The current measles outbreak has gripped US states like Texas and New Mexico leaving people worried whether it would become a new pandemic. According to the Texas Department of State Health Services as of February 21, 90 cases were diagnosed in the last month in the South Plains area, with at least 77 of them were reported in children and teens under 17.

Measles is highly contagious and can be deadly. The outbreak, which started spreading in late January, has resulted in multiple hospitalizations, with at least nine confirmed cases and three probable cases as of early February. Health officials caution that at least one in five infected individuals will have to be hospitalized, highlighting the severity of the situation.

Misinformation surrounding vaccines and with the new Trump administration anti-vaccine campaigs, has causing parents to hesitate or refuse vaccination.

Furthermore, the country down under Australia is also witnessing a surge in measles cases as health officials in Sydney have issued an urgent alert, urging residents to watch for measles symptoms after an infected individual visited several places in Sydney over the last seven days.

Authorities report that the traveller had returned from South East Asia where there are ongoing outbreaks of measles.

What Are The Symptoms Measles?

Key symptoms of measles include fever, a runny nose, sore eyes, and a cough. Typically, a red, blotchy rash appears three to four days later, spreading from the head down to the body. Symptoms can manifest between 7 and 18 days after exposure.

Anyone who experiences these symptoms after potential exposure should immediately contact their doctor or emergency department. It is crucial to call ahead before visiting to avoid potentially exposing others in the waiting room. Dr. Selvey also highlighted that ongoing measles outbreaks are occurring in various parts of the world, making awareness and prompt action essential.

Why It Is Important To Get Vaccinated?

According to CDC everyone should get the MMR vaccine. It protects you from measles, mumps, and rubella. Getting vaccinated helps stop these diseases from spreading. There are two safe MMR vaccines available. They work the same way, so it doesn't matter which one you get. Kids can also get a shot that protects against chickenpox too, but this is only for children.

Who Should Get Vaccinated?

Kids Need Two Shots

All children should get two MMR shots. The first shot should be given when they are between 12 and 15 months old. The second shot should be given when they are between 4 and 6 years old. If needed, the second shot can be given earlier, but it must be at least 28 days after the first shot.

College Students Need to Be Protected

Students going to college or other schools after high school, need two shots if they are not already immune. The shots must be at least 28 days apart.

Adults Need at Least One Shot

Most adults need at least one MMR shot. Some adults need two shots, especially those who work in healthcare, travel a lot, or go to college. These people should get two shots, with 28 days between them.

Travelers Need to Be Extra Careful

Anyone traveling to other countries should make sure they are protected. Babies 6 to 11 months old should get one shot before traveling. Kids 12 months and older, teens, and adults need two shots, with 28 days between them.

Healthcare Workers Must Be Immune

People who work in healthcare should have proof that they are immune to measles, mumps, and rubella. If they are not immune, they need two MMR shots, spaced 28 days apart.

Women Thinking About Having Babies

Women who might get pregnant should talk to their doctor about the MMR vaccine. It's safe to get the shot while breastfeeding.

Amid rising demand for surgical care, the US is expected to face a significant shortage of surgeons by 2038, according to the first unified assessment of the country’s surgical workforce.

The study, presented at the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Clinical Congress 2026, projects that the US will face a shortfall of 27,940 surgeons nationally.

This comes as demand for surgeons is projected to increase by 12.8%, while the overall surgeon workforce is expected to decline by 4.2% between 2023 and 2038. The workforce would meet just 84.3% of projected national need.

“Studies usually look at one specialty at a time, so a shortage looks like that specialty’s problem,” said lead author Fernando Ribeiro Duraes, a medical student at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.

“When you put all 10 specialties together, you can see supply is projected to fall while demand keeps rising, and that the gaps are worse in rural areas. The fixes have to be targeted by specialty and by geography, not incremental.”

Which Specialties Will Face The Biggest Shortages?

Researchers used the Health Workforce Simulation Model (HWSM), a federal model from the US Department of Health and Human Services, to analyze surgeon supply and demand across 10 surgical specialties from 2023 to 2038.

The analysis found that overall surgeon supply is projected to decline 4.2% from 2023 to 2038, while demand is expected to rise 12.8%.

