We find that subclade K viruses are antigenically advanced; however, this year's flu vaccine surprisingly elicited antibodies in many individuals that efficiently recognized these viruses. The implications are clear: go get this year’s vaccine if you haven’t already! www.medrxiv.org/content/10.6...

The US is often the first country to introduce breakthrough vaccines and recommend them universally. That, I'd guess, is a result of the capacity and expertise in reviewing the data at the FDA and ACIP. Many countries don't have that capacity.

In the first 25 years when vaccines were routinely provided, more than 91 million cases of chickenpox, 238 000 hospitalizations, and almost 2000 deaths were prevented in the US. It was also cost-saving: with a net societal savings of at least 23.4 billion US dollars so far.

Magic Johnson was the grand marshal of the Rose Parade today, and as someone who remembers his November 1991 HIV announcement: if you had told anybody that day that he would be alive and healthy 34+ years later, I don't think they would have believed you. Medicine and research—they work.

This was a lovely first read of 2026

This was the first thing I read every morning in my local paper, starting in elementary school. I remember tearing up reading this last strip in college! One of my great joys as a parent has been watching my kids cackle as they read the collectors edition to each other when they should be asleep.

The final Calvin and Hobbes, which appeared in papers 30 years ago today.

Stood briefly next to Clyde Drexler at O’Hare on Halloween ~2000ish. Left him alone (aside from a nod that I hope conveyed respect), but later thought of the right one-liner: ‘Great Halloween costume, you look just like Clyde Drexler!’ Alas. (Guy behind me asked if it was Ron Harper… 🤣 #Chitown)

Viral infections can be unpredictable. So why roll the dice when you have access to a vaccine that makes a difference. In the US, flu vaccine is recommended for everyone not just select groups. I am on clinical service through to the new year. The hospitals are filled with flu. Help us help you.

Getting the #RSV #vaccine during pregnancy helped protect babies under 6 months: • Cut doctor visits for RSV by about two-thirds • Reduced RSV hospitalizations by about 70% jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

It’s already established that the birth dose reduces the risk of liver cancer/other liver diseases The Guinea-Bissau govt has decided to roll out the birth dose nationwide, with Gavi support So this RFK Jr-funded RCT has no equipoise & no policy value; it’s deeply unethical to WITHHOLD the dose

All right it’s time for the annual “please tell us about one (or a few if you are ambitious) paper from 2025 that really impressed you and why we should all read it“! Go! If you tell us how it changed your view of the world and what makes it so powerful and consequential It would be excellent.

Tens of thousands of annual cases of chickenpox, rotavirus, and other vaccine preventable diseases a year - in a country of six million people. Not only will Denmark’s vaccine schedule not work for the US, it already isn’t working for Denmark.

Wow, this is the wrongest I've been about a Bears time in my life. Was based on a quick glance at what was a negative point differential despite the softest schedule in the NFL, but they sure look like a playoff team & likely division champ now. Go Bears.

Hey, so. The world is awful, etc. And because of that, I'd like to ask a favor: Please spend a few minutes between now and New Years sharing the work you were most proud of this year. People might have missed it, but also, it's nice to see people feel good about the work they do

These are ALL renewal awards (with a few supplements). No new or competitive renewal awards!

Some of the most prevalent rumors fueling vaccine hesitancy are: " africans are being used for experimentation" " vaccines are meant to depopulate Africa" " vaccines are meant to kill African babies" a study like this will only add fuel to a raging fire that is already consuming vaccine uptake.

The story is based on data presented at the NHLBI Advisory Council meeting. The data show that the Early Stage Investigator funding rate declined from 29.8% in FY2023 to 26.1% in FY2024 to a stunning 18.5% in FY2025. 2/4

Our ID Division holiday party has always been heavy on kids. This year it was moved to a bar, and I... may have been the only one who didn't interpret this as "don't bring your kids". 10 & 7 yo had fun, though 10 yo did say, "You didn't tell me it was in a BEER store!" Whatever, I'm glad they came

From the moment I learned about this planned study yesterday, it bothered my spirit so much I had to lay out just how wrong and criminal it is in writing. We know better and should do better in upholding ethics of research.💔 bktitanji.substack.com/p/how-unethi...

Two pieces of fun news: 1. We've launched a new website for our lab: www.brysonlab.org 2. With some new funding, we are recruiting for new postdocs and graduate students. The projects build upon our previous studies of antigen presentation and phagosome biology and go into new exciting dimensions!

