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Ed Belongia MD @belongia.bsky.social · 3d

Now that’s a novel idea.

Ed Belongia MD @belongia.bsky.social · 3d

And they ignored the pandemic response plan that was developed during the Obama administration.

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Ed Belongia MD @belongia.bsky.social · 3d

CDC has been a global leader in public health & played a key role in smallpox eradication. Health depts in red states & blue states rely on CDC expertise & support. The CDC EIS program trains the next generation of public health leaders & disease detectives.

They are burning it to the ground.

JAMA Health Forum Oct 9, 2025 by LO Gostin and P Lurie.
Abstract
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has long served as the cornerstone of the US
public health system, combining technical expertise, evidence-based policy recommendations, and high-quality health information. Yet, it is undergoing profound weakening by the Trump administration, including major funding cuts, the dismissal and resignation of experienced senior staff, and the erosion of its scientific independence. With tightening political control, public trust in
the CDC is diminishing. Undermining the agency’s reputation and capacities will reverberate for generations, making the nation less prepared for future health emergencies, including diseases of
pandemic potential. At this perilous moment, we document the current assault on the CDC that will inevitably have serious repercussion

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Reposted by Ed Belongia MD

Alt CDC (they/them) @altcdc.altgov.info · 4d

RIFed
Civilians in Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS)-CDC’s Disease Detectives

Read about this rigorous training program 👇
"They are not household names but over the years they were first to confront the outbreaks that became known as hantavirus, Ebola & AIDS."

This decision will haunt our future

Beating Back the Devil

Check out Beating Back the Devil - <B>The universal human instinct is to run from an outbreak of disease like Ebola. These doctors run toward it. Their job is to stop epidemics from happening.</B><BR>...

bookshop.org

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Reposted by Ed Belongia MD

🎃 public HELLth guy 🎃 @publichealthguy1.bsky.social · 4d

illegal and dangerous

Sheryl Gay Stolberg @sherylnyt.bsky.social · 4d

BREAKING: Friday night massacre underway at CDC. Doznes of "disease detectives," high-level scientists, entire Washington staff and editors of the MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) have all been RIFed and received the following notice:

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Reposted by Ed Belongia MD

Dorit Reiss @doritreiss.bsky.social · 4d

Seen on LinkedIn: “Staff at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention across multiple programs being fired tonight, including all current (civilian) Epidemic Intelligence Service, and several people working on the Ebola response.”

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Ed Belongia MD @belongia.bsky.social · 4d

The license remains valid even if the product is not sold in the US. For example, the live shingles vaccine (Zostavax) is still licensed but Merck does not sell it in the US. The left the US market after ACIP made a preferential recommendation for the recombinant shingles vaccine (Shingrix).

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Ed Belongia MD @belongia.bsky.social · 5d

There are other monovalent measles vaccines but I think only Attenuvax is licensed in the US. The path to licensure is slow and uncertain.

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Ed Belongia MD @belongia.bsky.social · 5d

Excellent point.

Ed Belongia MD @belongia.bsky.social · 5d

Correction: The measles monovalent vax (Attenuvax) is licensed in the US but not currently manufactured here.

Andrew Noymer @andrewnoymer.bsky.social · 5d

Merck already makes a monovalent measles vaccine, Attenuvax®.

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Ed Belongia MD @belongia.bsky.social · 5d

CDCs demand to break up MMR vax into separate monovalent shots is public health malpractice.
These vax are widely used worldwide. The 2 manufacturers (Merck & GSK) could easily decide to abandon the US market rather than take a big financial risk on clinical development & licensure of separate shots

HELLody SchreiBOO @melodyschreiber.com · 5d

Andrew Wakefield claimed without evidence in a retracted study that there was a link between autism and the combination MMR vaccine -- but not separate shots.

Wakefield filed a patent for his own separate shots the year before the study was published.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Alarm as CDC calls for separate MMR vaccines despite measles outbreak

Concerns that three separate shots would be more costly and time-consuming, and keep kids from being vaccinated

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Ed Belongia MD

🎃 public HELLth guy 🎃 @publichealthguy1.bsky.social · 7d

they just slapped a surgeons general warning on RFK like he’s a pack of cigarettes

Dan Diamond @ddiamond.bsky.social · 7d

“Secretary Kennedy is entitled to his views. But he is not entitled to put people’s health at risk.”

Six former surgeons general condemn RFK Jr.

Opinion | Six surgeons general: RFK Jr. is a threat to the health of Americans

It was our duty in office to warn of dangers when we found them. We’re doing that again today.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Ed Belongia MD @belongia.bsky.social · 9d

CDC is being run by politicians now.

"there are few experienced leaders left at the CDC; some 80% of..center leaders were laid off or terminated, or have [left]. Houry was the only permanent career official in CDC's office of the director... there were 10 political appointees remaining, she said."

🎃 public HELLth guy 🎃 @publichealthguy1.bsky.social · 9d

a respected senior CDC official telling the public that the federal agency has undergone a hostile takeover and it barely makes the news because that’s the state of the world today

Prof Sheena Cruickshank @sheencr.bsky.social · 10d

This is another damning picture of Kennedy refusing to meet with senior scientists and get advice about infections or vaccines whilst he spreads disinformation #healthpolicy

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Reposted by Ed Belongia MD

Madhu Pai, MD, PhD @madhupai.bsky.social · 12d

PubMed is in trouble

This is beyond bad for medical research

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

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Ed Belongia MD @belongia.bsky.social · 10d

No training in stats or climate models is needed to understand this is bad news for the planet 👇

Zack Labe @zacklabe.com · 10d

Record warm ocean temperatures continued in September across the North Pacific Ocean, with a number of consequential impacts (including on downstream weather patterns).

