Read AMA Morning Rounds®’ most popular stories in medicine and public health from the week of Feb. 24, 2025–Feb. 28, 2025.

The New York Times (2/22, Kwai) reported, “Outbreaks of measles in parts of Texas and New Mexico have sickened nearly 100 people, according to state health officials who warned that the number of cases was expected to rise.” One “outbreak has been spreading through the South Plains region of Texas since late January, the Texas Department of State Health Services said on Friday.” The health “department confirmed 90 cases of measles, with at least 77 of them being children.” So far, 16 “people have been hospitalized, the department said.” Meanwhile, “the New Mexico Department of Health said that, as of Thursday, it had identified nine cases of measles in Lea County, which shares a border with the outbreak region in Texas.”

The Washington Post (2/24, Docter-Loeb) says, “Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death in the United States and accounted for 941,652 deaths in 2022, according to a report [PDF] published by the American Heart Association.” In the U.S. “in 2022, heart disease and stroke killed more people than all forms of cancer and accidental deaths.” According to the report, “coronary heart disease was the leading cause of death attributable to cardiovascular disease (39.5%), followed by stroke (17.6%), other cardiovascular diseases (17%), hypertensive diseases (14%), heart failure (9.3%) and diseases of the arteries (2.6%).” The Post says that “more people died of cardiovascular causes in 2022 than 2021, when there were 931,578 cardiovascular deaths, according to the report.”

You may also be interested in: To prevent heart disease, intervene early and often.

Reuters (2/25, Sunny) reports, “Nearly 87,000 Americans died from drug overdose in the United States in the 12-month period ending September 2024, a decline of about 24% from the previous year, according to preliminary data from the” CDC. The data indicated that “deaths involving opioids fell to an estimated 61,393 in the 12-month period ending September 2024 from 86,621 a year earlier.” Meanwhile, “deaths related to synthetic opioids, including fentanyl, dropped to an estimated 55,126 in the 12-month period ending September 2024 from an estimated 79,432 in the previous year, according to CDC.”

You may also be interested in: Here’s your one-stop shop to meet DEA-mandated MATE Act training.

MedPage Today (2/26, Monaco) reports a cohort study found that “risk of suicidality wasn’t higher for” patients with type 2 diabetes “starting on” glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists “compared with DPP-4 inhibitor and SGLT2 inhibitor users.” Furthermore, “when the suicidality composite was broken down, GLP-1 receptor agonist users also didn’t have a higher risk for any of the individual components,” which include “suicidal ideation, hospital admission for self-harm, or death from suicide.” Researchers concluded, “These findings should provide some reassurance with respect to the psychiatric safety of these drugs.” The study was published in The BMJ.

According to the AP (2/27, Johnson), “a new government report adds to evidence that the HPV vaccine...is preventing cervical cancer in young women.”

MedPage Today (2/27, Bassett) reports CDC researchers found that “cervical precancer rates dropped precipitously among young women who underwent screening after the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine was first recommended in the U.S.” The data indicated that “among women ages 20 to 24 who were screened for cervical cancer from 2008 to 2022, rates of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) grades 2-3 and adenocarcinoma in situ (AIS), defined as CIN2+, decreased by 79%, and rates of CIN grade 3 and AIS, defined as CIN3+, decreased by 80%.” Meanwhile, “among women ages 25-29 who were screened over the same time period, rates of CIN3+—the precancerous lesions most likely to progress to invasive cervical cancer— decreased by 37%.” The findings were published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

You may also be interested in: How this physician boosted HPV vaccinations by 31%.

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