vaccine skeptics have come into power in the new Trump administration and government guidance has become increasingly confusing. The AAP is strongly recommending COVID-19 shots for children ages 6 months to 2 years. Guidance established under U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. doesn’t recommend the shots for healthy children of any age but says kids may get the shots in consultation with physicians.

FILE - A sign outside the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention campus in Atlanta is seen as a meeting of the Advisory Committee in Immunization Practices takes place on Wednesday, June 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File)

AMA and other medical associations are kicked out of CDC vaccine workgroups

August 4, 2025

U.S. health officials have told more than a half-dozen of the nation’s top medical organizations that they will no longer help establish vaccination recommendations. The government told the organizations on Thursday via email that their experts are being disinvited from the workgroups that have been the backbone of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. The organizations include the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Infectious Diseases Society of America. Several of the organizations issued a statement asking the administration to reconsider, saying it was irresponsible to remove them from the process.

Secretary of Health & Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks alongside U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, during a ceremony announcing that major U.S. ice cream makers will phase out artificial colors by the end of 2027, at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Monday, July 14, 2025 in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Ousted vaccine panel members say rigorous science is being abandoned

July 30, 2025

Seventeen experts ousted from a U.S. vaccine committee are expressing little faith in what the panel has become. U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, accusing them of being too aligned with manufacturers. He replaced them with a smaller group that includes several vaccine skeptics. In a commentary published Wednesday, the ousted members criticize Kennedy and the new panel for abandoning rigorous scientific review. They propose alternative ways to maintain sound vaccine recommendations, such as involving professional organizations.

FILE - The toes of a baby are seen at a hospital in McAllen, Texas, on Wednesday, July 29, 2020. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

The US fertility rate reached a new low in 2024, CDC data shows

July 23, 2025

New federal data shows the fertility rate in the U.S. dropped to an all-time low in 2024 with less than 1.6 kids per woman. The U.S. was once among only a few developed countries with a fertility rate that ensured each generation had enough children to replace itself, which is about 2.1 kids per woman. But it has been sliding in America for close to two decades with more women waiting longer to have children or never taking that step at all. One expert says there’s no reason to be alarmed because there are still more births than deaths in the U.S.

FILE - Dr. Henry Heimlich describes the maneuver he developed to help clear obstructions from the windpipes of choking victims, during an interview in his home in Cincinnati on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2014. (AP Photo/Al Behrman, File)

More elderly Americans are choking to death. Are these devices the answer?

July 14, 2025

Each year, choking claims the lives of more than 4,100 Americans who are 65 or older. It’s the most vulnerable age group, accounting for about three-quarters of U.S. choking deaths. A number of companies are marketing antichoking devices to the elderly. They vary in design, but generally the devices look like a face mask attached to a tube or bellows, with a handle at the end. Medical professionals have been debating whether to endorse the products, saying more research is needed. Experts — and even antichoking device manufacturers — say that back blows and abdominal thrusts should always be tried first.

FILE - Robert F. Kennedy Jr., speaks before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at a campaign event Nov. 1, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash, File)

Doctors and public health organizations sue Kennedy over vaccine policy change

July 7, 2025

Doctors groups and public health organizations are suing the U.S. government over the decision to stop recommending COVID-19 vaccinations for most children and pregnant women. The plaintiffs include the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Public Health Association — along with an unnamed pregnant doctor who works in a hospital. The federal lawsuit was filed in Boston. in late May, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced he was removing COVID-19 shots from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendations for healthy children and pregnant women. A number of health experts accused Kennedy of disregarding the scientific review process that has been in place for decades. HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon says Kennedy “stands by his CDC reforms.”

FILE - A woman uses a walker as she heads to her room at a senior care home in Calistoga, Calif., on Dec. 5, 2019. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)

Older adults in the US are increasingly dying from unintentional falls

June 17, 2025

Older U.S. adults are increasingly dying from unintentional falls, and white people account for the vast majority of the deaths. That’s according to a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that was published Wednesday. More than 41,000 retirement-age Americans died of falls in 2023. From 2003 to 2023, death rates from falls rose more than 70% for adults ages 65 to 74. The rate increased more than 75% for people 75 to 84, and more than doubled for seniors 85 and older. The CDC researchers did not try to answer why death rates from falls are increasing.

FILE - Robert Kennedy Jr., center, President-elect Donald Trump's pick to lead the Health and Human Services Department, walks between meetings with senators on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

Dismissed members of CDC vaccine committee call Kennedy’s actions ‘destabilizing’

June 16, 2025

The 17 experts recently dismissed from a government vaccine advisory panel say Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is making “destabilizing decisions” that could lead to more preventable disease spread. Kennedy last week announced he would “retire” the influential panel that guides U.S. vaccine policy the panel. Two days later, he named eight new people to it. The former panelists all signed onto a commentary published Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Kennedy, a leading voice in the anti-vaccine movement before becoming the U.S. government’s top health official, has accused the committee of being too closely aligned with vaccine manufacturers and of rubber-stamping vaccines.

FILE - A sign stands at an entrance to the main campus of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia, Feb. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Amy, File)

Hundreds of laid-off CDC employees are being reinstated

June 11, 2025

More than 460 laid-off employees at the nation’s top public health agency are being reinstated. That’s according to a union representing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention workers. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services confirmed reinstatement notices went out, but provided few details. About 2,400 CDC employees lost their jobs in a wave of cuts across federal health agencies in early April. Whole CDC programs were essentially shut down. An estimated 200 of the reinstated workers are based in a CDC center focused on sexually transmitted diseases. Also reinstated were dozens of employees at the CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health.

FILE - Health department staff members enter the Andrews County Health Department measles clinic carrying doses of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, Tuesday, April 8, 2025, in Andrews, Texas. (AP Photo/Annie Rice, File)

All international travelers should get measles vaccinations, CDC says

June 2, 2025

U.S. health officials have changed their advice to international travelers about measles, saying Americans should be vaccinated against the disease no matter where they travel in the world. U.S. residents are recommended to get measles-mumps-rubella shots, anyway. But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention previously emphasized the importance of vaccination for travelers going to countries with outbreaks. Last week, the CDC updated its guidance to call for vaccinations for travelers going to any other country at all. One expert says the agency is acknowledging that travel itself can lead to measles exposures.

MIKE STOBBE Medical Writer.