vaccines

Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital Dr. Peter Hotez shares his thoughts on changes to the U.S. childhood vaccine schedule. He also offers advice on where parents can go for credible guidance on whether and when to get their children vaccinated.

From announcing then backtracking on a cause for autism to slashing federal public health funding to changing childhood vaccine recommendations, the appointment of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services triggered an earthquake of change in U.S. public health policy. Infectious diseases doctor Peter Hotez, MD, PhD, assesses the still rattling landscape with TPR's Bonnie Petrie.

NPR's Rob Stein explains why covering vaccines is no longer routine science journalism, but a political battleground.

This week on Texas Matters: How community organizers beat the city of Corpus Christi and Big industry to stop ocean desalination. And the CDC advisory panel on vaccines recommends restricting access to the MMRV vaccine. What would that have meant for the Texas measles outbreak?

Malaria kills more than half a million people a year, and an effective vaccine has been elusive. But a San Antonio malaria researcher and her team have discovered a vulnerability in the malaria parasite's method of avoiding the human immune system that may make all the difference.

In an interview about the new book he co-authored, Science Under Siege, Hotez talks about forces driving the anti-science movement, the risks it poses — and why he won't debate RFK Jr.

Texas is now making it easier for parents to exempt their children from school vaccination requirements. This comes just after the state saw the worst measles outbreak in a generation that took the lives of two children. Meanwhile Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is limiting eligibility for the covid vaccine—just as the virus is spreading once again.

As federal health agencies change their approach to vaccine policy leaving access for COVID shots uncertain, some states are taking things into their own hands.

In Texas, wastewater viral activity for COVID-19 is 'Very High,' according to the CDC.

The number of cases tied to the months-long measles outbreak in Texas has not increased in three weeks, and a spokesman for the Department of State Health Services said, "It appears the height of the measles outbreak is behind us."