“There may be less of a vaccine mismatch than many people initially believed.” More on this very soon from our group...Go get your vaccine if you haven't already! www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/w...

This is an incredibly revealing op-ed [Gift Link] wapo.st/4aQQABT 1/7

Ahmed al Ahmed, 43, has been identified as the man who disarmed one of the Sydney attackers. Ahmed was shot by the second shooter, who was firing from a bridge. He suffered 2 gunshot wounds and is undergoing surgery.

The RFK, jr effect.

In Beasley's classic paper on the risk of liver cancer from hep B: He followed up thousands of people in Taiwan with hepatitis B surface antigen, and found they had a 223x higher risk of developing primary hepatocellular carcinoma (95% CI: 28-1497x) pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...

"I build the logistics that allow science to happen. I build the trust that allows people to participate. I build the culture that allows others to flourish. For years, I chased independence; now I understand that interdependence is the true engine of discovery." 🧪

Given recent evidence free pronouncements from FDA it’s interesting to see this *evidence* for the effectiveness of Covid vaccines at preventing visits to the emergency room or urgent care *in children* Especially the 76% effectiveness in the 9mo-4yrs age group www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes...

As an inpatient-only physician in "science-forward" Boston, I feel lucky to be a bit insulated from this sentiment, but I too feel myself shy away from conversations sometimes (esp since I don't have a longitudinal relationship with inpatients) that in Before Times I wouldn'tve thought twice about.

Outbreaks like this will continue in 2026 because the necessary vaccination rate for community immunity is around 95% and there are many areas - like this one - where the childhood vax rate is <90%. There is a safe and effective vaccine that has been used for decades. None of this has to happen.

Wow, this is an amazing post & resource! Highly recommend for all science communicators, researchers, students +anyone who wants better instincts for how the right (or wrong) visualization makes a huge difference to intepretation & understanding of data. #demography #scicomm #episky #medsky #econsky

7 yo child of 2 MDs: "I know what DNR stands for" 10 yo sib: "what?" 7 yo: "Do not reletate"

We just published our “Top of the Charts”, a look at our most popular charts, articles, data insights & more in 2025! (link in 🧵) Here are our top 5 most-viewed charts. Each Friday over the next few weeks, we’ll share the top 5 for other categories (articles, etc.). Stay tuned! 1. CO2 emissions

We are hiring!! Biological Sciences as UNC Charlotte has a broad search for a new assistant professor. Apps reviewed 12/15. Please spread the word! 💚⛏️ #PlantSci 🧪🦠🧬 jobs.charlotte.edu/postings/65141

Many of us need to keep writing federal grants (both for political reasons and as a Hail Mary to keep people employed) despite the feeling it's a waste of time, so... if you got an NSF or NIH grant funded this year, would you mind bragging about it in the replies, so it feels like the odds are >0%?

This but with birth doses of HepB and cases of congenital HepB

Evergreen

Heads up to any pancreatic cancer research that either had their R01 yanked or missed funding due to the newly restrictive paylines in 2025 (specifically anyone who scored 15%ile or below, but didn't get funding). media.pancan.org/rsa/2026/Pan...

there's a reason we have less chronic hepatitis B infections in the USA -

If you or someone you know might be interested in ID fellowship at Dartmouth, please reach out! #IDsky #fellowshipmatch

This Pluribus ad on a fridge caused a schizophrenic woman named Carol to be hospitalized.

Twelve former FDA Commissioners take Vinay Prasad to task!

This is cool for the U.S. but could be absolutely game-changing for developing countries. Funders can cut the cost of vaccines and kids only need to make trip to the clinic

An important write up from the NYT on the funding changes at the NIH. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Dr. Prasad send an email to CBER suggesting changes to the approval for respiratory vaccines based, apparently, on the conclusion of an unpublished investigation into VAERS report by unknown people. A few thoughts beyond what was already reported, based on the full email: 1/n

Oh cmon, I've just written 2 full pages about this. How does one answer "the applicant's most outstanding quality" in a textbox? "Outstanding achievement in the field of excellence"?

Happy to be surprised today - this prediction looks bad!

First day on service always means… infectious bacon egg and cheese! 🤤

Do your parent friends know there's a vaccine that can prevent one of the 10 most common types of cancer (both incidence and mortality) in the world?

The Australian Govt made the HPV vax available for free to girls from age 12 in 2007, extended to boys in 2013. #VaccinationsSaveLives