measles (Tresivac)

How the unvaccinated have been portrayed in the urban English-language Canadian popular press since the declared end of the COVID-19 pandemic emergency.

Marcon Alessandro R AR, Boniface Vincenza V, Caulfield Timothy T

Since the WHO declared the end of the COVID-19 emergency in May 2023, public vaccination remains a complex issue intertwined with politicization and misinformation. This research article examined how the "unvaccinated" have been portrayed in the urban English-language Canadian popular press between May 2023 and May 2025, specifically comparing coverage of COVID-19 with the emerging 2024-2025 measles outbreaks. Through a content analysis of 308 articles from major national and urban news sources, the study reveals a dichotomy in journalistic framing. Findings indicate that COVID-19 reporting remained heavily politicized and rooted in ideological debates. These articles focused primarily on politics, mandate arguments, government critiques, and claims of discrimination against the unvaccinated, with only 40% mentioning unvaccinated health risks to oneself or others. In contrast, measles coverage adopted a more traditional public health lens; 96% of these articles characterized being unvaccinated as a health risk to oneself or others, frequently emphasizing vaccine importance and uptake strategies while largely avoiding broader socio-political issues. The study suggests that while the Canadian popular press successfully conveys scientific urgency in novel or acute health threats like measles, its continued focus on socio-political conflict regarding COVID-19 represents problematic science communication. Covering "agenda-setting" political narratives is an important aspect of the COVID-19 pandemic but should not dominate or stand in place of evolving clinical evidence on reinfection and vaccine efficacy. Depoliticizing scientific realities and reintegrating established health-risk data into all vaccine-related reporting is necessary for supporting public health in any infectious disease contexts.

Mentorship for research on TB in India: a course on Public Health Implementation Strengthening and Operational Research (MPHISOR).

Shewade H D HD, Manickam P P, Bhatnagar T T, Shringarpure K K et al.

This issue of Public Health Action includes a series of articles on operational research (OR) on various aspects of 'TB in India'. These are the outputs of a two-year mentored course. Year one was based on the Structured Operational Research and Training Initiative (SORT IT), a WHO/TDR-accredited model for building in-country OR capacity. Building on this work, year two was an innovation implemented by ICMR National Institute of Epidemiology (ICMR-NIE), in which mentees implemented a second mentored OR project. In this way, they did not just identify a problem but attempted to address it, to increase the chances of achieving even greater policy/practice change.

Study of Subclinical Hypothyroidism and its Association with Lipid Profile Among the Rural Population of Chamarajanagara District-A Hospital-Based Study.

Sumanth B V BV, Thoyaj K J KJ, Shashank N N

Subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) patients are at an increased risk of coronary artery disease and cerebrovascular disease complications. The association between SCH and dyslipidemia is still controversial. To study the prevalence of SCH in Chamarajanagara district and to find its association with lipid profile. A prospective cross-sectional study was carried out at Chamarajanagara Institute of Medical Sciences hospital, Chamarajanagar. Age group of more than 18 years and less than 75 years were included in the study. All patients serum samples were processed for thyroid function tests and lipid profile. A total of 496 rural subjects were enrolled. Among them, six had T4/T3 values above the normal levels and were excluded. Out of 490 subjects, 16.3% had thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) values more than 5 μIU/ml and were considered as the SCH group. The remaining 410 subjects, grouped as the euthyroid group (EUT). Median values of total cholesterol (TC) and triglycerides (TG) were increased and statistically significant in the SCH group compared with EUT group. There was no difference between the groups with respect to high-density lipoprotein and low-density lipoprotein. Dyslipidemia was common in the SCH group compared to the EUT group (P = 0.0308). In the SCH group, TG levels were elevated in 68.7% vs 29.7% in the EUT group (P < 0.0001) and TC levels were increased in 26.2% of subjects in the SCH group compared to 13.6% in the EUT group (P = 0.0046). SCH is an important endocrinological health problem in India. Dyslipidemia is more common in the SCH group and the consequences can be detrimental, leading to complications. Therefore, routine serum TSH estimation to detect SCH in clinical practice as a screening test is recommended.

Can Tiered Genomic Surveillance Close the Gaps in Measles Molecular Epidemiology?

Kanta P P, Chhikara K K, Goyal K K, Ghosh A A et al.