Should you wear a mask if you've got symptomatic flu? YES. If you wear it at home *from the onset of your symptoms*, your family members are much less likely to catch flu from you (but you must avoid unmasked co-sleeping and eating around same table - have your meals alone). 1/

What Steve said. There has never been a study in which high-quality, well-fitting masks were actually WORN that did not show a significant impact on disease transmission. Many mask studies failed to take account of post-allocation confounders (non-adherence + non-mask people choosing to mask).

My first lead author paper is out with Ben Kerr and @alisonfeder.bsky.social! We found that making an antiviral too strong can sometimes make resistance easier to evolve. This has implications for how we design drugs, choose doses, and think about viral evolution in the face of treatment. (1/n)

I’m from the generation that remembers when these diseases ran rampant. Perhaps we need to be reminded with a dose of repeated history

If you are interested in more detailed background information about the emergence and worldwide spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1, here is an open access video of a lecture I gave for the University of Sydney. m.youtube.com/watch?v=ImFD...

"this national cohort study of 28 million individuals, the results found no increased risk of 4-year all-cause mortality in individuals aged 18 to 59 years vaccinated against COVID-19, further supporting the safety of the mRNA vaccines that are widely used worldwide." jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Vaccines save lives: "There were no cervical cancer cases diagnosed in women aged <25 years in 2021 – the first time that this has occurred in data going back to 1982. This remarkable achievement is almost certainly due to the impact of HPV vaccination" Australia report.cervicalcancercontrol.org.au

Victorian Weekly Respiratory Surveillance Report: 28 Nov 2025 From 16 Nov – 22 Nov 2025 🔸COVID positivity rate: 3.2% (+0.8%) 🔹COVID: 515 (+9%) 🔹Influenza A: 2,283 (+26%) 🔹Influenza B: 41 (+24%) 🔹RSV: 171 (-11%) Source: health.vic.gov.au/infectious-d...

AUSTRALIA Weekly COVID Update: 28 November 2025 VIC: Up (+9.0%) NSW: Up (+5.3%) WA: Down (-34.0%) Avg 17/day in hospital QLD: Down (-11.3%) 34 in hospital (+17.2%) SA: Down (-5.5%) TAS: Next update: 12 Dec ACT: Paused reporting for 2025 Aged-care: Down (-20.9%) No deaths reported

Fascinating article! Thanks for sharing @catanita.bsky.social Phew - 88% of Australians know that antibiotics don't work against viruses.

“On February 1, 2022, while facing the Omicron variant and with the older adult newly boosted, Denmark became the first country to drop all NPIs. A few months later, 70% of the population had been infected with the Omicron variant, showing the SARS-CoV-2 transmission potential when unmitigated.”

Oooo That tiny uptick in flu I saw a few weeks ago… it hasn’t gone down. It’s grown. This is Australia. We aren’t expecting our next flu wave for months. Cause?

because bluesky is not well served by news or govt agencies - here is a map of just some of the 150 plus bushfires and other incidents in NSW right now last update: 550pm

For the first time in my career, I can’t tell people to trust what the CDC website says. And that is an incredibly sad and devastating place for this country to be.

"Maybe they know that, despite the strong case for upgrading air filtration & establishing indoor air quality requirements, this has not been done, & masks are an easy-to-implement, effective layer of protection against pathogens": Via @bcschoolcovid.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/misfitme...

Read our blog post on what antimicrobial resistance is and how you can help combat it. 💊👍 ukhsa.blog.gov.uk/2025/04/07/w...

This graph never fails to be shocking: "The US has experienced the earliest and greatest slowdown in life expectancy improvements among higher-income countries, reported Eileen Crimmins. “We have horrible life expectancy—and it’s getting worse and worse”" www.prb.org/resources/se...

Must read for all teams consulting infectious diseases #idsky #idmeded #meded #stewardship #voicesofID @cidjournal.bsky.social academic.oup.com/cid/advance-...

Fever's going up up up... 🎶 Remember to take cultures before starting antibiotics. Stay tuned for more NCAS Halloween posters over the coming weeks. @NCASHalloween2025 #antimicrobialoween

Here's a link to the US Measles Tracker tool by John Hopkins's School of Public Health: publichealth.jhu.edu/ivac/resourc...

We finally launched our cryptic lineage dashboard. It isn’t perfect, but ya gotta start somewhere. Here’s a brief tutorial. 1/ lungfish-science.github.io/wastewater-d...

As the next meeting of the now-pointless US vax advisory panel is due this week, today felt like a good time to highlight some fact-based, accessible reports that we at @independentsage.bsky.social released this year. independentsage.org/wp-content/u... independentsage.org/wp-content/u...

A new report published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology. Published: 18 September 2025 academic.oup.com/eurjpc/advan...

Epidemiologist Caitlin Rivers: "I wear a mask when incidence is high, when there’s a lot going around. I always, always, always wear a mask when traveling, regardless [of disease levels], because [when traveling] you come in contact with so many people from all over the world."

