Bob Park’s What’s New: October 3, 2025
No, Bob Park — the physicist who wrote the What’s New newsletter for years — did not write this. Instead, I am imagining what Park would have said were he alive today. The opinions are mine and not necessarily those of Bob Park (but they should be).
What’s New, by Bob Park
Friday, October 3, 2025
1. PRESIDENT TRUMP OFFERS MEDICAL ADVICE
President Trump posted on Truth Social: “Pregnant Women, DON’T USE TYLENOL UNLESS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY, DON’T GIVE TYLENOL TO YOUR YOUNG CHILD FOR VIRTUALLY ANY REASON, BREAK UP THE MMR SHOT INTO THREE TOTALLY SEPARATE SHOTS (NOT MIXED!), TAKE CHICKEN P SHOT SEPARATELY, TAKE HEPATITAS B SHOT AT 12 YEARS OLD, OR OLDER, AND, IMPORTANTLY, TAKE VACCINE IN 5 SEPARATE MEDICAL VISITS!” Where do I begin? There are not separate measles, mumps, or rubella shots available. Developing, testing, and approving them would take time, perhaps years. Taking vaccines in five separate visits means more doctor visits, more needle sticks, more side effects, and more expense. The hepatitis B vaccine is safe and protects newborn children against the virus. While transmission is often by sexual contact, it can be transmitted in other ways including from mother to child or even from a friend or relative visiting the child. Tylenol is the safest over-the-counter fever medication for pregnant women, and a maternal fever is hazardous for a fetus. The evidence for Tylenol causing autism is weak; most studies say the opposite. I could go on, but I won’t. Americans must decide if they want to take medical advice from President Trump or from medical doctors. My advice: trust your pediatrician.
2. BACK IN THE USA
Measles cases in the United States continue to climb, and are now over 1500, the highest in 30 years. Fortunately the major outbreak in west Texas is over. However, another large outbreak is currently underway in southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, and smaller outbreaks are happening in other locations such as Minnesota. Over 90% of these cases are among the unvaccinated and 12% of those cases resulted in hospitalization. The US has had three measles deaths this year so far. For more data and insight, see Katelyn Jetelina’s Your Local Epidemiologist post. Why do parents hesitate to have their children immunized against this preventable disease, when the evidence indicates that the vaccine is safe and effective? What’s New suspects it is a side effect of the Republican War on Science.
3. CURRENT CDC LEADERS HAVE “NO SCIENTIFIC EXPERTISE WHATSOEVER”
This week former NBC commentator Chuck Todd interviewed Dr. Michael Osterholm on the ChuckToddcast. Osterholm is one of our foremost infectious disease experts and is coauthor of the new book The Big One: How We Must Prepare for Future Deadly Pandemics. Here’s a quote from the interview. “What we’re watching is basically the destruction of the public health system unlike anything I’ve seen in my 50 years in the business… All the leadership at the CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] are [now] appointed political individuals. They’re all appointed. No scientific expertise whatsoever.” Let me repeat that last sentence: “No scientific expertise whatsoever.” Osterholm goes on to say “this book… is a love story to my grandkids, because I sit here and say ‘Oh my God, what kind of world might you experience in the future that we could really do something about.’” I’m a new grandpa myself (my grandson Sam is about seven weeks old today), so I understand what Osterholm means. I’m putting The Big One on my to-read list. I urge you to listen to the interview on the Toddcast.