VOLUME 17
February 27, 2025
This is Irving Washington and Hagere Yilma. We direct KFF’s Health Information and Trust Initiative and on behalf of all our colleagues at KFF, we’re pleased to bring you this edition of our bi-weekly Monitor.
This volume discusses the spread of race-based vaccine myths amid measles outbreaks, along with shifts in health communication from fact-checking to fostering open dialogue. It also explains common misconceptions about heart attack treatment and prevention, a new scientific journal that questions established science, and gaps in research standards for AI chatbots used in healthcare.
As a measles outbreak in Texas worsens and other cases are reported in the country, misinformation about vaccines continues to spread, influencing public perception and fueling hesitancy. One recurring narrative falsely claims that Black children should follow a different vaccine schedule than children of other races because of alleged differences in immune systems. Some research has shown that people of African descent may demonstrate, on average, a stronger immune response to the rubella vaccine. However, the study’s authors state that the data does not support that there is a need for different vaccine schedules based on race. The claim spread in news and social media after it was brought up during Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Senate confirmation hearings, with...
Member of the group DJ DOC, Lee Ha-neul has announced a counter-suit against singer Jubi Train and the representative of his agency BASS Camp Studio. On the 21st, BASS Camp Studio issued an offici...