Pennsylvania's measles outbreak is now the largest in the United States this year. The state Department of Health reported 792 confirmed cases across 39 counties as of September 21, and local reports said about 55 more cases were confirmed in the three days to September 26. Lancaster County, home to one of the country's largest plain communities, accounts for 185 cases. Officials have linked at least two deaths to the outbreak, Pennsylvania's first measles deaths in 35 years and the first US measles fatalities of 2026. Demand for the MMR vaccine has jumped sharply, with more than 46,000 doses given in August against a typical 25,000.
A study of more than 72,000 adults aged 60 and over found that those who received the recombinant shingles vaccine Shingrix had a 9% lower burden of cardiovascular disease over seven years than those who received the older live-virus vaccine. Heart failure risk was 12% lower and ischemic heart disease 10% lower. Oxford researchers used the US switch between the two vaccines in late 2017 as a natural experiment. The findings are observational, and a randomised trial in Denmark is expected to report in 2027. Public health agencies currently recommend shingles vaccination by age and immune status rather than by heart risk.
A study of more than 95,000 adults in the UK Biobank found that people who spent more time in REM sleep had a lower risk of 83 diseases, including heart failure, dementia, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and multiple sclerosis. Participants wore wrist monitors for seven days and nights, and researchers then followed their health records for about nine years against more than 1,000 conditions. The work, led by researchers at Peking University, was published in PLOS Medicine. It is observational, so it shows an association rather than proof that REM sleep prevents disease.
A study in Nature Medicine used a natural experiment created by the US switch from the live shingles vaccine to the recombinant one. Researchers matched 36,460 adults aged 60 and over vaccinated in 2018, when 93.5% received the recombinant shot, with the same number vaccinated in 2017, when 98.6% received the live vaccine. Over up to seven years the recombinant group had a 9% lower overall cardiovascular disease burden, with heart failure 12% lower and ischemic heart disease 10% lower. The link weakened over time, and the study cannot prove cause and effect.
A study published on September 21 finds that chronic inflammation, the low-grade kind tied to stress, lifestyle, mental health and socioeconomic conditions, may change the heart long before symptoms appear. People with the highest inflammation levels faced a 43% greater risk of heart attack and related cardiac events, which suggests risk builds quietly over years rather than starting on the day a patient reaches an emergency room. The work lands alongside other findings this month: eight common preservatives in processed foods were linked to higher rates of high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease, and a review of more than 153,000 adults found calcium and vitamin D supplements do little to prevent fractures or falls.
Pennsylvania's health department has requested emergency CDC support, known as an Epi-Aid, for one of the largest and deadliest measles outbreaks in the United States, on the condition that the agency recognises four measles-associated deaths reported by the state. Secretary of health Debra Bogen made the request in a letter to CDC director Erica Schwartz, according to a document reviewed by Reuters. The move deepens a dispute with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who along with Schwartz has blamed Governor Josh Shapiro for not accepting earlier federal offers of help. Epi-Aid teams typically help with case finding, contact tracing and vaccination outreach.
A new generation of pTau217 blood tests is changing how Alzheimer's disease is detected. The FDA cleared Roche and Eli Lilly's Elecsys pTau217 plasma test as the first single-biomarker assay that can both rule in and rule out amyloid pathology in adults aged 55 and older, and Fujirebio's Lumipulse G pTau217 ratio test came first. Both measure proteins in blood instead of relying on PET scans or lumbar punctures, which are costly and hard to access. Researchers estimate about 75 percent of people with dementia remain undiagnosed. A JAMA viewpoint warns that wider testing carries risks, including unnecessary treatment and unclear use in primary care.
The CDC has not published new COVID-19 or RSV recommendations for the 2026-2027 season and has carried over last year's flu guidance, so four medical groups have issued their own advice. The American Academy of Pediatrics covered children, the American Academy of Family Physicians covered adults, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists covered pregnant people, and the Infectious Diseases Society of America covered patients with weakened immune systems. All four recommend a flu shot for everyone six months and older, and their COVID-19 and RSV advice varies by age and risk.
Medicare has launched a pilot program meant to make GLP-1 weight-loss drugs easier to obtain, with some seniors paying as little as $50 a month. But KFF Health News reports that many patients with the most serious illnesses do not qualify for the discount and face full retail prices instead. One patient, Jeff La Marca, received a prescription for Zepbound in January but could not afford the $750 monthly cost. Medicare has long been barred from covering drugs used for weight loss, so the pilot works through narrow criteria, and doctors say patients with similar conditions can end up with very different bills.
Eating-disorder specialists are calling for screening before patients start GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, warning that appetite suppression and delayed gastric emptying can harm people with restrictive eating patterns. Guidance from the National Eating Disorders Association says the drugs can be harmful when inadequately monitored, when prescribed by clinicians without eating-disorder expertise, or when weight loss is driven by weight stigma. Clinicians writing on the topic say GLP-1s should not be used in active restrictive eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa or ARFID, and should be used cautiously in bulimia and binge-eating disorder. A 2026 JAMA Psychiatry study flagged misuse of the drugs to sustain rapid restriction.