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Pinterest said Wednesday it will try to combat misinformation about vaccines by showing only information from health organizations when people search. Social media sites have been tryingto combat the spread of misinformation about vaccines. Pinterest previously tried blocking all searches for vaccines with mixed results. (8/28)

The move is an aggressive effort to moderate content by the newly public social media company. Social media platforms have been increasingly under fire for promoting misleading and incorrect content, including by opponents of vaccination. Pinterest said a search for “measles,” “vaccine safety” and other related health terms now would return results from organizations including the World Health Organization (WHO), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the WHO-established Vaccine Safety Net (VSN). (Culliford, 8/28)

“What we and others have observed is an enthusiasm gap between those creating and disseminating harmful health misinformation and those creating resources rooted in settled science,” wrote Ifeoma Ozoma, Pinterest’s public policy and social impact manager. “Generally, there’s more accessible and visually compelling health misinformation than science-based journal articles on the virtues of vaccinations. In addition, we’ve found that some purveyors of health misinformation have a financial incentive.” (Shu, 8/28)

There's a "reasonable chance" the United States will lose its measles elimination status in October because of ongoing measles outbreaks in New York, according to Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. "It certainly is incredibly frustrating and upsetting to the public health community that we may lose measles elimination status, because we do have a safe and effective vaccine," Messonnier said. (Cohen, 8/28)

For a country to have its elimination status rescinded, measles must have been spreading continuously for a year. Two outbreaks began in New York City and Rockland County, New York, in autumn 2018, with more than 900 cases between the two locations. Numerous cases have been concentrated among the city and county’s Orthodox Jewish enclaves, many members of which have religious objections to vaccinations. The last year has seen other measles outbreaks in 29 other states, but none of them were as long-lasting. (Budryk, 8/28)

The World Health Organization says there has been a “dramatic resurgence” of measles in Europe, in part fueled by vaccine refusals, with nearly 90,000 people sickened by the virus in the first half of 2019. In a report issued Thursday, the U.N. health agency said the number of measles cases from January to June this year is double the number reported for the same period in 2018. Measles is among the world’s most infectious diseases and is spread mostly by coughing, sneezing and close personal contact. (8/29)