Read AMA Morning Rounds®’ most popular stories in medicine and public health from the week of June 29, 2026–July 3, 2026.
CDC raises Ebola outbreak response to highest level
Reuters (6/26, Aboulenein) reports the CDC on Friday raised its emergency activation level for the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo to level one, its most severe designation “reserved for critical emergencies and assigns the largest number of staff possible to work the response.” The outbreak “has infected over 1,200 people in Congo, including 321 deaths, and 20 cases in neighboring Uganda.” The CDC has 19 staff members deployed overseas to assist the CDC’s Congo and Uganda country offices with the response, in addition to providing financial resources and training for local field epidemiologists.
Shingles vaccine may offer protection against dementia
NBC News (6/28, Leake) reports a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine “indicates 1 in 17 dementia cases could possibly be prevented by shingles vaccination.” The study shows “patients in nursing facilities who had received at least one dose of the shingles vaccine within a year of admission had a 5.8% lower risk of developing dementia over the next four years, according to health records of more than 509,000 people, ages 66 and older, who had been admitted to U.S. nursing facilities from 2017 through 2022.”
You may also be interested in: About 1 in 3 people in the U.S. will be affected by shingles in their lifetime
About 30% of adults report seeking health information and advice from social media or chatbots
Fierce Healthcare (6/29, Meyers) reports, “Roughly three in ten adults self-reported turning to social media (31%) or AI chatbots (29%) at least monthly for health information and advice,” a recent poll found. The KFF Tracking Poll on Health Information and Trust found that “among those who used social media for healthcare advice, the three most frequently cited reasons for its usage were: wanting to learn from people who have the same health condition or share similar experiences (36%), wanting immediate information or support (35%) and not having a regular” healthcare professional “or not being able to afford the cost of seeing a” healthcare professional (17%).
You may also be interested in: Help patients understand if health trends are real, risky, or backed by science
FDA staff question whether agency should allow compounding pharmacies to manufacture peptides
Reuters (6/30, S K) reports that according to documents released by the FDA on Monday, the agency’s “staff reviewers said available evidence does not support allowing compounding pharmacies to manufacture seven popular peptides.” Their comments “come ahead of a July 23-24 meeting of its Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee, which will consider whether to add the peptides to the agency’s list of bulk drug substances permitted for use in compounded medicines.” Peptides “have surged in popularity over the past year, driven by wellness influencers who promote them for a range of uses despite limited evidence on their safety and efficacy and a lack of adequate human studies.”
You may also be interested in: Are injectable peptides safe and effective?
At least 145 cases of cyclosporiasis reported across 17 states
TODAY (7/1, Kee) reports, “At least 145 cases of cyclosporiasis were reported in 17 U.S. states between May 1 and June 16, according to” CDC data. New York has seen “the highest number of cases, followed by Illinois and Texas.” The agency “is working to identify potential sources of the parasitic infection, which are commonly linked to fresh produce.”
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