HJNO Mar/Apr 2026

34 MAR / APR 2026  I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF NEW ORLEANS   Healthcare Briefs Dr. Ralph Abraham Steps Down fromCDC post A former top state health official from Louisiana is leaving his fairly new leadership role with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Ralph Abraham, MD, will step down as prin- cipal deputy director of the CDC “to address unforeseen family obligations,” the agency said in a brief statement. The Trump administration picked Abraham for the role in November, and he assumed his new duties in January. “It has been an honor to serve alongside the dedicated public health professionals at the CDC and to support the agency’s critical mis- sion,” Abraham said in the statement that pro- vided no additional information on the reason for his departure. Abraham, 71, was Gov. Jeff Landry’s pick to lead the Louisiana Department of Health when he took office in January 2024. The government and state legislature created the role of surgeon general later that year specifically for Abraham, moving him to a role more involved with healthcare pol- icy and less with the day-to-day operations of the department. The appointment of Abraham to a top position at the Centers for Disease Control and Preven- tion is among several moves the Trump admin- istration has made in its overhaul of the agency. U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has placed the center in the crosshairs of his “Make America Healthy Again” movement, forcing out officials who challenged his views on vaccines that steered away from scientific consensus. Abraham’s replacement as Louisiana’s surgeon general, Baton Rouge OB/GYN Dr. Evelyn Griffin, was one of Kennedy’s picks to the CDC’s vaccine advisory panel. She supported his policy to end decades-old guidelines that called for newborns to be vaccinated for hepatitis B at birth. The shot is now recommended only for babies whose mother test positive for the virus. During his stint as surgeon general, Abraham ended the state health department’s annual cam- paign to promote and provide influenza flu vac- cinations. He said patients should instead first consult with their physician before receiving a flu shot. Abraham has also promoted COVID-19 treat- ments that infectious disease experts have widely debunked, including taking hydroxychloroquine, a medication used to prevent malaria, and iver- mectin, a drug used for parasitic infections. His career started in veterinary medicine before he earned his physician’s degree at age 40. He’s continued to operate a small rural health prac- tice in Northeast Louisiana throughout his time in elected office and government roles. The full Louisiana Illuminator article this news brief was taken from is available at: https://lailluminator.com/briefs/abraham-cdc/ CDC Updates Childhood ImmunizationRecommendations In January, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Acting Director Jim O’Neill updated the U.S. childhood immunization schedule. CDC recommends all children be vaccinated against: diphtheria, tetanus, acellular pertussis (whoop- ing cough), Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), Pneumococcal conjugate, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, human papillomavirus (HPV), and varicella (chickenpox). The agency also rec- ommends one dose rather than two of the HPV vaccine. For certain high-risk groups or populations, CDC recommends vaccination against: respira- tory syncytial virus (RSV), hepatitis A, hepatitis B, dengue, meningococcal ACWY, and meningo- coccal B. CDC recommends immunizations for rotavirus, COVID-19, influenza, meningococcal disease, hepatitis A, and hepatitis B be deter- mined through shared decision-making between physicians and parents. All immunizations recommended by CDC as of December 31, 2025, will continue to be fully cov- ered by Affordable Care Act insurance plans and federal insurance programs, including Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and the Vaccines for Children program. NewVaccine Could be First to Prevent Deadly Emerging Tropical Disease Researchers at Tulane University have devel- oped the first vaccine shown to successfully pro- tect nonhuman primates frommelioidosis, a little- known tropical disease now seen as an emerging global public health threat. The disease is caused by bacteria that live in soil and groundwater, and no vaccine exists to prevent infection, which can rapidly cause life-threatening pneumonia or sepsis. Melioidosis is caused by Burkholderia pseudo- mallei, bacteria most often found in Southeast Asia and northern Australia. Although long con- sidered absent from the United States, B. pseu- domallei has been recently found in the Gulf Coast as well as in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Vir- gin Islands. The bacteria can enter open wounds of someone walking in a rice paddy, for example, or be ingested or inhaled. There are an estimated 165,000 cases of meli- oidosis worldwide annually, though it’s believed to be highly underreported as symptoms can vary drastically. Mortality rate ranges from 20% to 50% as the bacteria are naturally resistant to many anti- biotics, and relapse can occur even after months of intensive therapy. While the vaccine has not yet gone to human clinical trial, it was tested on human immune cell samples, and the findings, published in Nature Communications , suggest that the vaccine will produce the desired immune responses for pro- tection in humans. Development of the vaccine has taken more than a decade and required global collaboration between Tulane University, Northern Arizona Uni- versity, University of California Irvine, and Charles Darwin University in Australia. Supreme Court Reverses Louisiana Ruling on Emergency Immunity and Federal Claims In December 2025, the Supreme Court of the United States reversed a Louisiana appellate decision that had dismissed a patient’s federal Ralph Abraham, MD