(Reuters) – U.S. vaccine advisers will vote this week on a proposal to drop recommendations for using the combined measles shot for children, putting a topic of concern to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. high on the public health agenda.
Kennedy, who has a long history of sowing doubt over the safety of vaccines, contrary to scientific evidence, has widely promoted the idea that vaccines combining shots against measles, mumps and rubella, as well as varicella (MMRV), are linked to autism.
Repeated scientific studies have disproved both assertions.
The panel, known as the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), will vote on a proposal that the combined MMRV vaccine given before age 4 years is not recommended at its meeting scheduled for September 18-19, according to a draft agenda on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website on Wednesday.
The meeting comes after Kennedy abruptly fired all 17 ACIP members in June and named eight new advisers, including several who had advocated against vaccines.
Since taking the role of top U.S. health official under the administration of President Donald Trump, Kennedy has begun vaccine policies for the American public. He recently asked for a review of all data, including for the measles shot, by far the best way to prevent infection with the highly contagious and sometimes deadly virus.
For children under the age of four, the CDC currently recommends that most receive a first dose of an MMR vaccine and a separate varicella shot. For the second dose, and for children over four, the CDC says the MMRV vaccine is generally preferred over separate shots.
This year, the U.S. reported more measles cases than in any year in more than three decades, with 1,454 confirmed measles cases nationwide as of September 9.
Combination vaccines to prevent infection with measles, mumps and rubella viruses are marketed in the United States by Merck, and GSK. Merck also sells the ProQuad shot that includes protection against those three viruses and varicella.
(Reporting by Gursimran Kaur and Sriparna Roy ; Editing by Jacqueline Wong, Miyoung Kim and Saad Sayeed)
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