Election stress and your heart, early flu, another CDC leader leaves, and a mom’s hard question about vaccine inju…

Election stress and your heart, early flu, another CDC leader leaves, and a mom’s hard question about vaccine injury

The Dose (November 3)

Katelyn Jetelina

Nov 3

Phew, it’s a big midterm election day, and I’m feeling cautiously optimistic (and anxious and hopeful and nervous and all the feelings) about the future. Let’s see if we can survive (literally and figuratively), given that election stress can raise the risk of heart attacks. I explain below.

The early surge in flu hospitalizations also looks alarming, but I think it’s mostly because flu is here early. Two quieter things are worrying me: another top scientist is leaving CDC, and a YLE reader mom who reached out about a rare reaction to her son’s flu shot isn’t sure she can trust the government with his data.

Here’s what’s happening in the world of health and what it means for you.

Health “weather” report

Elections and heart health are linked

It’s Election Day after a particularly dramatic two years. How’s your heart feeling? The billion attack ads and uncertainty can put our bodies into fight-or-flight mode.

Thanks to STAT News for highlighting two studies linking election periods with higher rates of heart problems:

• Researchers examined heart-device records from 2,436 patients in North Carolina and compared two 6-week windows in 2016: one surrounding the presidential election and one during the summer. The rate of abnormal heart rhythms was 77% higher during the election window.

• A separate analysis followed 6.4 million adult Kaiser Permanente members in California around the 2020 election. Cardiovascular hospitalizations rose 17% in the five days after the election, with 666 admissions versus 569 during the same weekdays two weeks earlier. Heart attack hospitalization rates rose 42%.

Neither study proved that election-related stress caused the increases, but both linked election periods with more heart problems.

Respiratory outlook: Early but normal

Flu continues to rise in a very odd pattern, coming early and starting in the West. But now, every region in the United States has a test positivity rate over 3%, which indicates every region is now in “flu season.”

As expected, hospitalizations are lagging (it takes some time for severe illness to manifest) but increasing exponentially. We are currently losing about 60-80 people per week to the flu. (At its peak, this will reach about 1,800 people per week.)

Are early hospitalizations like this concerning? Not necessarily, for a few reasons:

1. The season is early, but the curve looks normal. Hospitalizations are rising at about the rate we’d expect.

2. This isn’t unique to the U.S. Flu season has also started early in the U.K. and other parts of Europe. And the Southern Hemisphere had a fairly typical season, which tends to be a decent (if imperfect) preview of what the Northern Hemisphere will see.

3. CDC’s forecast is reassuring. CDC’s Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics just released its season outlook and expects this season to be similar to last winter.

4. Early vaccine data look promising. Recent data from Canada show that all 116 flu virus samples tested match the strains this year’s flu vaccine targets. This is a promising early sign that this season’s flu shot matches the viruses currently circulating.

Of course, this could all change, but for now, I’m not seeing any red flags of a particularly bad flu season. It’s just early.

Spotlight: Another CDC leader leaves

More than 1 in 3 people working for CDC have left or been fired (hi, it’s me) in the past 18 months, given the absolute destruction of the institution by this administration.

Dr. Jennifer Shuford is the latest high-profile departure. Last week, word came that she is leaving her role as deputy director and chief medical officer at the CDC after just four months on the job. She joins a long line of CDC leaders who didn’t last: Susan Monarez, fired after less than a month as director; Dave Weldon, whose nomination was pulled before his hearing; two acting directors in under a year; the previous chief medical officer; and a number of center directors.

Shuford is a brilliant epidemiologist and former Texas health commissioner who successfully managed the West Texas measles response and worked with RFK Jr. in the thick of it. (Remember the whole Vitamin A fiasco then?) She was one of the good ones, and her departure is a massive loss for the country.

While she cites family reasons, her exit underscores a grim reality: even the savviest scientists can’t outweigh an unprecedented wave of political appointees embedded within the agency. It signals that nothing will change under this administration, leaving the remaining scientists to keep their heads down, prevent backsliding, and carry the heavy weight of moral injury.

My biggest hope is that those on the inside can hold the fort until a new administration arrives to lead in a workforce recovery and build a better, stronger system.

Question grab bag: Vaccine injury from flu shot

“My three-year-old just had a rare adverse reaction to the flu shot. It was scary! But he’s fine now, and I know it would have been worse if he’d actually gotten the flu. I want to report this to VAERS so they can study this rare reaction. But can I even trust them with my son’s data?”

I received this question last week from a YLE reader and fellow public health professional, and this mom and I went back and forth privately. I asked if I could share her situation with the broader YLE community, because it highlights so many threads at one time:

1. Rare reactions do happen, and when they do, they can be scary. In one of her emails, she said how much this experience built empathy for people who are hesitant about vaccines.

2. Even when these events do happen, they are far less common than the benefits of a flu vaccine (as shown below).

3. It shows what’s at stake when trust in systems is diminished. VAERS is a passive CDC surveillance system that relies on voluntary reporting. Its job is to catch rare safety signals early, but every unfiled report creates a blind spot. If parents lose trust and stop reporting reactions, the U.S. risks missing critical safety signals until far more children are affected. This is a deeply concerning prospect.

And for those curious about what I told her, given what I know is happening inside the CDC, here’s my answer:

First off, I’m so sorry to hear this happened to your child. I would be terrified if my three-year-old had a rare, adverse event from a flu vaccine. That just pulls at my mom’s heartstrings, so sending love your way.

Second, this is a really great question. I reached out to some colleagues, and we put our heads together to get you some guidance. You basically have two options:

1. Report to the vaccine manufacturer. Theyfollow up on every adverse event report, which helps them keep your child’s data on the radar and spot safety signals that protect others. In fact, I was just at a conference where one manufacturer highlighted their robust pharmacovigilance systems. By law, they must also report these events to VAERS, so your child’s case will still be counted. But the manufacturer holds the original records, like medical files and contact details, and passes along a report.

2. VAERS reporting, as you mentioned. This is still a legitimate safety system, and it has not been tampered with. That said, I don’t know what may happen. When you report to VAERS, they typically get medical records to verify the vaccine injury. There are two risks to this: 1. Your child’s report may not be represented accurately. It could be ignored, or it could be used to inflate risks, so it wouldn’t reflect what actually happened. 2. Privacy concerns if your data is used maliciously.

Good news

1. A new mRNA-based peanut allergy treatment has entered the first human trial. The goal is to retrain the immune system to tolerate peanuts instead of reacting to them. This science is still very early, though, with the first step (a Phase 1/2a trial) underway. Scientists are enrolling 32 peanut-allergic adults in Australia and New Zealand to see if the biotechnology is safe and shows early signs of working. Results are expected in early 2027.

2. Veteran homelessness drops. A Community Solutions analysis projects an 8.2% decline in veteran homelessness in 2026 compared with 2025. That would be the largest drop in a decade, bringing the number below 30,000. (KFF)

3. Malaria vaccine price cut to protect up to one million more children. Gavi and UNICEF announced a deal to cut the price of one of the two malaria vaccines (RTS,S) by about 40% (from €9.30 to €5.50 per dose) starting in early 2027. The roughly $50 million in savings between 2027 and 2029 will allow countries’ immunization budgets to cover full four-dose courses for up to one million more children. (GAVI)

In case you missed it

• Peptides, explained: Answers to your top questions

• Ending clock changes. But which direction should we reset the clock?

• Medicare for All: Separating the slogan from the substance

Bottom line

Like many of you, I’ll be waiting anxiously tonight to learn what comes next for our states and our country. So much is on the line for our health. Sending positive thoughts into the universe.

Love, YLE

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