Evidence-based posts about public health & equity. All views are my own.
Mitch McConnell and other members of Congress deserve paid sick leave So does everyone working in every other job
Don MoynihanThe point is that members of Congress have de facto unlimited paid sick leave, even when members of the public are asking why they aren't turning up for work. Its a benefit that he, and other Republicans like Tom Kean, oppose for the rest of us.
The cyclosporiasis outbreak illustrates the importance of public health expertise, data, & systems for maintaining a good standard of living Investments in public health people & infrastructure reduce the risk of substantial costs to health, well-being, & the economy
US outbreak of parasite causing ‘watery diarrhea’ rises to more than 2,800 casesCyclosporiasis outbreak comes a year after Trump officials cut funding for state and local health departmentswww.theguardian.comHave a happy & healthy holiday weekend ☀️ Some best practices for swim fun 💦 🛟 Choose areas with lifeguards 🏊🏽♀️🏊🏿♂️ Swim with a bud 👧🏽 Kids require 💯 adult attention in the water, no phones. Drowning happens quickly & quietly 🎈 Take turns as 💯 attentive “water watchers” in group settings Have fun 😎
☀️ As a heat wave hits the East Coast, sharing how to stay cool without A/C 💦 Spray bottles, wetting clothing, & cold water on feet, hands, & neck 🧊 Can freeze water bottles / ice packs / ice towels overnight & hold them 💕 & adding check on neighbors nicholasinstitute.duke.edu/project/heat...
The bootcamp flu outbreak illustrates the importance of public health policies, including how policies amount to more than the sum of individual decisions Policy decisions also involve trade-offs. Few policies are fully costless Glad troops will return to an evidence-based policy with much benefit
Pentagon restores mandatory flu shots for all recruits as boot camp outbreak sickens nearly 300The Pentagon said Wednesday that boot camps for all the military services are once again requiring the flu vaccination for all recruits after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made the shot optional for ...www.yahoo.com“Ultimately, the survival of democracy depends not only on laws and constitutions, but on the behaviour of institutions & the people who lead them... The time to act is not after the collapse, but during the slow, quiet moments when resistance still has a chance to prevail.”
Martin McKee🧵1/ In our new paper, @chrischirp.bsky.social & I argue that while institutions can resist authoritarian pressure, some enable it. Looking at the current US regime, we examine why universities, law firms, and corporations often chose accommodation over resistance.
Grateful to the leaders, health care workers, & people exposed to or infected with #hantavirus @who.int, @ecdc.europa.eu, & CDC staff predominantly led with a rapid, evidence-based, & compassionate approach that made all the difference — containing the harms of this severe disease
The GuardianRight now, we could be living through a hantavirus disaster. The world avoided that, and this is why | Devi Sridhar
Vaccines are a win-win, good for ourselves as well as our shared communities www.nytimes.com/2026/06/18/u...
Scores Fall Ill at Air Force Base After Hegseth Makes Flu Vaccine Optionalwww.nytimes.comDid you know? Monied influence groups reach into public health and medicine as well These groups recruit leaders in the field — and increasingly fund them to support their aims, especially as federal funding is so diminished idp.nature.com/authorize?re...
Epstein files reveal deeper ties to scientists than previously knownLatest batch of documents show researchers consulting the financier and sex offender on publications, visas and more.idp.nature.comGrateful to @robincogan.bsky.social for her persistence in speaking up for kids I’m so sorry to learn of her loss May we carry forward the work she championed As she shared, “Voice is not simply a professional tool. It is part of our responsibility to society.”
The Relentless School Nurse: Experience Is Not the End of the Story: It is the Part We Carry ForwardAs I write this, retirement is beginning to come into view after decades in nursing and school health. If all goes as planned, I expect to step away from my daily work at the start of 2027. Retirem…relentlessschoolnurse.comLove this campaign to make Berkeley welcoming in spirit & in action 🌞 Link to donate to the yard signs campaign ➡️ donorbox.org/help-pay-for... Thank you to artist & organizer @libbington.bsky.social & @eastbayforeveryone.bsky.social
What was the R in the Andes variant #hantavirus outbreak detailed in NEJM? R across outbreak: 1.19, “a finding that suggests … potential for self-sustaining transmission (R>1)” R before mitigation: 2.1 R after case isolation & contact quarantine: 0.96 Isolation & quarantine key to limit spread
“Super-Spreaders” and Person-to-Person Transmission of Andes Virus in Argentina | NEJMFrom November 2018 through February 2019, person-to-person transmission of Andes virus (ANDV) hantavirus pulmonary syndrome occurred in Chubut Province, Argentina, and resulted in 34 confirmed infe...www.nejm.orgGrateful to CDPH for leading a compassionate, evidence-based response to hantavirus exposures Dr. Pan opens with sympathy for how hard this is for those exposed & loved ones "The risk to the general public in CA remains extremely low" & public health workers are working hard to keep it that way
CDPH Hantavirus Briefing - May 11, 2026YouTube video by California Department of Public Healthm.youtube.com