​SALT LAKE CITY — Ben Dowse hadn’t expected to treat measles when he became a doctor, but there he was, examining a newborn exposed to the virus in the womb. The infected mother had given birth just hours earlier. The hospital had alerted Dowse to the case before delivery, and he’d braced himself for the worst.

Dowse wore a full-body protective suit with a plastic face mask. As a pediatrician in southern Utah, he couldn’t risk getting even a mild infection, because many of his patients are babies too young for measles vaccines or children whose parents choose not to protect them with immunizations. “I went in looking like a scientist in E.T.,” he said.

Measles can cause brain damage, deafness, or death in newborns. If the baby entered the world with a measles rash and fever, Dowse was prepared to give the infant a spinal tap to assess the risk of neurological damage.

Luckily, flushed and crying, the baby looked healthy. To keep it that way, Dowse wanted to inject the baby with concentrated antibodies against the measles virus. To his surprise, the parents objected, promising to give their child “all kinds of vitamin A,” Dowse said. He begged them not to, saying, “You can’t see it on the surface, but the baby’s body is fighting the measles.” They were afraid of vaccines, so Dowse explained that antibodies were different and that they would stop measles from replicating in the infant.

“That shot is going to basically give the baby ammo to fight,” Dowse said.

The parents relented. A couple of days later, they left the hospital with a child who had narrowly skirted an infection that killed many thousands of babies a century ago. Nonetheless, Dowse said he doubted they would be returning for childhood vaccinations to protect their baby against a bevy of illnesses. Like more than a dozen Utah doctors and health officials who spoke with KFF Health News, Dowse has adjusted his expectations.

He is part of a reluctant cohort of medical professionals now on the front line of America’s regressive next chapter in health history, one in which dangerous and preventable diseases return.

“I wish that people could see what I see,” said Nathan Money, a hospital pediatrician in Utah whose eyes welled up with tears as he described children he’s treated for measles struggling to breathe. “This train is going in the wrong direction, and it can feel like a helpless situation, because we’re just not seeing the public messaging and leadership that’s needed to turn this around.”

Since measles was deemed eliminated in the U.S. a quarter century ago, public health workers have extinguished sporadic outbreaks in close-knit, undervaccinated communities with targeted methods: Isolate people with measles and quarantine their contacts to contain the virus. But as vaccination rates drop nationwide, the virus is moving beyond insulated communities, overwhelming public health departments constrained by shoestring bud  

​If you or someone you know may be experiencing a mental health crisis, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing or texting “988.”

Nearly every Tuesday for a decade, Steve Siple attended a bar trivia night with friends in Birmingham, Alabama. After moving to North Carolina, he developed a new ritual — joining other Charlotte locals on Saturdays to pick up trash along the city’s light rail.

These are more than fun outings to Siple. They help keep him alive.

Siple has battled suicidal thoughts in the past. He lost his father to suicide, and one of his sons has struggled with thoughts of hurting himself.

That’s made Siple vigilant about protecting himself and his family. In addition to seeing a counselor regularly and speaking openly about mental health, he prioritizes social connection.

“Loneliness was, over my lifetime, one of the greatest risk factors” for suicide, said Siple, a former board chair for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

To some, this concept may seem obvious. Yet in the overall approach to suicide prevention, it’s often overlooked. Treatment of a serious mental illness that can lead to suicide, such as major depressive disorder, often centers on medication and talk therapy with little or no consideration of factors such as social isolation or financial duress. Now, there’s a growing movement to address loneliness not just through personal choices but also through public policy.

The research is clear: Among the various complex issues that contribute to suicide, loneliness is a big one. It’s a particularly strong predictor for older adults, who have the highest rates of suicide, and for youths, for whom suicide is the second-leading cause of death.

Humans are social animals. When we feel cut off from one another, our stress levels increase, our immune systems are disrupted, and ultimately we’re likely to die earlier (by suicide or of other causes). An oft-cited study concluded that being socially disconnected is as harmful to one’s health as smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day.

And it’s getting worse.

Mental health researchers and clinicians say a variety of factors are fueling increased rates of loneliness in America, including the rapid growth of technology, such as smartphones and artificial intelligence; increased political polarization; the shift to remote work since the covid pandemic; and decreased participation in religious institutions.

With suicide rates remaining stubbornly high — often ranking among the top 10 causes of death in America — some advocates and people who have lost loved ones to suicide say increasing pathways to social connection could be a new frontier.

In this ongoing series, KFF Health News is examining new approaches to suicide prevention that shift the focus from stopping harm in moments of crisis to efforts that give people reasons to live well before they make fateful choices.

“If we want to  

​Céline Gounder, KFF Health News’ editor-at-large for public health, discussed a recent study that suggests ultraprocessed foods are linked to increased dementia risk on CBS News 24/7’s The Daily Report on June 3. Gounder also discussed the Ebola outbreak in central Africa and the impact of U.S. health funding cuts on CBS News’ CBS Mornings on June 3.

On June 2, Gounder joined CBS News’ CBS Mornings to discuss a study that found women taking GLP-1 drugs had a lower rate of breast cancer diagnoses. She also discussed President Donald Trump’s new medical report and creatine supplements on CBS News 24/7’s Mornings and CBS News’ CBS Mornings, respectively, on June 1.

