Audrey John MD PhD
@odomjohnlab.bsky.social
360 followers 390 following 56 posts
Infectious diseases physician, scientist, mentor, mom, Chief @CHOP_ID | lab goals: new ways to diagnose and treat infection | views my own | #PedsIDSky #IDSky #PedsSky
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
Reposted by Audrey John MD PhD
strandjunker.com
“Terrible things are happening outside. Poor helpless people are being dragged out of their homes. Families are torn apart. Men, women, and children are separated. Children come home from school to find that their parents have disappeared.”

Diary of Anne Frank
January 13, 1943
Reposted by Audrey John MD PhD
jeremymberg.bsky.social
The fiscal year is over.

So how was the NIH appropriation committed?

A long thread with institute by institute results about where the money went.
a white cat is sitting on a box with the words where written on it .
ALT: a white cat is sitting on a box with the words where written on it .
media.tenor.com
Reposted by Audrey John MD PhD
erictopol.bsky.social
Children and teens who had a Covid reinfection had a doubling of #LongCovid risk (PASC) and a significant increase in many other adverse outcomes (Figure) www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Reposted by Audrey John MD PhD
unicefusa.org
5-year-old Suza from #DRCongo should still be alive. Malaria is treatable, but medicine wasn't available when she needed it.

Heartbreaking, urgent reporting from @washingtonpost.com shows how even brief interruptions in aid delivery can have dire consequences for vulnerable communities:
Trump’s USAID pause stranded lifesaving drugs. Children died waiting.
USAID antimalarial and HIV supplies valued at nearly $140 million were delayed in the first half of the year or not delivered at all due to the Trump administration’s foreign aid pause, The Post found...
wapo.st
Reposted by Audrey John MD PhD
pwhickey.bsky.social
I can tell you from personal experience caring for children like this that pertussis in a young infant is one of the most wicked diseases you can imagine.

It’s why we recommend that people get vaccination boosts both if pregnant or living in close proximity to young children.
Reposted by Audrey John MD PhD
joshuasweitz.bsky.social
"The pigtailed girl who liked pretty dresses was battling malaria and desperately needed medication that could save her life. That medication, already purchased by a U.S.-taxpayer-funded program, was tantalizingly close...

www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...
The Geneva health center where Suza could not be treated following the cut in USAID funds is seen in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo, on Aug. 3. (Arlette Bashizi/For The Washington Post)
Reposted by Audrey John MD PhD
tomsandora.bsky.social
This is a truly remarkable finding: 17 years after introduction of the HPV vaccine, there was a decreased prevalence of HPV infection (and therefore decreased cancer risk) in both vaccinated AND unvaccinated individuals. Cancer prevention through herd immunity!!!
Population-Level Effectiveness and Herd Protection 17 Years After HPV Vaccine
This cross-sectional study investigates population-level effectiveness and herd protection in the first 17 years after human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination among adolescent girls and young women at ...
jamanetwork.com
Reposted by Audrey John MD PhD
fangferric.bsky.social
However, vaccines have had a substantial impact on reducing the incidence of many infectious diseases and have dramatically reduced mortality for specific infections. For example, vaccines account for 40% of the global decline in infant mortality since 1974 (Shattock, Lancet 2024).
Reposted by Audrey John MD PhD
erictopol.bsky.social
Based on the body of evidence, what happens if pregnant women do not receive Covid booster vaccination?
Thousands of hospitalizations of infants and expectant mothers
@nathanlo.bsky.social @peterhotezmdphd.bsky.social
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
odomjohnlab.bsky.social
Proud of Kevin Downes and Lori Handy of CHOP
ID!
pidsociety.bsky.social
Congratulations 🎉 to our Fellow of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society class of 2025. These 29 scientists have distinguished themselves through their academic, clinical, and educational accomplishments and excellences in pediatric ID. pids.org/2025/09/23/2...
List of 29 names in 2 columns and in alphabetical order. They are the 2025 FPIDS class.
Reposted by Audrey John MD PhD
pidsociety.bsky.social
Congratulations 🎉 to our Fellow of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society class of 2025. These 29 scientists have distinguished themselves through their academic, clinical, and educational accomplishments and excellences in pediatric ID. pids.org/2025/09/23/2...
List of 29 names in 2 columns and in alphabetical order. They are the 2025 FPIDS class.
Reposted by Audrey John MD PhD
boghuma.bsky.social
Ever since I learned about this study enrolling I have been eagerly awaiting the results. Researchers in Uganda took a centuries-old cultural practice mothers carrying babies on their backs in cloth wraps and turned it into a public health tool. You got to love it!
www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....
Permethrin-Treated Baby Wraps for the Prevention of Malaria | NEJM
Malaria remains a major cause of childhood death in sub-Saharan Africa. We leveraged the traditional practice of mothers carrying children on their backs in cloth wraps to assess whether treating t...
www.nejm.org
odomjohnlab.bsky.social
Such an awesome study! Love this!!
Reposted by Audrey John MD PhD
boghuma.bsky.social
This is the official communication from the FDA to physicians on acetaminophen use in pregnancy.
- They acknowledge the lack of a causal link with autism
- Essentially tell physicians to keep doing what we've been doing anyway
It's very different from the press conference.
Pass it on.
Official communication from FDA to physicians on acetaminophen use in pregnancy acknowledges there is no causal link between its use in pregnancy and autism. Also states clearly that this is the safest over the counter treatment for fever and pain in pregnancy. It is very different from what was communicated at the press conference.
Reposted by Audrey John MD PhD
ameracadpeds.bsky.social
A baby’s immune system is ready for the hepatitis B vaccine as soon as they are born, and giving newborns the first dose vaccine within 24 hours of birth (with additional doses at 1-2 months and 6-18 months) remains the best protection against serious health problems like liver disease and cancer.
Reposted by Audrey John MD PhD
boghuma.bsky.social
Whatever one's personal view of Bill Gates is, it's undeniably that his foundation has continued to step-up especially at a time when support for global health is declining. This impactful pledge makes a difference for fighting Malaria, TB, HIV and others globally.
www.reuters.com/business/hea...
Bill Gates pledges $912 million to global disease fight, urges governments to step up
The Gates Foundation will give $912 million to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, philanthropist Bill Gates announced on Monday as he urged governments to reverse global health funding cuts.
www.reuters.com
Reposted by Audrey John MD PhD
pidsociety.bsky.social
"In two days, this committee further undermined Americans’ confidence in life-saving vaccines and did so absent any new research or information necessitating their reexamination."

