Measles risk: A Sun-Times analysis found less than half of Chicago Public Schools are at a 95% measles vaccination rate, which is the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s benchmark for herd immunity. [Chicago Sun-Times]

Cases reported: At least six measles cases in Illinois have been confirmed amid worsening outbreaks in Texas and New Mexico. More than 900 cases have been reported across 30 states.

Sharp drop: Before the COVID-19 pandemic, 97% of CPS students overall were vaccinated against measles, one of eight vaccinations required by the state. As of the 2024-25 school year, that percentage has fallen to 93%, according to state data.

Troublesome trends: About 45% of CPS' 644 elementary schools, high schools and charter schools have vaccination rates at or above 95% this year. That’s down from the rate in 2019, the year before the pandemic, when 90% of schools were at herd immunity.

Key context: The CDC says a vaccination rate of 95% provides communitywide immunity and protects vulnerable students, like younger children who have yet to complete the required series of shots or kids with weakened immune systems.

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U.S. News & World Report released its annual Best States rankings May 6, and Hawaii took the top spot for healthcare. [Becker's Hospital Review and US News & World Report]

For the rankings, the media company examined the performance of 50 states using 71 metrics across eight categories: natural environment, crime and corrections, healthcare, education, economy, infrastructure, fiscal stability, and opportunity. 

U.S. News rankings in the healthcare category are based on data from the CDC, CMS and other sources reflecting healthcare access, healthcare quality and public health outcomes. Metrics ranged from child wellness visits to adult obesity rate. More information on the methodology is available here.

Hint: Illinois is not listed on any of the lists- that's good and bad.

The best states for healthcare:

1. Hawaii

2. Massachusetts

3. Connecticut

4. Rhode Island

5. New Jersey

6. Maryland

7. California

8. New York

9. Colorado

10. Delaware

The worst states for healthcare:

1. Mississippi

2. West Virginia

3. Oklahoma

4. Arkansas

5. South Dakota

6. Kentucky

7. Louisiana 

8. Missouri

9. Montana 

10. Tennessee

U.S. News also ranked states by the following healthcare subcategories.

The top five states for healthcare access:

1. Massachusetts

2. Connecticut

3. Rhode Island

4. Hawaii 

5. Vermont

The bottom five states for healthcare access:

1. Mississippi

2. Alaska

3. Wyoming 

4. Nevada 

5. Oklahoma

The top five states for healthcare quality:

1. Hawaii

2. Alaska

3. Arizona

4. California

5. Delaware

The bottom five states for healthcare quality:

1. Mississippi

2. West Virginia

3. South Dakota

4. Kentucky

5. Oklahoma

The top five states for public health:

1. New Jersey

2. New York

3. Massachusetts

4. California

5. Connecticut

The bottom five states for public health:

1. West Virginia

2. Arkansas

3. Mississippi

4. Tennessee

5. Oklahoma

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Getting a shingles vaccine may help with more than the viral infection that causes painful rashes — new research shows it can also lower the risk of heart disease. [CBS News]

In a study, published Monday in the European Heart Journal, researchers found people given the shot had a 23% lower risk of cardiovascular events, including stroke, heart failure and coronary heart disease, for up to 8 years. 

The study examined more than 1 million people aged 50 or older with data from 2012 onward. The protective effect was particularly prominent in men, people under 60 and those who smoke, drink or aren't active, the study found. 

More>

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More U.S. children have died this flu season than at any time since the swine flu pandemic 15 years ago, according to a federal report released Friday. [AP] 

The 216 pediatric deaths reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention eclipse the 207 reported last year. It’s the most since the 2009-2010 H1N1 global flu pandemic.

It’s a startlingly high number, given that the flu season is still going on. The final pediatric death tally for the 2023-2024 flu season wasn’t counted until autumn.

“This number that we have now is almost certainly an undercount, and one that — when the season is declared over, and they compile all the data — it’s almost certain to go up,” said Dr. Sean O’Leary, of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

There are likely several contributors to this season’s severity, but a big one is that fewer children are getting flu shots, added O’Leary, a University of Colorado pediatric infectious diseases specialist.

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When a converted Kenwood hotel opened its doors to migrants in the summer of 2023, officials who announced the news received vociferous pushback from residents. [Chicago Tribune]

They had numerous concerns about the shelter at 4900 S. DuSable Lake Shore Drive: whether migrants would be vaccinated and fingerprinted; how their children would be educated; the food they would eat. And many wanted to know what Chicago was doing for the large and growing homeless population that predated the migrants’ arrival.

