MIKE STOBBE Medical Writer, Author at The Rapid City Post

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.

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

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

Doctors and public health organizations sue Kennedy over vaccine policy change

Older adults in the US are increasingly dying from unintentional falls

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

Hundreds of laid-off CDC employees are being reinstated

All international travelers should get measles vaccinations, CDC says

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