Centers for Disease Control and Prevention scientists were blocked from issuing an urgent warning to clinicians about the risks of measles during pregnancy, according to The Washington Post, days before the seventh preventable measles death was reported. The scientists sought to share guidance through the CDC Health Alert Network, but the CDC director’s office did not grant the required approval, officials told the newspaper.
CDC scientists blocked from issuing measles warning
The Washington Post reported that expert scientists at the CDC, which is overseen by Secretary Kennedy, were prevented from sending clinicians an urgent health warning about managing measles cases and the risks of infection during pregnancy.
Because earlier vaccines and vaccination campaigns had been so effective, many clinicians have never encountered a measles infection during pregnancy in their careers. The infection can pose a serious, potentially life-threatening risk to both the pregnant woman and the fetus. CDC scientists therefore sought to distribute an advisory through the agency’s Health Alert Network.
Officials told the Post that the CDC director’s office refused to provide the approval needed to issue the alert. The scientists then tried to publish the information in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, or MMWR. However, the publication’s peer-review process takes longer than the process for issuing recommendations. The Post also reported that vaccine-related studies already approved for publication in MMWR have been moving unusually slowly.
Scientists are now considering releasing the information outside the agency to avoid what the Post described as complicated approval procedures.
HHS response
In a statement emailed to Ars Technica after publication, a Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson said that “Secretary Kennedy and CDC Director Dr. Erica Schwartz remain clear that the MMR vaccine is the most effective way to prevent measles.”
Responding to the Post report, the spokesperson said the CDC is closely tracking measles and is “guiding physicians and public health officials to protect mothers and children.” Information about measles, the spokesperson added, “goes through CDC’s scientific review and approval process, which informs publication decisions and timing.”
Source: arstechnica.com