Click here to watch Gounder discuss ultraprocessed foods and dementia on The Daily Report.

Click here to watch Gounder discuss the Ebola outbreak on CBS Mornings.

Click here to watch Gounder discuss GLP-1s and breast cancer on CBS Mornings.

Click here to watch Gounder discuss Trump’s new medical report on Mornings.

Click here to watch Gounder discuss creatine supplements on CBS Mornings.

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.This <a target=”_blank” href=”https://kffhealthnews.org/on-air/on-air-june-6-2026-ebola-glp1s-trump-medical-exam-creatine-upf-food-dementia/”>article</a&gt; first appeared on <a target=”_blank” href=”https://kffhealthnews.org”>KFF Health News</a> and is republished here under a <a target=”_blank” href=”https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/”>Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License</a>.<img src=”https://kffhealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/04/kffhealthnews-icon.png?w=150&quot; style=”width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;”>
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​Harrowing scenes are unfolding at health facilities at the epicenter of an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

A 25-year-old midwife and a doctor in his early 30s are sick with Ebola symptoms, including fevers and severe joint pain, said their colleague Elisabeth Furaha, the medical director at SOFEPADI’s Karibuni Wa Mama Medical Center in the northeastern province of Ituri.

They had cared for patients with similar symptoms in early May, before the outbreak was detected. One of the patients is now dead, Furaha said, and none of them has been tested for Ebola, even though samples were taken. The hospital still lacks access to tests, and an adequate supply of protective gowns and plastic masks to keep doctors and nurses safe.

“We live with fear in our stomachs,” Furaha said, speaking in French. “Every day, there are healthcare providers and patients dying.”

The outbreak took the world by surprise, with nearly 250 suspected Ebola cases and 80 deaths by the time Ebola was confirmed in Congo. Disturbed by the extent of silent transmission, and by cases in neighboring Uganda, the head of the World Health Organization sounded the group’s highest alarm on May 17, declaring the outbreak a “public health emergency of international concern.” That triggered donations from around the globe, including a pledge of more than $162 million from the U.S. State Department to “stop the outbreak at its source and ensure Ebola does not reach the United States.”

But despite international attention, doctors in northeastern Congo say that many clinics lack even rudimentary supplies: gloves, protective gowns, masks, Ebola tests, and even clean water. Without rapid action to bolster those on the front line, researchers say, the outbreak will grow exponentially, costing even more money and risking lives far beyond Congo.

“All signs point to this becoming the biggest outbreak we’ve ever seen in the DRC,” said Nahid Bhadelia, the director of Boston University’s Center on Emerging Infectious Diseases. “That could lead to regional instability, and that has repercussions for the world.”

Some supplies from the country’s Ministry of Health, the WHO, and other United Nations agencies have landed in northeastern Congo, but not nearly enough to stock hundreds of health facilities where Ebola patients may seek care. Furaha has spent her own money on gloves, masks, and a tarp to build a makeshift tent to isolate patients with Ebola symptoms from the rest of the hospital. But she said it’s “inhumane” to put patients there before she can afford a mattress for them to rest on, or reliable access to tests.

Without testing, patients who turn out to have Ebola can infect those who don’t. Malaria and other diseases have initial symptoms similar to Ebola, causing fevers, soreness, and gastrointestinal problems.

Aid workers say shipments of medical supplies have been delayed by logistical hurdles, such as suspen  

​The Host

Julie Rovner

KFF Health News

@jrovner

@julierovner.bsky.social

Read Julie’s stories.

Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News’ weekly health policy news podcast, “What the Health?” A noted expert on health policy issues, Julie is the author of the critically praised reference book “Health Care Politics and Policy A to Z,” now in its third edition.

New rules out this week from the Trump administration for implementing work requirements for adult Medicaid recipients surprised many state officials. The rules make it more difficult for states to determine who should be exempt from the requirements, including by stipulating that having a serious condition such as HIV or cancer does not automatically excuse an enrollee from having to engage in 80 hours per month of paid work, volunteering, or school attendance.

Meanwhile, a separate rule would give political appointees far more power over who gets health and science grant funding, and what political activities grant recipients can participate in. This would be a dramatic change — currently most decisions are made by career scientists and outside peer reviewers and based solely on scientific merit rather than whether they advance an administration’s political agenda.

This week’s panelists are Julie Rovner of KFF Health News, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Liz Essley Whyte of The Wall Street Journal.

Panelists

Margot Sanger-Katz

The New York Times

@sangerkatz

Read Margot’s stories.

Alice Miranda Ollstein

Politico

@AliceOllstein

@alicemiranda.bsky.social

Read Alice’s stories.

Liz Essley Whyte

The Wall Street Journal

@l_e_whyte

Read Liz’s stories.

Among the takeaways from this week’s episode:

The Medicaid work requirement was pitched as a massive money-saver for the federal government because, supporters argued, it will keep people who shouldn’t be eligible for the program from being on the rolls. But it is becoming clear that implementing the policy is going to cost states tens of millions of dollars in new hires, contracts, communication campaigns, and tech systems. State officials say this is coming when budget pressures are already high.

The White House has advanced long-anticipated draft regulations designed to give political appointees the final word on federal research grants. The regulations, which have been close to the heart of Office and Management and Budget Director Russell Vought and were