Hello from the Common Health Coalition! The 2-4-2 Digest is a weekly snapshot for health leaders - 4 key insights in 2 minutes or with 2 swipes on your phone.

Weekly Health Insights

Flu: Early data suggest the U.S. may face a severe and early flu season, driven by the rapid spread of H3N2 subclade K, a mutated strain already driving surges abroad. While this year’s vaccine still offers protection against severe disease, low uptake could leave communities more vulnerable as cases rise.

CDC Website Change: Last Thursday, the CDC rewrote its vaccine safety webpage to suggest studies have not ruled out a link between vaccines and autism, breaking with decades of scientific consensus that vaccines do not cause autism. The change has drawn strong pushback from pediatric, scientific, and autism advocacy groups. 

Lyme Disease: Researchers have developed a new test that can identify active Lyme infections much more accurately and earlier than current antibody-based tests. By detecting tiny amounts of the Lyme bacteria directly, the test could speed diagnosis and treatment at a time when Lyme disease continues to rise nationwide.

PFAS: The EPA has approved new food-crop pesticides that meet the definition of PFAS “forever chemicals,” prompting concern from scientists and advocates who warn this could widen exposure to compounds linked to cancer and environmental persistence.

Colleague Corner

A new NEJM systematic review shows that maternal RSV vaccination and the infant monoclonal antibody are reducing RSV hospitalizations by 70% to 85% across multiple countries, marking one of the most significant advances in respiratory virus prevention in decades.

“RSV prevention is landing in a landscape already saturated with vaccine misinformation and fatigue from the COVID-19 pandemic…After decades of frustration and failure, we've achieved something extraordinary: effective prevention against one of medicine's most persistent respiratory challenges.”

– Dr. Jake Scott, MD, Clinical Associate Professor of Infectious Diseases, Stanford University School of Medicine

Data Watch

A JAMA Network Open analysis of 806 million emergency department visits finds that cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS)—severe vomiting linked to chronic cannabis use—rose more than fivefold, from 4.4 per 100,000 ED visits in 2016 to 22.3 per 100,000 in 2022, peaking at 33.1 during early 2020. The increase was concentrated among 18–35-year-olds.

Figure 1. Emergency Department Visits With Cannabis-Related Diagnoses, Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome, and Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome, 2016 to 2022

Measles report: In the U.S., there have been 1,772 confirmed measles cases. For ongoing updates, visit our Resources page. Read the latest deep-dive here.

If you find the digest useful, please share it and

encourage colleagues to consider joining the Coalition.