The rate of autism in a group of 8-year-olds in the US rose from 2.76 percent (1 in 36) in 2020 to 3.22 percent (1 in 31) in 2022, according to a study out Tuesday in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, a journal published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The report's authors—researchers at the CDC and academic institutions across the country—suggest that the slight uptick is likely due to improved access to evaluations in underserved groups, including Black, Hispanic, and low-income communities.

The data comes from the CDC-funded Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network. The national network has been tracking the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in 8-year-olds at a handful of sites since 2000, publishing estimates every two years. In 2000, ASD prevalence was 1 in 150, with white children from high-income communities having the highest rates of the developmental disability. In 2020, when the rate hit 1 in 36, it was the first year in which higher ASD rates were seen in underserved communities. That year, researchers also noted that the link between ASD and socioeconomic status evaporated in most of the network.

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Health experts took to one of the country's leading medical journals to pen searing rebukes of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s first weeks as the country's top health official—and they called upon their colleagues to rise up to fight the misinformation and distrust they allege Kennedy, a long-time anti-vaccine advocate, is fomenting.

From gutting federal health agencies and knee-capping critical local public health programs, to delaying a significant vaccine advisory meeting, hiring a discredited anti-vaccine advocate to conduct a vaccine study, ousting the country's top vaccine regulator, and undermining the response to the mushrooming measles outbreak in Texas that stands to threaten the country's measles elimination status—the researchers had no shortage of complaints.

In one article, pediatric infectious disease expert Kathryn Edwards of Vanderbilt University recounted the timeline of the measles outbreak, noting the missteps, missed opportunities, and controversial comments Kennedy made along the way. The rundown included his trivialization of the outbreak, failure to strongly advocate for vaccination, promotion of unproven treatments, like cod liver oil, and delayed responses from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which Kennedy controls.

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Last week, Health Secretary and anti-vaccine advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced the Trump administration would hack off nearly a quarter of employees at the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees critical agencies including the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

The downsizing includes pushing out about 10,000 full-time employees through early retirements, deferred resignations, and other efforts. Another 10,000 will be laid off in a brutal restructuring, bringing the total HHS workforce from 82,000 to 62,000.

"This will be a painful period," Kennedy said in a video announcement last week. Early yesterday morning, the pain began.

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