In 2023, deaths in car accidents=1290, prostate cancer=3109, melanoma/skin cancer=1382. (ABS data www.abs.gov.au/statistics/h...) We have initiatives and research to reduce these deaths, but 1359 COVID deaths in aged care? (And >5000 in total) Apparently, nobody cares? 😭

7,589 aged care COVID deaths since beginning of pandemic 🔸686 reported deaths in 2020 🔸226 reported deaths in 2021 🔸3,855 reported deaths in 2022 🔸1,359 reported deaths in 2023 🔸1,078 reported deaths in 2024 🔸385 reported deaths in 2025 @Mark_Butler_MP @SamRaeMP

Would you like some good news? A new vaccine has just been approved for protecting koalas from chlamydia, which is one of their leading causes of death.

A tenet of Fascism is keep repeating lies and people will become so confused about what is the truth that they’ll start to believe them. We all have a responsibility to keep repeating the truth in the face of politically-motivated lying. Don’t just roll your eyes, speak up.

The 2024 rankings of bacterial threats

In a randomized, controlled trial, persons with early syphilis received a single treatment or three treatments with benzathine penicillin G at a dose of 2.4 million units. No benefit was seen with the additional doses. Full trial results: nej.md/3UVCKVZ #MedSky #IDSky

Covid-19 seems to age blood vessels - but only among women. Study: academic.oup.com/eurheartj/ad... Source: archive.md/J5Wod

I can't overstate the value of the contribution by volunteer variant trackers and science communicators in keeping us informed about SARS-CoV-2. They've always been essential, but at this point they're the only reliable source of up to date information.

This study showed that with each vaccination the risks of long COVID decreases. Long COVID was defined as having symptoms for more that 6 months. One vaccination gave a 23% protection, two 27% protection, three 46% protection and four provided 71% protection. Paxlovid provided a 95% protection

Even mild Covid destroys cellular mitochondria. linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii...

Queensland has recorded 53,572 flu cases this year, with 88% unvaccinated. 🔹Nearly 4,900 new cases last week (+7% from prior week) 🔹Over 400 public hospital beds are filled daily with flu, COVID, or RSV patients. Source: archive.md/1fTab

#CDC has been advised of another 3 children who died from #flu in the 2024-25 season, bringing the confirmed pediatric death toll to 270. This number could rise further; pediatric deaths are often reported months later. Most weren't vaccinated. This is beyond tragic. www.cdc.gov/fluview/surv...

FRAUD ALERT: I have nothing to do with these phony books using my name on the cover. I have not written a memoir or partnered/inspired any cookbooks! Attempts to get Amazon to take these down have gone nowhere.

Wann Standard in Deutschland? Kaiser Permanente, USA - Vaccination and treatment impact on Long COVID beyond 6 months: •Increasing number of vaccinations further decreases Long COVID 23–36 % •Paxlovid reduced Long COVID by 95 %. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

🦇 NEW RESEARCH: Our 3-year study of Australian flying foxes identified six co-circulating coronaviruses, with highest rates of infection and co-infection in young bats, and evidence of circulating recombinants 🧪🌏 🧵 Available open access in @natcomms.nature.com 📄 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

New research article Characterisation of a persistent #SARS-CoV-2 infection lasting more than 750 days in a person living with #HIV: a genomic analysis www.thelancet.com/journals/lan... #IDSky #ClinMicro #ViroSky #COVID-19 #OpenAccess #OA

Free working paper version of "Stay-at-home works to fight against COVID-19: International evidence from Google mobility data" is available at dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.357...

Measles RSV COVID Flu Are AIRborne All Children & young people should access Vaccines AND Breathe #SaferAir #CleanAirIndoors in daycare & schools High Density Environments Governmts must invest #HealthySchools 4 #GoodVentilation & #AirFiltration ⬇️ Infectious Disease Spread Protects Community

300,000 air change measurements?! Classroom air change averaged 3.0/h (about required), but varied significantly: between schools, within each school and within each classroom throughout the year. Great work from @patriciafabian.bsky.social's group. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Interesting to compare this analysis of longevity in the UK to "Excess Deaths". Their 2024 model resulted in a small +ve change in predicted longevity, relative to their model at the end of 2023. 🧵

Here's the latest variant picture with a global scope, to late June. The NB.1.8.1 "Nimbus" and XFG.* "Stratus" variants are battling for dominance in an unclear picture. So far they have each been succeeding in different countries. #COVID19 #Global #NB_1_8_1 #Nimbus #XFG #Stratus 🧵

I’m seeing the largest #influenza wave this winter since H1N1. Many are very sick with it. #COVID is still around but in lower numbers. People are often years out of date with their shots.

It’s a continuation of this trend from last week but the influenza has gone nuts bsky.app/profile/thec...