vaccines

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."

There are no new confirmed measles cases to report in Texas this week, according to the state, but Austin's health department has detected the measles virus in wastewater.

The Texas Department of State Health Services has reported no new measles cases linked to the West Texas outbreak this week.

If you're a parent, decisions about vaccines have gotten a lot more confusing recently. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.'s health department is walking back longstanding recommendations. NPR's Pien Huang speaks with a pediatrician and a vaccine researcher to discuss how the changes may affect public health - and how frontline conversations are going between pediatricians and families. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.nprth.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org.