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This is a MedPage Today story. Both the World Health Organization (WHO) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommend vitamin A for all patients with measles — not just severe cases — but experts warn that this shouldn’t be seen as a replacement for vaccination. In a recent opinion piece for Fox News, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrote that studies support the administration of vitamin A "under the supervision of a physician for those with mild, moderate, and severe infection" and that it can reduce mortality from the disease. He also indicated that the CDC had recently broadened its recommendation to use vitamin A in all measles cases, not just severe disease. While Kennedy appeared to support measles vaccination in that opinion piece — he wrote that vaccines "contribute to community immunity, protecting those who are unable to be vaccinated due to medical reasons" — he also noted that the choice to vaccinate is a personal one. Taken together, experts…

This is a MedPage Today story. A strike involving nearly 5,000 healthcare workers at Providence Health in Oregon, which began Jan. 10, has come to an end. Late Monday, eight RN bargaining units voted overwhelmingly to ratify their contracts and end the strike, which was believed to be the largest involving healthcare workers, and the first involving physicians, in the state’s history, according to the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA), which represented the workers. Among the key provisions in the contracts were that nurses will receive wage increases ranging from 20% to 42% over the life of the contract, with an immediate 16% to 22% raise upon ratification, and that patient acuity will be factored into staffing plans. "As RNs, we believe that these contracts will lead to greater recruitment and retention of frontline nurses as wages become more aligned with other health systems, and we have staffing language that will allow us to spend more time with the patients that need the most…

This is a MedPage Today story. Public health officials are looking into reports of a small potential uptick in neurologic complications of influenza in children — particularly a rapidly progressing and dangerous condition called acute necrotizing encephalopathy (ANE). Adrienne Randolph, MD, MSc, of Boston Children’s Hospital, said she reported about 12 potential cases of flu-associated ANE to CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD) in the past few weeks. Randolph’s position as the leader of the Pediatric Intensive Care Influenza Network gives her particular insight into what’s happening with influenza complications in children across the country. "There’s not a study going on to say that these cases are all really acute necrotizing encephalopathy," Randolph told MedPage Today, urging caution about making preliminary conclusions. "That’s why I informed the CDC about potential cases across the U.S. that I was made aware of. They can…

This is a MedPage Today story. A patient at Provident Hospital in Chicago allegedly stabbed an emergency physician in the chest. (FOX 32) A physician in the U.K. is facing a second hearing over sexual misconduct allegations that he talked to female patients in a "hypnotic way." (BBC News) A Florida nurse may lose her eyesight after a patient allegedly attacked her and broke nearly every bone in her face. A 33-year-old man has been arrested in the attack. (WFLA, NBC Miami) Nebraska family physician Jacob Smith, MD, has been accused of distributing child pornography. (KOLN) Missouri physician Sonny Saggar, MD, was sentenced to nearly 3 years in prison for healthcare fraud, after billing federal payers for doctor visits that were actually performed by assistant physicians. (KSDK) Five-year-old Thomas Cooper’s mother watched in horror as he burned to death in a hyperbaric chamber that went up in flames. The family plans to take legal action in the coming weeks. (Detroit Free…