By The Defender Staff

State Lowers Vaccine Age Recommendation in SE Michigan Amid Measles Outbreak

Bridge Michigan reported:

Facing a growing outbreak of measles in southeast Michigan, state leaders are temporarily revising their recommendations for measles vaccines for infants in Washtenaw and Monroe counties.

Some children as young as 6 months should be vaccinated, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services announced Thursday evening — a recommendation in which children would receive the MMR vaccine, which also protects against mumps and rubella, at least six months earlier than previous guidance.

Those are children who: Live in Washtenaw, Monroe, Wayne, Oakland, Jackson, Livingston or Lenawee counties. Travel to Washtenaw and Monroe counties.

Infants ages 6 to 11 months of age who receive an accelerated first dose will require two additional doses of the MMR vaccine after 12 months of age to complete the series.

Diapers to Change for Over 1 Million Babies Under New Proposal

Newsweek reported:

Parents of more than 1 million California babies may soon get a clearer look at what’s inside their children’s diapers under a new state proposal. A recent release from the Environmental Working Group (EWG) highlights a California bill that would require full ingredient disclosure on all children’s diapers sold in the state — potentially affecting purchases for nearly 1.3 million babies.

The bill, known as Assembly Bill 1901, was introduced during the 2025–2026 legislative session and focuses on ingredient disclosure rather than banning specific substances. If passed, diaper manufacturers would be required to publicly list all intentionally added ingredients used in children’s diapers, both online and on product packaging.

Toxic Dust From California’s Shrinking Salton Sea Is Harming Children’s Lung Growth — Our Study Tracked the Impact in 700 Kids

The Conversation reported:

Southern California’s Salton Sea was once a resort playground, with sunny beaches, celebrities and people waterskiing on the vast inland lake in the 1950s and ’60s.

Today, those resorts are long gone, replaced by a drying and increasingly toxic landscape. As the lake shrinks, wind blowing across the exposed lake bed kicks up toxic dust left by years of agriculture chemicals and metals washing into the lake. That dust makes its way into the lungs of the children of the Imperial Valley.

New research from our team of epidemiologists at University of Southern California and University of California, Irvine, shows that blowing dust is impeding the lung growth of children in the region – especially those living closest to the Salton Sea. In fact, the effects on lung function close to the Salton Sea have been greater than what studies find in urban California communities near busy roadways.

As the lake’s water sources diminish with the region’s Colorado River water use agreements, and this region gains more industrial activity from proposed lithium extraction, air pollution is likely to only worsen.

Vapes Replace Cigarettes as the Top Nicotine Threat to Young Children

MedicalXPress reported:

While cigarette exposures are decreasing for young children, electronic nicotine products are putting toddlers at new risk of inhalation, according to Rutgers Health researchers. Their study, published in JAMA Network Open, was the first to assess trends in young children’s nicotine exposures across all types of products.

Researchers at the New Jersey Poison Control Center, based at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, used the National Poison Data System to analyze more than 92,000 reported nicotine exposures in children ages 5 and younger between 2016 and 2023 to understand how the rise of newer products — specifically disposable e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches — has changed the risks for young children.

They found that while tobacco exposures from conventional products such as cigarettes decreased by 43%, electronic cigarette-related incidents have increased 243% over the past eight years and often involved children who inhaled the vapors directly from the devices. They also found children exposed to e-cigarettes were more likely to require a visit to a health care facility compared with those exposed to cigarettes.

Neuroscience Explains Why Teens Are so Vulnerable to Big Tech Social Media Platforms

The Conversation reported:

In a landmark decision, a Los Angeles jury has found that social media company Meta and video streaming service YouTube harmed a young user with addictive design features that led to mental health distress, including body dysmorphia, depression and suicidal thoughts. As parents campaign and policymakers consider how to address online harms, one crucial question is often overlooked: Why are teenagers so uniquely vulnerable to these platforms in the first place?

Neuroscience shows that heavy social media use can overstimulate the teen brain’s still-developing reward pathways in ways similar to addictive behaviours like gambling.

This immature system also makes teenagers more sensitive to social feedback and less able to cope with rejection. This leaves them vulnerable to highs and lows of online interaction, including the rapid, repeated negative comments that can intensify emotional stress.

Think of the teen brain as a highway under construction. The emotional expressway — the limbic system — is wide open for speeding. The pre-frontal cortex — the brain’s traffic-control centre responsible for judgment and impulse control — is still being built.

This imbalance means that the fast emotional traffic often outruns the signals from the control centre, creating traffic jams in judgment and rational thinking and making it harder for teens to pause, reflect and assess consequences.

The post State Lowers Vaccine Age Recommendation in SE Michigan Amid Measles Outbreak + More appeared first on Children’s Health Defense.

 

IPAK-EDU is grateful to The Defender as this piece was originally published there and is included in this news feed with mutual agreement. Read More