As reflected in the price of a dozen free range eggs being back to costing 10.99$ www.npr.org/sections/sho...

If you read and watch one thing today it should be this pice accompanying @agawande.bsky.social documentary. "As of November 5th, it estimated that U.S.A.I.D.’s dismantling has already caused the deaths of six hundred thousand people, two-thirds of them children." www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...

The thing about being a woman and navigating the world, is that you are never safe from being sexually harassed by strangers even if you are a freaking head of state. www.bbc.com/news/article...

A new NEJM study reports results from a phase 1 trial of a Lassa virus vaccine, a recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus vector engineered to express the Lassa glycoprotein (the same platform as the approved Ebola vaccine, ERVEBO). It was safe and immunogenic. www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....

Word of the day!

A silent virus. Thousands of babies affected every year. Decades of research, still no vaccine. My latest post explains why CMV remains one of medicine’s toughest adversaries and why we can’t stop trying. #IDSky #Vaccines #MedSky open.substack.com/pub/bktitanj...

Anecdotally people are presenting sicker as well. I wonder how much of this is attributable to much lower vaccination coverage rates than during the peak of the pandemic. Adult uptake in the US stalled at 21% last year. I predict it will be lower this year. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

An outbreak of Listeria which has caused 6 deaths so far has been linked to pasta meals sold in 18 US states. Listeria infections can especially severe in young children, pregnant women, the elderly and other immunocompromised persons. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

TSA workers and air traffic controllers also have bills to pay and families to feed. I don't blame them for doing what they need to do to make ends meet. If the shutdown is not resolved by Thanksgiving it will definitely not be safe to fly that weekend. Heck it's less safe now.

This is incredibly depressing news. To come do far just to throw it all away. Measles elimination is always a win, we benefit nothing as a society from a resurgence of this infection. www.statnews.com/2025/11/03/m...

Walking may slow progression of Alzheimer's dz - Using pedometer-measured step counts in cognitively unimpaired older adults, demonstrated an association between higher physical activity and slower cognitive and functional decline in individuals w ⬆️baseline amyloid. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Food assistance for 42M Americans costs approximately 100B a year. 10 individuals grew their personal wealth in one year by an amount that could feed the 42M people needing food assistance for 7 years! Allowing children to go hungry as a society is a choice. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Again LLMs spit out whatever information is used to train them. In this instance sexism in, sexism out 🤷🏽‍♀️. They amplify all pre-existing biases which is why pervasive unregulated use of AI is so dangerous.

The weekly US influenza surveillance report is now lagging behind by 6 weeks. The last data update was for the week of September 20th. This used to be a vital tool to alert on how widely flu was circulating during peak season. Looks like we will be flying blind this year. www.cdc.gov/fluview/surv...

I know it's November 1st but we cannot thaw out Maria until after thanksgiving ok!!! Them's the rules.

Even the female heads of state of African countries are authoritarian 🙆🏿‍♀️. She locked up her political opponents, disappeared dissidents, had a fraudulent election and declared herself winner. Cameroon, Ivory Coast and Tanzania a tough few weeks of failed democracy. 🫠🫠🫠 www.bbc.com/news/article...

Ever since that year I forgot to buy candy and I gave out carrot and celery sticks to kids looking for a "trick or treat", my home has been routinely skipped. I fear I have been labelled the neighborhood grinch. Happy Halloween to the better prepared adults and the kids they loaded up with candy :)

This study is getting a lot of media attention reports that children exposed to COVID-19 in the womb had slightly higher rates of neuro-developmental diagnoses by age 3. It’s a large study (18,000 births). journals.lww.com/greenjournal...

Really cool study: a fully recombinant antivenom made not from horse serum but from nanobodies i.e. tiny, single-chain antibodies derived from alpacas and llamas. These molecules are smaller, more stable, cheaper to produce, and less likely to trigger immune reactions. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Most people are closer to one day needing food assistance than they are to ever becoming a billionaire. Show empathy. 4000 patients who utilize our RW clinic are SNAP benefit eligible. On the eve of funding expiring we are all thinking about contingency plans to support them through this time.

Vaccine stock piles can transform how we respond to outbreaks on infectious disease. These days Ebola Zaire vaccines are deployed within days of a new outbreak being detected. Great to see this partnership strive to do same for Nipah virus www-expresspharma-in.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.expr...

Three major respiratory viruses COVID-19, RSV & flu still drive hospitalizations yearly. A new review of 511 studies shows current vaccines work. COVID-19 mRNA shots targeting XBB.1.5 cut hospitalizations by ~46–50%; newer KP.2-adapted vaccines reached 68% effectiveness. www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....

A major study just published in NEJM offers powerful, locally generated evidence from Africa on an old question: can steroids save lives in community-acquired pneumonia (CAP)? The answer from Kenya’s SONIA trial: yes and safely so. 🧵 www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....

Yup because the powers that be do not know the difference between transgenic and transgender. www.statnews.com/2025/10/29/n...

The horrors of the ongoing war in Sudan are not talked about enough. 460 people including patients killed by a paramilitary attack on a hospital. This isn't even the worst massacre of tge senseless war. apnews.com/article/suda...

