Reader response
Myron Yaster MD
From Howard Zucker MD
Just a quick update on measles from the CDC website (January 30, 2026)
As of last week, the case numbers have risen again, and there are now 588 cases since the beginning of 2026, with 585 linked to outbreaks in 17 states. The other 3 cases were identified in individuals who arrived in the US but contracted measles overseas.
Of the confirmed cases (550 out of 588), 94% are outbreak-associated. Sadly, there have already been 8 new outbreaks in the United States in the last 4 weeks!
This is frightening! If we continue at this pace, there will be over 6000 cases by the end of the year. As mentioned the other day, between Jan 1, 2020 to March 28, 2024 (MMWR), there were only 338 US cases (approximately 7 cases per month), and 29% of those cases occurred in the first three months of 2024. In essence, we are experiencing an 8000+% increase in measles cases in January 2026, from what we saw, on average, in 2020 through 2023.
From Myron
I highly recommend this opinion article in the Washington Post (02/06/2026) from Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a former commissioner of the US FDA:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/02/06/viruses-vaccines-ebv-lymphoma-measles-fda-commissioner/
This article describes his personal journey with lymphoma which was the result of an Ebstein-Barr virus infection during his youth. EB virus which causes infectious mononucleosis, which infects 1 in 4 teenagers and young adults. Long considered a rite of passage it has terrible consequences in some patients. As Dr. Gottlieb points out: “For most people, an encounter with a virus ends without an obvious consequence; but for a less fortunate subset — perhaps larger than we once assumed — the bout can leave lasting remnants that are anything but benign. For me, at some point, Epstein-Barr virus appears to have set in motion a cascade of events in my body that interacted with a genetic vulnerability I must have harbored. That process triggered a series of changes that transformed a single blood cell into a malignant one, and eventually a mass large enough for me to feel.” Unfortunately, reseach into a vaccine has been scuttled by the current administration.
From Priti Dalal MD, Chair, Society for Pediatric Anesthesia’s Quality and Safety (QS) Committee
Many QS members have showed interest in knowing pediatric anesthesiologists’ approach to the important topic of maternal Venezualan ancestry and Anesthesia currently. This is an evolving topic and folks are interested in knowing how other QS members are addressing the issue.
Since there are multiple questions, and not all could be covered in the QS poll, we have created a very informal survey. This will take 2 min to fill out. Thank you for your time!
Please see link below