The specialties projected to face the most critical shortages include:

• Vascular surgery — 65.8% of need met
• Ophthalmology — 71.8%
• Thoracic surgery — 73.1%
• Plastic surgery — 74.1%
• Urology — 84.4%
• Otolaryngology — 87.5%
• Orthopedics — 87.9%
• Neurosurgery — 88.7%

Only general surgery, at 91.3% and colorectal surgery, at 98.3%, are projected to remain close to meeting demand.

At the same time, the gaps between surgeon supply and demand are also projected to be greater in rural areas.

What Could This Mean For Patients?

For patients, surgical shortages could mean longer waits for procedures.

Patients may also need to travel farther for medical care, particularly in rural areas where some people may have to drive hours to access treatment.

The researchers said the findings point to the need for targeted workforce policies and geography-focused strategies rather than incremental changes.

Duraes pointed to a proposed bill, H.R. 3890, the Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act, as one potential response.

The bill would increase the number of residency positions, which the ACS says has not changed since 1997. It also proposes addressing federal student loan limits and expanding loan-forgiveness programmes to encourage physicians to practise in rural areas.

“The fixes have to be targeted by specialty and by geography” if they are expected to work, Duraes said.

Global Health Workforce Crisis

The US shortage projection comes amid broader concerns about health workforce shortages worldwide.

Nearly one in four doctors globally is older than 55 and could retire within the next decade, according to the World Health Organization’s National Health Workforce Accounts: Health Workforce Levels and Trends 2026.

The report, the first in an annual series providing a global picture of health workforce levels and trends, said ageing among health workers is intensifying shortages in some countries, while population ageing is simultaneously increasing demand for healthcare services.

The global health worker shortage has fallen from 20 million in 2013 to 15 million in 2020. However, newer analysis has revised the projected shortage for 2030 upward to 11.1 million, compared with an earlier estimate of about 10 million.

The Ebola outbreak, declared an emergency in May, continues to spread in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). According to the latest update from DRC health authorities, confirmed cases have surpassed 8,000, while the death toll is nearing 4,000.

The World Health Organization (WHO) warned that the outbreak remains large, geographically expanding and marked by sustained transmission.

The DRC “had recorded 8,067 confirmed cases, including 3,901 deaths, with a case fatality rate of 48.4 per cent,” according to the latest government situation report. It has spread to seven health zones.

“The continuously high case fatality ratio, and especially the continuous high rate of deaths occurring in communities, highlights the seriousness of the disease and the persistent challenges in timely case detection and access to early and adequate patient care,” the WHO said in its latest Disease Outbreak News.

However, Dr Janet Diaz of the WHO’s Health Emergencies Program told reporters in Geneva that “we are beginning to see a reduction in transmission in some areas, the number of cases remains high for this outbreak”.

Treatment Delays Remain A Concern

Dr Diaz said that although it is known that “early access to care can significantly improve chances of survival,” “Yet in this outbreak, many people are still dying at home or in their communities because they are unable to reach health facilities on time.”

“Delays in seeking care, together with challenges in access and referral, continue to complicate the response,” she said, adding that WHO and its partners have focused on improving early recognition of illness, rapid referral systems and early supportive care.

“Every patient bed requires a skilled workforce to provide safe, quality care around the clock,” Dr Diaz said.

Oxygen Access A Key Challenge

A key component of supportive care for patients with Ebola, particularly those with severe illness, is oxygen. Yet this life-saving medicine remains “unavailable or unreliable in many health facilities, especially in emergency settings”.

Ensuring access to oxygen requires functioning health systems, reliable infrastructure, trained health workers and sustainable delivery systems “that reach patients wherever they are”.

“Without previous oxygen scale-up efforts in Ebola and Marburg [virus disease] responses, we would not be where we are today in terms of more positive outcomes for patients,” she noted.

Vaccine Trials Underway

While there is currently no approved vaccine against Ebola Bundibugyo virus, vaccine trials are underway.

Clinical trials of specific vaccines and treatments against the Bundibugyo virus are also ongoing. The DRC also received more than 70,000 doses of the Ervebo vaccine last month. Ervebo is approved for protection against the more common Zaire Ebola virus.

DRC’s 17th Ebola Outbreak

The outbreak, caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus, was declared by the WHO on May 15. It is the DRC’s 17th Ebola outbreak since the virus was first identified in 1976.