If SNAP benefits vanished tomorrow, feeding 42 million Americans for a month would cost about $7.8 billion.That’s less than 1% of the combined net worth of the three richest men in the U.S. A reminder of how obscene inequality has become and how easily hunger could be solved if we chose to.

The story was amended. Tulane clarified that the monkeys are not infectious or infected. Hopefully animal control humanely captures and returns the missing animals.

I periodically write myth busting threads on topics around vaccines and infectious diseases on my blusesky page. Are there any myths you would like to see me debunk in future posts? Drop "requests" in the replies.😊 I'd love to hear from you.

The thing about outbreaks of infectious diseases is that you can only hide them for so long. Time literally is containment. And the whistle always blows once people start to die ( in this instance babies). This is why we have public health surveillance and reporting. www.npr.org/sections/sho...

Rabies is almost always fatal in infected humans and animals once symptoms appear. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/27/s...

I am an infectious disease Dr and I would gladly find something else to do with my life if we were able to eliminate all infections through vaccination and public health measures.That's how strongly I feel about infection prevention & the positive impact of vaccines. I am ok with being out of a job.

Excellent reporting by @stephanienolen.bsky.social on the resurgence of #Diphteria in displaced populations, with a focus on #Somalia. The resurgence of this infectious disease is happening globally due to declining vaccination rates. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/27/h...

This one hit a bit too close to home :) Thankfully I am in rehab actively working on having a healthier and less abusive relationship with academia.

The MAHA plan was ALWAYS intended to undermine vaccines. - Rolling back access - Seeding doubt on vaccine effectiveness - Pushing false narratives about vaccine harms - Crippling the infrastructure for vaccine approval and guidelines www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

🧵 Myth Busting Monday: “Vitamin supplements can help your immune system fight off viruses and bacteria.” The idea that taking vitamin supplements can “boost” your immune system and help you fight infections has been around for decades. It feels intuitive but the science is far more nuanced.

A fake election with fake results. The 92 year old dictator already 43 years in power "wins" an 8th mandate to continue oppressing cameroonians for 7 more years This is authoritarian rule. Protect and cherish your functioning democracy, it's precious. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Could I interest you in a bout of norovirus for the attractive price of 1000$ a night? I've heard this will be premium noro, you will never forget it. A once in a lifetime experience. 💩🤢💩🤮 www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2025/...

Finally read the paper and it's worth the buzz. mRNA vaccines saved 20 million lives in a global pandemic and the technology is opening up new avenues for the treatment of deadly cancers. This is really one of the most impactful scientific developments of our time. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Not a great news week for vaccines in development. Sanofi has dropped its phase 3 live intranasal pediatric RSV vaccine because of low performance in the clinical trial. The wait for an RSV vaccine for kids continues. www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/sano...

Everything I have read about the Louvre heist has kept me firmly in the camp of the "heisters". Sherlock here ain't solving any mysteries 😂 www.nytimes.com/2025/10/23/s...

CMV is a very tough target. Disappointing to see that the mRNA vaccine candidate from moderna showed little protective effect against congenital CMV infecton. Ongoing phase 2 trials of the vaccine in transplant population is continuing. www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/mode...

I once paid 10.99 euros for a Kopi Luwak espresso because I am incurably curious. As a big coffee drinker, I think it was pretty mid. I have had better and cheaper.😏 www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Marching and protesting is great but real action is even better. If you can afford it, find and donate to a local food pantry in your area. The families that depend on SNAP benefits could really use the support over coming weeks to months.❤️🫂 give.feedingamerica.org/SnP--N8F9EuA...

Since 2023 Cambodia has reported human cases of H5N1 bird flu after a decade. 16 infections from Feb 2023–Aug 2024, mostly in children and teens exposed to backyard poultry. Mortality reached 38%. Sequencing shows all cases were of avian origin not human-to-human spread. www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....

This year's #IDweek is now over. Our community has taken so many hits since the pandemic and now the assaults on public health, science, vaccines etc. Yet the infectious disease community has some of the most dedicated, resilient and thoughtful people I know. Here's to hope & staying with the fight.

The RSV pre-fusion vaccine Abrysvo is really effective in the real world. In this new study effectiveness in the first season post-licensure, the vaccine was 92% effective in preventing severe infection defined as an ER visit or hospitalization requiring oxygen. academic.oup.com/cid/advance-...

This week @defendpublichealth.bsky.social tackles Sec Kennedy's repeated claims that vaccines create "Immune Overload" correcting his falsehoods about the functioning of the immune system. www.defendpublichealth.org/opinion/whop...

"A river doesn't argue with rocks, it flows around them" Public health, Science and evidence based medicine much like a river will find a way to keep flowing during this time. Sad it's coming to this, but alternatives are important and needed right now. www.statnews.com/2025/10/21/c...

The absence of our CDC and NIH colleagues is profoundly felt at this year's #IDweek2025 meeting happening in Atlanta the city where the agency is head-quartered. www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdi...

Three cases of clade Ib mpox not related to travel have been reported in LA. This raises concerns for probable local transmission. Vaccines are available and work to reduce disease severity or prevent infection. If you are eligible to get vaccinated do so. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...