HHS seeks to add COVID-19 countermeasure injuries to federal compensation program

The Health and Human Services (HHS) Department is seeking to add COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics to a government program that compensates people for injuries or deaths linked to the administration of medical countermeasures recommended by the agency during public health emergencies.

First reported by Stat News, the proposed rule would establish a COVID-19 Countermeasures Injury Table for the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CICP). Established under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act, CICP provides compensation for unreimbursed medical services, lost employment income, and survivor death benefits to those deemed eligible.

RFK Jr. has called COVID-19 vaccines “deadly”

“The Table will list and explain injuries that, based on compelling, reliable, valid, medical, and scientific evidence, are presumed to be caused by covered COVID-19 countermeasures, and set forth the time periods in which the onset of these injuries must occur after the administration or use of these covered COVID-19 countermeasures,” the proposed rule states.

While the proposed rule does not specify any particular countermeasures, it would likely include COVID-19 vaccines, which have been associated with a rare but real risk of myocarditis, particularly in young men. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime vaccine critic, once claimed the COVID vaccine is “the deadliest vaccine ever made.” 

"Under the leadership of Secretary Kennedy, HHS is restoring transparency and accountability because the American people deserve clear, evidence-based information about both the benefits and the known risks associated with medical countermeasures," an HHS spokesperson said in an email.

The rule is set to be proposed in November, with a comment period ending in January 2027.

Editor's note: This story was updated at 5:27 pm.

UK study finds increased sexual transmission of shigellosis

A new study by scientists in the United Kingdom shows “distinct and intensifying” sexual transmission of shigellosis.

In the genomic epidemiology study, a team led by researchers at the University of Cambridge analyzed Shigella sonnei isolates collected from 138 laboratories across the country from September 20, 2004, to February 28, 2020. Their aim was to quantify and compare the geospatial spread of S sonnei in different transmission networks. 

While Shigella bacteria spread through contaminated food and water and have traditionally been a cause of diarrhea in people who travel to low- and middle-income countries, where shigellosis is endemic, it’s become increasingly associated with sexual activity among men who have sex with men (MSM) in the United Kingdom and other high-income countries. Sexual networks have also been associated with the spread of drug-resistant Shigella strains.

“Despite this growing and urgent public health threat, the temporal and geographical spread of Shigella remains poorly understood, including the extent to which spread among MSM and non-MSM communities is distinct and the relative impact of antimicrobial selection in those communities,” the study authors wrote in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

More intense transmission

Of the 3,514 isolates analyzed, 34.1% came from presumptive MSM (pMSM), 36.1% from non-pMSM, and 29.8% came from high-risk travel. The analysis revealed that sexually transmitted S sonnei spread faster and transmitted more intensely than other domestically acquired S sonnei. In addition, isolates from sexually transmitted shigellosis had greater relative fitness than isolates from high-risk travel transmission.

The researchers also found that azithromycin-resistant S sonnei had a fitness advantage among pMSM, a finding they suggest may be linked to use of azithromycin for gonorrhea infections prior to 2018. 

The authors say the findings highlight a gap in public health management for shigellosis, since traditional recommendations for avoiding it, like washing hands and making sure your food is safe, will have little impact on sexual spread. 

“The development of alternative interventions to address this public health threat is urgently needed,” they wrote.