Read AMA Morning Rounds®’ most popular stories in medicine and public health from the week of Aug. 18, 2025–Aug. 22, 2025.
Pan American Health Organization reports measles surge in the Americas
Reuters (8/15, Mejías Valencia) said the Pan American Health Organization on Friday “reported...an increase in measles cases in the Americas, particularly North America, amid rising deaths from the infection in Mexico, the United States and Canada.” PAHO figures show that as of August 8, “10,139 cases of measles and 18 related deaths had been confirmed from among 10 countries in the Americas, representing a 34-fold increase compared to the same period in 2024.” Of those 18 deaths, “14 were in Mexico, three in the United States and one in Canada.” The UN agency attributed the outbreaks to low vaccination coverage, “as 71% of cases occurred in unvaccinated people and 18% in individuals with unknown vaccination status.”
You may also be interested in: What doctors wish patients knew about measles.
FDA approves first new fibromyalgia therapy in 15 years
HCP Live (8/15, Campbell) reported the FDA on Friday approved “Tonix Pharmaceuticals’ TNX-102 SL, under the name Tonmya, for treating adults with fibromyalgia, the first new drug for the indication in over 15 years.” Data from the phase 3 RESILIENT study indicated that “TNX-102 SL demonstrated a highly statistically significant improvement in the primary endpoint of statistically significantly reducing daily NRS pain scores compared with placebo starting at week 1 and continuing until Week 14, with an effect size of 0.38.” The treatment is a “sublingual formulation of cyclobenzaprine and is also the first member of a new class of non-opioid analgesic drugs for fibromyalgia. Tonix originally announced the FDA’s acceptance of its new drug application for the medication in December 2024.”
COVID-19 is associated with early vascular aging
HealthDay (8/18, Gotkine) reports, “COVID-19 is associated with early vascular aging, as assessed by carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity, an established biomarker of large artery stiffness, and this association is particularly strong in women, according to a study.” Investigators came to this conclusion after conducting “a prospective cohort study involving 2,390 adults recruited from 34 centers in 16 countries.” The findings were published in the European Heart Journal.
California resident tests positive for plague
ABC News (8/20, Benadjaoud) reports local health officials say a resident of South Lake Tahoe, California, has tested positive for plague. The person “is believed to have been bitten by an infected flea while camping, officials said. In a separate incident last month, a person in Arizona died from plague.”
CDC warns five states at high risk of COVID-19 outbreaks based on wastewater levels
Axios (8/21, Scribner, Alberty) says that Utah, Texas, Nevada, Alaska, and Hawaii are “most at risk of COVID-19 outbreaks, based on the virus’ presence in wastewater, the CDC reports.” The “stratus” variant and other versions of the virus are circulating nationally, with “very high” wastewater levels in those five states as of early August. As of Aug. 12, the CDC said COVID-19 infections “are growing or likely growing” in the majority of states.
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