kristenshamus.bsky.social
Detroit Free Press journalist covering public health, medicine and health care. Hockey mom, science nerd, politics junkie, and Michigander by way of upstate New York. Syracuse University alum.
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I was born in the ‘70s, when 1 MMR dose was considered fully vaxxed. I didn’t recall whether I got a boost in ‘89, when the CDC said 2 doses were needed for immunity. I went to my local health department when Oakland Co. had an outbreak in 2019, and no titer check was needed. I got another dose.
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Many of us do. Short memories, misinformation, and fear, I think, drives the rest toward anti-vaccine sentiment.
It becomes an enormous public health problem when the number of those who don't believe in vaccination swell to the levels we're seeing now. It puts us all at risk.
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I wrote this in 2019, during a Michigan outbreak, but the advice remains true: Check your immunity, especially if you're in an oubreak area.
In 2024, 40% of people who got measles in the U.S. were hospitalized. At least 1 died this year.
It's not worth not knowing. Make sure you're protected.
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If you don’t have an immunization record that shows you got 2 doses, ask your doctor to draw a blood sample and check titers to ensure immunity.
Your doc might just suggest getting another dose of the MMR vaccine even if your titers aren’t checked just to ensure you’re boosted and protected.
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Here’s why: In the '80s, the CDC realized a single dose didn’t confer as much immunity as 2. It changed its MMR guidelines in 1989, recommending 2 doses.
If you were born from '57-'89, there is a chance you missed that important second booster and are not as protected in an outbreak setting.
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Wow! That is a concern! We all would probably benefit from checking titers!
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There was a window of time when children were considered fully vaxxed with 1 dose of the MMR vaccine. In 1989, the recommendation changed, and the CDC said 2 doses were needed for lasting immunity. Many Gen Xers are more vulnerable than they think to measles. It’s smart to get a booster.
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He promised “swift and unrelenting action” to carry out his vision for America, which includes reciprocal tariffs, closed borders, the destruction of diversity, equity and inclusion from all federal programs, and transphobic policies.
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Trump pledges: “My fellow Americans, get ready for an incredible future, because the golden age of America has only just begun. It will be like nothing that has ever been seen before.”
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After a disastrous meeting just a few days ago in the Oval Office with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that ended with Trump pausing aid to the war-torn country, Trump said: “We're getting along very well with them, and lots of good things are happening.”
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Trump repeats his intent to reclaim the Panama Canal for the U.S. and annex Greenland.
“We need Greenland for national security and even international security,“ he said, adding, “I think we're going to get it one way or the other.”
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“We are also going to resurrect the American ship-building industry, including commercial ship building and military shipbuilding,” Trump says.
He announces a new federal office: the “Office of Ship Building in the White House and will offer tax incentives to “bring this industry home to America.”
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Trump promises to “protect our children from toxic ideologies in our schools,” calling support for trans students “a form of child abuse.”
He lauds his order to cut federal funding to any institution that provides sex reassignment surgeries on kids and says he will criminalize them.
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Trump introduces HHS Sec. RFK Jr., and says his goal is to “get toxins out of our environment, poisons out of our food supply, and keep our children healthy and strong.”
He says discovering the cause of rising rates of autism as among Kennedy’s top priorities.
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Trump says illegal immigrants are criminals overwhelming towns like Springfield, Ohio, which “buckled under the weight of the migrant occupation and corruption.”
The city of Springfield says Haitian immigrants are here legally, and are “more likely to be the victims of crime than … perpetrators.”
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This is to begin less than a month after the Trump admin began levying 25% tariffs on most products imported from Canada and Mexico and levying an additional 10% on Chinese imports.
Stock markets in the U.S. and Europe fell today because of uncertainty about the global economy due to the tariffs.
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“Other countries have used tariffs against us for decades, and now it's our turn to start using them against those other countries,” Trump says.
Starting April 2, the U.S. will begin reciprocal tariffs against countries that impose tariffs on the U.S.
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In what’s likely a reference to the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, which was won by former President Joe Biden, though Trump has repeatedly denied it, he said:
“We are draining the swamp. It's very simple, and the days of rule by unelected bureaucrats are over.”
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Trump praised Elon Musk’s DOGE for uncovering “shocking levels of incompetence and probable fraud” in Social Security, along with:
-$22 billion spent on housing and cars for illegal immigrants.
-$45 billion for DEI scholarships in Burma.
-$20 million for Arab Sesame Street in the Middle East.
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Trump says he is leading a “common sense revolution” that’s sweeping the world.
He mentions he has renamed the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America,” and renamed Alaska’s famed Denali, calling it Mount McKinley again and will “rescue the economy” by reopening power plants and drilling.
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Trump called diversity, equity and inclusion policies “tyranny,” saying, “Our country will be woke no longer.”
“We believe that whether you are a doctor, an accountant, a lawyer or an air traffic control, you should be hired and promoted based on skill and confidence, not race or gender.”
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“You know who number two is?” Trump says. “George Washington. How about that?”
He lauds his freeze on fed. hiring, foreign aid and new fed. regulations, along with:
-Withdrawal from Paris Climate Accord
-Withdrawal from WHO
-Ending the Green New Deal
-Withdrawing from UN Human Rights Council
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Lastly, a PSA: If you’re 45 or older, ask your doctor to screen you for colon cancer.
As Elissa would say, “Check your colon.”
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The promise of this technology is inestimable for people with cancer. If they can find a way to consistently elicit the abscopal response, the implications are enormous. But it’s going to take ongoing research — and federal funding for that research — to get there.
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Thank you, Kara. It’s hard to describe how much it meant to me to be trusted with a story of this enormity. Elissa is incredibly courageous, and Dr. Mishal Mendiratta-Lala and Prof. Zhen Xu were so gracious with their time and willingness to work with us. 1/2
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Thanks so much for posting this, Chris. More research is needed to understand what triggers the abscopal response in some patients who undergo histotripsy but not in others. That research needs funding. Real people’s lives hang in the balance when the federal government cuts NIH funding like this.
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Thanks so much for taking the time to talk with me about this important issue and for sharing your knowledge and insight. I may reach out again as the situation unfolds.