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.

Dr Rachna Shroff, an Indian-American cancer researcher at the University of Arizona, has died at the age of 47 from an aggressive form of cancer she had spent her career studying, the university announced.

Earlier this year, Shroff, associate director of clinical investigations at the University of Arizona Cancer Center, was diagnosed with incurable, terminal adenocarcinoma, a cancer that develops in glandular cells lining certain organs.

Dr Rachna Shroff’s Cancer Diagnosis

Dr Rachna first noticed a swollen lymph node in May. By the end of the month, the cancer had spread elsewhere in her body, and tests suggested it had likely originated in her stomach or intestine.

Her medical team initially suspected lymphoma, a type of blood cancer. Further testing later confirmed terminal adenocarcinoma.

“It’s been a journey,” Dr Rachna told NBC News in a Zoom interview shortly before her death. “I’ve spent my entire life trying to eradicate cancer, primarily pancreatic cancer, but also liver cancers.”

Also read: Swimmer Archie Goodburn’s Plea Prompts UK Brain Cancer Research Review

Dr Rachna Shroff’s Scientific Work

Dr Rachna was a clinician-scientist and internationally respected expert in cholangiocarcinoma, a rare cancer of the bile ducts. She authored more than 80 publications and participated in more than 130 professional engagements.

In September, despite her own life-limiting diagnosis, one of her final wishes was to establish the Conquer Cancer – Rachna Shroff, MD, MS, FASCO Endowed Young Investigator Award in Biliary Cancers. Within weeks, she achieved her goal of raising more than $1.35 million to support future cancer research and innovation.

A Career Dedicated to Advancing Cancer Treatment

READ: Survival In Aggressive Brain Tumors Improves By Up To 50% in India, Say Doctors

The daughter of a nephrologist mother and a biochemist father, Dr Rachna developed an early interest in cancer research in Tucson. As a high school student, she won the 1993 Osler Fellowship, which gave her the opportunity to work in the laboratory of Margaret Briehl, a University of Arizona Cancer Center member and professor at the College of Medicine – Tucson.

She completed her undergraduate studies at Brown University and earned her medical degree from Thomas Jefferson University. In 2010, she completed her fellowship at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, where she subsequently served as an associate professor of gastrointestinal medical oncology from 2010 to 2018.

She returned to Tucson in 2018 after being recruited to the University of Arizona.

Dr Rachna became internationally recognized for her work in cholangiocarcinoma, focusing on a rare and historically difficult-to-treat disease at a time when treatment options were limited and no therapies had been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration specifically for the disease. The field has since advanced significantly, in part through landmark clinical trials she led as a principal investigator.

In a video recorded for a conference five years ago, Dr Rachna discussed how gastrointestinal cancer research was beginning to catch up with advances in better-known cancers.

“I will admit that we had a little bit of envy of the targeted therapy space in, say, lung cancer and breast cancer...but I think in the last decade or so, we have seen a dramatic improvement in terms of understanding the relevant targets for all of the different GI malignancies,” she told the 2021 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.

Shroff was also renowned for her work developing novel therapies for pancreatic and hepatobiliary cancers.

Dr Rachna Shroff’s Family

Beyond her professional accomplishments, Dr Rachna's most cherished roles were those of wife, mother and friend.

She is survived by her husband, Dr Puneet Shroff, a professor of medicine and associate director of the Banner Medical Group’s Allergy Clinic; their children, Simran and Sachin.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is considering easing restrictions on certain peptides, potentially allowing specialty pharmacies to produce injections not approved for medical use, raising safety concerns.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has submitted an interim access policy for peptides to the White House for review, according to a government website posting on Thursday. The proposal was sent to the Office of Management and Budget, the Associated Press reported.

The list of peptides includes BPC-157, an unapproved peptide promoted online for pain relief, healing and performance enhancement, has gained popularity among wellness influencers and followers of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement. A recent study found that its use increased 33-fold between 2020 and 2026.

What Is The FDA Planning?

Also read: RFK Jr-Backed ‘Wolverine’ Peptide Use Surges: Why Are People Taking An Unapproved Drug For Injury Recovery?

The proposal could allow compounding pharmacies to produce certain peptides, including BPC-157, according to AP, citing two people familiar with the matter

The policy would reportedly give pharmacies greater assurance that they would not face enforcement action for producing these substances.

Formally permitting peptides for compounding would require federal rulemaking, a process that could take years. It remains unclear whether the administration intends to pursue that route.