It is also the second-deadliest Ebola outbreak on record, behind the West African outbreak that lasted from 2014 to 2016.

You can exercise regularly, eat reasonably well and have no obvious symptoms — yet still have plaque building up inside your arteries.

The process called atherosclerosis is often slow and silent, with symptoms appearing only after plaque significantly affects blood flow — sometimes with a heart attack or stroke.

A study published earlier this month in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) found that plaque buildup can begin decades before symptoms appear. Researchers detected atherosclerosis in many apparently healthy young adults, including those in their 20s.

Atherosclerosis Can Start Decades Before Symptoms

The NEJM study showed that signs of hidden atherosclerosis could be detected in approximately one in 13 people aged 18–29. Among those aged 60–70, nine out of 10 showed signs of atherosclerosis.

Dr. Robert Grant, St. George’s University School of Medicine, Grenada, West Indies, told HealthandMe that the most important message is that atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease often begins decades before symptoms appear. Heart attacks and strokes are usually late manifestations of a process that develops gradually over many years.

“Atherosclerosis is not exclusively a disease of older adults. Clinical complications remain predominantly diseases of older adults. The pathological process often starts much earlier than the clinical disease becomes evident," he said.

The study therefore shifts our thinking from "atherosclerosis is an old-age disease" to "atherosclerosis is a lifelong disease that becomes clinically important with advancing age," he added.

Can Exercise And A Healthy Diet Protect?

Regular exercise, a healthy diet, avoiding smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, and good sleep remain important preventive measures, said Dr. Robert.

“These habits lower LDL cholesterol, improve blood pressure, reduce inflammation, improve insulin sensitivity, and substantially reduce cardiovascular event rates," he said. “They are foundational and should not be minimized.”

However, healthy lifestyles do not guarantee the absence of atherosclerosis. Other risk factors include:

• Genetic predisposition and family history
• Elevated lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)]
• Insulin resistance or diabetes
• Previously elevated LDL levels during earlier life
• Hypertension that has gone undetected or untreated

Dr. Rajat Mohan, Senior Consultant Cardiologist at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, also stressed that people who exercise and eat in moderation can still develop coronary disease because of other risk factors, including genetic tendencies.

He also emphasized the need to check cholesterol levels and avoid smoking.

Why Indians May Be More Vulnerable

Coronary artery disease has a high burden in the Indian population, with diabetes, family history, smoking and tobacco use among the factors contributing to risk, Dr. Rajat told HealthandMe.

"Diabetes is a precursor for developing coronary artery disease," he said.

Dr. Ramakanta Panda, renowned cardiac surgeon and Chairman, Asian Heart Institute, Mumbai, also pointed to studies suggesting greater vulnerability to early atherosclerosis among Indians.

Referring to the INTERHEART study, he said that Indians get their first heart attack 5-6 years earlier than people from other regions, and a UK study found double the risk compared with Europeans.

Can Normal Cholesterol And Blood Pressure Be Reassuring?

“Yes. The "normal" LDL range is not truly safe for arteries. In US adults without traditional risk factors, coronary atherosclerosis rose from 13.2% when LDL-C was below 70 mg/dL to 48.2% when it was 160 mg/dL or higher. Non-HDL cholesterol and apoB showed similar associations," Dr. Ramakanta told HealthandMe.

He added that beyond standard readings, doctors should consider:

• apoB and lipoprotein(a)
• HbA1c and insulin resistance
• Waist circumference and fatty liver
• hsCRP
• Premature family history
• Kidney disease and pregnancy complications
• Where appropriate, calcium scoring

Should Screening Be Universal?

Dr. Ramakanta said that mass screening has not been shown to reduce death rates significantly. However, targeted screening or testing can be helpful. For an apparently healthy person with no symptoms, a sensible approach is:

• Blood pressure
• Fasting glucose/HbA1c
• Lipid profile, particularly LDL
• Weight/BMI and waist circumference
• Smoking/tobacco, physical activity, diet and family history of premature heart disease
• Assess the person’s overall cardiovascular risk and treat modifiable risk factors accordingly

"The ESC specifically recommends systematic risk assessment in people without known cardiovascular disease. I would not recommend routine ECG, treadmill testing, echocardiography, or coronary CT for every asymptomatic individual unless they have risk factors.”