Almost three years later, buses sent by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott have stopped arriving from the more closely surveilled southern border. The city has closed down most of the facilities it scrambled to stand up to meet waves of asylum-seekers, mostly from Venezuela. Thousands have transitioned to permanent housing. Police stations, once overflowing with newly arrived people, are empty.

What remains is a new, merged shelter network officials have dubbed the One System Initiative, which houses anyone, from anywhere, who doesn’t have a place to go. The city and state were running 28 migrant-exclusive facilities at the peak of arrivals in January of last year, according to city census data. They have collaborated with nonprofits to run 51 total sites across the system, city officials said.

Read more>

Join IOMC to learn more about its efforts with the "unsheltered and social determinants of health" at the upcoming 110th Anniversary - 2025 Leadership Awards & Annual Meeting on June 26, 2025, 5:00 PM CT - 8:00 PM CT. Be part of the movement!

Keynote Speaker: Dr. David A. Ansell, MD, MPH, Health equity advocate for over 35 years, Chicago physician, social epidemiologist, senior leader, and author. Live music, networking, dinner, and awards! Recognizing 2024-2025 Board of Governors and introducing 2025-2026 Board of Governors. More details and to register>

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Public health officials confirmed the first two cases of measles in Cook County this year Wednesday — as the illness continues to spread across the country. [Chicago Tribune]

One case is in a suburban Cook County adult resident whose vaccination status is unknown. The other case is in a Chicago adult resident who traveled internationally through O’Hare International Airport in early April, who previously had one dose of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, according to a news release from the Cook County, Chicago and Illinois departments of public health.

The suburban Cook County resident went to a hospital for medical care Monday and was quickly isolated, according to health officials. The Chicago resident developed a rash April 25 and has been isolating at home since being diagnosed.

Health officials are warning that people who were at the following locations on the following dates may have been exposed:

• April 21: Chicago Public Library – Independence Branch, 4024 N. Elston Ave., Chicago
• April 21: Fittingly Delicious, 3939 W. Irving Park Road, Chicago
• April 22: O’Hare Airport, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., especially in Terminal 1
• April 23: O’Hare Airport, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., especially in Terminal 1
• April 25: Aldi, 7235 39th St., Lyons, from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
• April 27:  Shell, 3901 S. Harlem Ave., Stickney, from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
• April 28: Mobil: 2945 S. Harlem Ave., Berwyn, from 10:20 a.m. to 1 p.m.

More>

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More U.S. women died around the time of childbirth last year, reversing 2 years of decline, according to provisional data posted Wednesday. [MedPage Today]

The CDC said 688 people died last year during pregnancy or shortly after giving birth. That's up from 669 deaths in 2023, but down from 2022 and 2021, when it was the highest level in more than 50 years.

The maternal mortality rate rose to 19 deaths per 100,000 live births, up from 18.6 the year before.

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CHICAGO — A clinical trial run by the National Cancer Institute seems to confirm that a single dose of the vaccine used to prevent infection with the human papilloma virus is just as effective as two — and, therefore, also helps to prevent cancer. [STAT & KFF Health News] 

The result could transform efforts to reach the three-quarters of children globally who should receive the vaccines but don’t. The shots prevent cervical cancer and also anal, penile, and some head-and-neck cancers. Worldwide, 350,000 women die from cervical cancer, the most common HPV cancer.

More>

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Based on estimates from this modeling study, declining childhood vaccination rates will increase the frequency and size of outbreaks of previously eliminated vaccine-preventable infections, eventually leading to their return to endemic levels. The timing and critical threshold for returning to endemicity will differ substantially by disease, with measles likely to be the first to return to endemic levels and may occur even under current vaccination levels without improved vaccine coverage and public health response. These findings support the need to continue routine childhood vaccination at high coverage to prevent resurgence of vaccine-preventable infectious diseases in the US. [JAMA]

Full details here>

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• US could see return to high levels of measles spread as vaccination rates fall
• So far this year, measles cases are up 180% over full-year 2024, CDC reported
• US outbreak already is second highest in 25 years, CDC reported. [KFF Health News and CDC]

April 24 (Reuters) - The United States is at a tipping point for the return of endemic measles a quarter century after the disease was declared eradicated in the country, researchers warned on Thursday.

At current U.S. childhood vaccination rates, measles could return to spreading regularly at high levels, with an estimated 851,300 cases over the next 25 years, computer models used by the researchers suggest.

If rates of vaccination with the measles-mumps-rubella, or MMR, shot were to decline by 10%, an estimated 11.1 million cases of measles would result over 25 years, according to a report of the study in JAMA,

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