This graph shows the average for a band across the midlatitudes for every September from 1854-2025 using @noaa.gov ERSSTv5 data.

Green line graph time series of average sea surface temperature anomalies for each September from 1850 through 2025 for only the midlatitude region of the North Pacific Ocean. There is large interannual variability, but an overall long-term increasing trend. Anomalies are computed relative to a 1981-2010 baseline. 2025 is a record high.

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Ed Belongia MD @belongia.bsky.social · 14d

“If you add the conspicuous absence of pro-vaccination messages to the glut of misleading statements from top health officials about vaccine safety and effectiveness, the federal government’s effort this year looks more like a proactive campaign to discourage vaccination.”
👇

CIDRAP @cidrap.bsky.social · 14d

Viewpoint: What we don’t see about #vaccines COULD hurt us

The Vaccine Integrity Project staff and advisors note the conspicuous absence of US health agency vaccine campaigns and annual vaccination reminders ahead of respiratory virus season.

www.cidrap.umn.edu/c...

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Ed Belongia MD @belongia.bsky.social · 18d

281 US children died from the flu in the 2024-25 season. Vaccination saves lives. 👇

Dr. Tom Frieden @drtomfrieden.bsky.social · 18d

More kids died from flu last season than in any non-pandemic season since monitored began 20 years ago. Almost 90% were unvaccinated. Parents: talk to your doctor about getting your kids vaccinated. www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes...

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Ed Belongia MD @belongia.bsky.social · 19d

Great 🧵 and published review on COVID and flu vax effectiveness & evidence supporting a policy of universal flu & COVID-19 vaccination. 👇👇

Dr. Dawn Bowdish @msmacrophage.bsky.social · 19d

I'm excited to share our review "Rationalizing recommendations for influenza and COVID-19 vaccines", which we feel makes a strong case for universal influenza and COVID-19 vaccination policies. With almost 500 references & 8 supplementary tables it's a beast so let me break it down for you....1/n

Rationalizing recommendations for influenza and COVID-19 vaccines

Influenza vaccination saves lives, reduces short-term and long-term health consequences, decreases healthcare utilization, and improves pregnancy outc…

www.sciencedirect.com

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Ed Belongia MD @belongia.bsky.social · 19d

Thank you!🙏

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Ed Belongia MD @belongia.bsky.social · 21d

"So ACIP will say the risk of febrile seizures [after MMR] is intolerably high, it cannot be reduced without the supposedly dangerous autism pill, & the only solution is to withhold a vaccine that has...protected America’s children..." @angierasmussen.bsky.social

open.substack.com/pub/rasmusse...

The Poison Pill to End the MMR is Tylenol

If you think Tylenol is bad for babies, wait until you hear about rubella virus

open.substack.com

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Ed Belongia MD @belongia.bsky.social · 22d

👇 Timely 🧵 on public health news from @ylepidemiologist.bsky.social

Your Local Epidemiologist @ylepidemiologist.bsky.social · 22d

1/ It’s Monday, which means a brand-new edition of The Dose. This week we're looking at the messy #vaccine headlines after last week's ACIP meeting, falls among older adults, loneliness among young people, and a top question on Covid shots at pharmacies. Here’s what you need to know 👇

Reposted by Ed Belongia MD

Prasad Jallepalli, MD, PhD @prasad.bsky.social · 22d

statement by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists

ACOG @acog.org · 22d

ACOG reaffirms that acetaminophen is safe for managing pain and fever during pregnancy. No reputable studies support suggestions like those in HHS’s recent announcement linking acetaminophen use in pregnancy to autism; in fact, high-quality studies show no such risk. https://bit.ly/47Wxc59

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Reposted by Ed Belongia MD

Prof Gavin Yamey @gavinyamey.bsky.social · 22d

Medical ethicist Arthur Kaplan, quoted in the NYT:

“The announcement on autism was the saddest display of a lack of evidence, rumors, recyling old myths, lousy advice, outright lies & dangerous advice I have ever witnessed by anyone in authority in the world claiming to know anything about science”

Prof Gavin Yamey @gavinyamey.bsky.social · 22d

This MAGA/MAHA/Trump/RFK Jr/Dr Oz/Dr Bhattacharya press conference right now is quite possibly the worst press conference—from the viewpoints of medicine, public health, & medical ethics—that I’ve ever seen. These men are so shameless & deeply irresponsible. Wherever happened to science & evidence?

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Ed Belongia MD @belongia.bsky.social · 22d

This large Swedish study found no association between acetaminophen & autism using matched sibling controls. Also no dose-response effect. Ppl who use acetaminophen while pregnant differ in many ways from those who do not, & using sibling controls was a great way to reduce unmeasured confounding

Discussion

Sibling control analyses found no evidence that acetaminophen use during pregnancy was associated with children’s risk of autism, ADHD, or intellectual disability. This suggests that the small increase in children’s risk of neurodevelopmental disorders associated with acetaminophen use observed in statistical models without sibling control may have been due to unmeasured confounding. In addition, sibling control analyses did not identify a dose-response association between acetaminophen and neurodevelopmental disorders.

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Reposted by Ed Belongia MD

Peter Gleick @petergleick.bsky.social · 27d

🚨🚨
If I could just summarize 1 sentence from the new National Academy of Sciences study on climate, boldface, flashing red, it would be:

"the evidence for current and future harm to human health and welfare created by human-caused GHGs is beyond scientific dispute."

BEYOND SCIENTIFIC DISPUTE
🚨🚨

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