PIDS has released the linked statement regarding the September ACIP meeting.
pids.org/2025/09/19/p...
PIDS Statement on the September ACIP Meeting Recommendations – Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society
pids.org
Reposted by Audrey John MD PhD
boghuma.bsky.social
25% of Drs in US are foreign grads. Many are on an H1B visa. This will hit health systems hard especially rural hospitals and hospitals in underserved areas that sponsor these visas through waiver programs. The old cost was about 5000$ a year.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Trump signs proclamation imposing annual $100,000 fee on H-1B visas
Move deals potentially major blow to US tech industry, which relies heavily on workers from India and China
www.theguardian.com
Reposted by Audrey John MD PhD
ameracadpeds.bsky.social
Today’s ACIP meeting promoted false claims and misguided information about vaccines. AAP will continue stepping up and working with our local, state and federal partners to make sure every child in every community continues to have access to immunizations.
bit.ly/4puP4uf
odomjohnlab.bsky.social
We have...a measles tracker.
Handy. Sad, but handy.
drruth.bsky.social
I just learned about the new US Measles Tracker from
@johnshopkinssph.bsky.social and @hopkinsengineer.bsky.social.

#medsky #IDsky #episky 🛟😷
graph of cumulative measles in US by year. Top is 2025 in blue and is just above 2019 outbreak in gray. US map showing measles cases. Blue is local measles spread and red is measles imported after international travel.  1474 Measles cases this year so far.
Reposted by Audrey John MD PhD
id-journal.bsky.social
PADH affects 23% of African children treated with artesunate for severe malaria. 14 (4%) died; 10% had prior anti-malarial use. Early transfusion may reduce PADH incidence (12.5% vs 26.8%).##idsky
Post-artesunate Delayed Hemolysis in African Children With Severe Malaria: Incidence, Medical Impact and Prevention
Post-artesunate delayed hemolysis (PADH) occurs in 7%–25% of adults with severe imported malaria. Whether it exists in African children is controversial.MethodsIn total, 351 children treated with artesunate were enrolled in a prospective severe malaria study in Benin. Clinical, epidemiological and biological data, plasma concentrations of antimalarials were captured or determined on admission then at 3, 5, 14, 21, and 28 days after starting treatment. PADH was defined by a >10% drop in hemoglobin level and/or a >10% rise in LDH concentrations beyond Day 5.ResultsFourteen children (4%) died before D14. Although 10% of guardians declared administration of anti-malarial drugs before admission, 316/350 (90%) of children had measurable plasma levels of lumefantrine (n = 279), quinine (n = 104), sulfadoxine (n = 67), artemisinin (n = 28), chloroquine (n = 16), or other antimalarials (n = 9). PADH occurred in 76/332 children (22.9%). Levels of pitted red blood cells (RBC) were higher and recovery from anemia was slower in these children. Severe anemia and transfusion were more frequent between D14 and D28 in children with PADH compared to children without PADH (10.6% vs 0.4%, 9.8% vs 0%). During follow-up, children with PADH were more frequently hospitalized (11.1% vs 1.6%) and had more frequent infectious events (6.9% vs 0.4%) than children without PADH. Children who received 2 transfusions within 3 days post-admission had a lower incidence of PADH than untransfused children (12.5% vs 26.8%, P = .015).ConclusionsDespite widespread self-medication with antimalarials, PADH affects 23% of African children treated with artesunate for severe malaria, of whom more than 15% suffer from severe anemia and/or infectious events. Liberal early transfusion may be protective against PADH.
academic.oup.com