In July, an FDA advisory committee recommended allowing six of seven peptides under review to be used by compounding pharmacies for patients with prescriptions. The recommendation went against FDA staff concerns that there was insufficient evidence to establish their safety and effectiveness.

The proposal has drawn support from some peptide sellers. Telehealth companies Hims & Hers and Noom have also announced plans to offer peptides if federal restrictions are eased. Wall Street analysts estimate the market could be worth $2 billion to $3 billion.

What Are Peptides?

Peptides are short chains of amino acids that play various roles in the body, including regulating hormones and processes involved in growth, metabolism and healing. Some peptide-based medicines are approved for conditions such as diabetes and obesity.

However, other peptides promoted online have not been adequately studied or approved as medicines.

BPC-157 is often combined with TB-500, a peptide derived from thymosin beta-4, in a combination marketed as the “Wolverine stack.” It is promoted online for tissue repair and recovery from muscle, tendon and other injuries. BPC-157 is not approved by the FDA for medical use.

Read More: 4 in 10 US High School Students Report Binge Eating: What Are the Risks?

What Are The Safety Concerns?

The FDA has raised concerns about limited human safety data, potential immune reactions and impurities in BPC-157 products. It has also cited risks associated with certain compounded peptides, including contamination, allergic reactions and tumor growth.

The agency's adverse-event database includes reports of injection-site reactions, shortness of breath and skin or gum pigmentation changes among people who used BPC-157. However, these reports do not establish that the peptide caused the events.

Compounded medicines can meet specific patient needs, but they are not FDA-approved. The agency does not verify their safety, effectiveness and quality through the same premarket approval process used for approved drugs.

Allowing pharmacies to compound certain peptides would not mean the substances had received FDA approval or that their safety and effectiveness had been established.

Nearly 4 in 10 US high school students reported binge eating at least once in the previous 30 days in 2025, according to a new survey by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The biennial Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that 40.5% of students reported binge eating on at least one day, while 17.2% reported it on three or more days. Frequent binge eating was more common among female students (18.6%) than male students (15.9%).

Binge Eating Linked to Poor Mental Health

The survey was conducted among 10,710 students in grades 9–12. However, valid responses to the binge-eating question were available for 6,898 students.

Students reporting poor mental health were more likely to report binge eating on three or more days in the previous 30 days than those who did not report poor mental health (27.2% versus 14%).

The prevalence was also higher among students reporting persistent sadness or hopelessness (25.4% versus 12.8%) and those who had seriously considered attempting suicide (27.1% versus 15.3%).

Previous research has linked binge eating with depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation and suicide attempts. However, the CDC noted that its cross-sectional findings cannot establish cause and effect or determine which condition came first.

“It was extremely alarming seeing how high those numbers were,” Ariel Beccia, a researcher in the adolescent and children’s medicine division at Boston Children’s Hospital, told STAT News.

“Eating disorders not only affect everyone, they also affect marginalized youth more, actually,” Beccia said.

Frequent Social Media Use Also Linked to Binge Eating

Students who used social media at least hourly were more likely to report binge eating on three or more days than those who used it once a day or less (22.8% versus 12.9%).

Exposure to appearance- and diet-related content, comparisons with others and idealized body standards have been proposed as possible pathways linking social media use to body dissatisfaction and binge eating. However, the survey measured how frequently students used social media, not the content they viewed, and cannot establish that social media use causes binge eating.

Differences Across Student Groups

Frequent binge eating was reported by 20.5% of Hispanic students and 18.7% of Black students, compared with 14.6% of White students. The prevalence was 19.6% among multiracial students and 9.9% among Middle Eastern or North African students.

The CDC cautioned that the estimate for Middle Eastern or North African students was imprecise because of the small sample size. These figures refer to binge eating on three or more days in the previous 30 days.

The findings highlight the need for continued monitoring of disordered eating among adolescents, along with prevention, early identification and access to appropriate support. The CDC said schools, families, health care providers and mental health professionals could play a role in these efforts.

What Is Binge Eating?

Binge eating involves consuming an unusually large amount of food in a short period while feeling a loss of control over eating. It is a form of disordered eating, but it does not necessarily meet the criteria for a diagnosis of binge-eating disorder.

Signs and symptoms of binge-eating disorder may include:

• Eating until uncomfortably full
• Eating more quickly than usual
• Eating despite not feeling hungry
• Turning to food during stress or emotional distress
• Eating alone out of embarrassment
• Experiencing guilt, shame or a sense of losing control over eating

How Is Binge Eating Treated?

Treatment may include psychotherapy (talk therapy), such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT). Depending on individual needs, treatment may also involve medication and nutritional counseling.