Dhaka, Aug. 3 -- U.S. health authorities have removed more than half a dozen of the nation's leading medical organizations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) vaccine advisory workgroups, a move that experts warn could fragment national vaccine guidance and erode public trust.

In an email sent Thursday, federal officials informed these organizations - including the American Medical Association (AMA), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) - that their experts would no longer participate in the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) workgroups, which have long played a key role in shaping vaccine policy in the U.S.

"I'm concerned and distressed,...