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More than 40% of federal health workers furloughed during shutdown

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Healio Infectious Diseases @healioid.bsky.social · 7d

🔐 More than 32,000 HHS staff will be furloughed during the #shutdown — or about 41% of the nation’s federal health care workforce.

#MedSky

www.healio.com/news/infecti...

The first government shutdown in almost 7 years began Wednesday after Congress was unable to come together on legislation to fund the federal government. The disagreement between Republicans and Democ...

TikTok ‘eco-influencers’ promote misinformation about child health

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Healio Infectious Diseases @healioid.bsky.social · 11d

"What surprised the researchers was that videos containing misinformation averaged 2 1/2 times as many views as evidence-based videos."

From #AAP2025 in Denver 👇

@ameracadpeds.bsky.social

#MedSky #IDSky #PedsSky

www.healio.com/news/pediatr...

DENVER — TikTok videos created by “eco-influencers” often contain misinformation about child health, and those videos receive more engagement than evidence-based content, according to a study presente...

Q&A: CDC makes major cuts to foodborne illness surveillance

Healio Infectious Diseases @healioid.bsky.social · 11d

🧫 The CDC recently made major cuts to a program that for decades has monitored foodborne illnesses through a partnership between federal agencies and state health departments.

www.healio.com/news/infecti...

The CDC recently made major cuts to a program that for decades has monitored foodborne illnesses through a partnership between federal agencies and state health departments, according to an expert who...

CDC advisors table vote to delay hepatitis B vaccination in newborns

Healio Infectious Diseases @healioid.bsky.social · 19d

"In a disorganized start to the second day of their meeting, members of the ACIP also reversed a vote they made the previous evening that preserved some children’s access to a vaccine that the panel had just voted not to recommend."

#IDSky #MedSky

www.healio.com/news/pediatr...

CDC vaccine advisors voted Thursday to remove a longstanding federal recommendation that allowed young children to get a vaccine that combines protection against measles, mumps, rubella and varicella.

CDC advisors say COVID shots should require talk with doctor

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Healio Infectious Diseases @healioid.bsky.social · 19d

💉 CDC advisors say COVID shots should require talk with doctor.

❓ But also: Details of a strange vote (which failed) that would have recommended COVID-19 vaccines require a prescription, something the ACIP does not control.

More coming soon:

www.healio.com/news/infecti...

CDC vaccine advisors voted Friday to weaken federal recommendations for COVID-19 vaccines, even among older adults, saying vaccination should be based on shared clinical decision-making.The Advisory C...

Emmy wins for ‘The Pitt’ feel personal for health care professionals

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Reposted by Healio Infectious Diseases

Gerard Gallagher @gerardgallagher.bsky.social · 20d

🏆 Emmy wins for ‘The Pitt’ feel personal for health care professionals

"Our emergency medicine group chats lit up like we had just won the Super Bowl."

💻 @owaisdurrani.bsky.social @rdglatter.bsky.social

#MedTwitter

www.healio.com/news/psychia...

Although The Pitt is fictional, health care professionals praise actors Noah Wyle, Fiona Dourif and the rest of its cast and crew for accurately portraying the dynamic chaos of a shift in the ER as we...

Universal hepatitis B vaccination at birth saves lives

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Healio Infectious Diseases @healioid.bsky.social · 21d

"Robust scientific evidence and safety data have unequivocally shown that universal birth dose HBV vaccination saves lives and is safe to administer in newborns."

🗣️ New editorial up on the site ahead of this week's #ACIP meeting.

#IDSky #MedSky

www.healio.com/news/pediatr...

Universal administration of a hepatitis B vaccine within 24 hours of birth is a safe, highly effective, evidence-based practice that has saved thousands of lives by preventing chronic hepatitis B infe...

More vaccine changes could be in store for US

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Healio Infectious Diseases @healioid.bsky.social · 21d

On the agenda for this week's 2-day ACIP meeting, which starts tomorrow:

💉 MMRV vaccination
💉 Hepatitis B birth dose
💉 COVID-19 vaccines

“I’m hoping that they listen to the experts, but I guess we’ll just have to see what happens.”

www.healio.com/news/infecti...

On Thursday, the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices will begin a 2-day meeting in Atlanta that could impact the availability of a few vaccines. It is the second ACIP meeting since Robe...

Q&A: The US is losing its only dengue vaccine

Healio Infectious Diseases @healioid.bsky.social · 22d

💉 The US is losing its only dengue vaccine. What now?

#IDSky #MedSky

www.healio.com/news/infecti...

The only dengue vaccine ever approved in the United States is being discontinued, raising questions about control of the mosquito-borne virus amid a decades-long surge in cases. The vaccine, Dengvaxia...

Congo’s Ebola outbreak spreads as cases double

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Healio Infectious Diseases @healioid.bsky.social · 26d

🚨 An #Ebola virus #outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has doubled in size and spread in the province where it started, raising fears of cross-border spillover into neighboring #Angola, a health official said.

#DRC #IDsky

www.healio.com/news/infecti...

An Ebola virus outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has doubled in size and spread in the province where it started, raising fears of cross-border spillover into neighboring Angola, a heal...

Three people treated for exposure to rabid cat

Healio Infectious Diseases @healioid.bsky.social · 29d

🙀 The identification of a rabid feral #cat, part of an unmanaged colony of approximately 20 cats, led to three people receiving #rabies postexposure prophylaxis after being attacked by the cat.

www.healio.com/news/infecti...

Three people were treated for rabies exposure after being attacked by a rabid feral cat in Maryland last year, according to an MMWR report.

One antibiotic dose enough for early syphilis

Healio Infectious Diseases @healioid.bsky.social · Sep 8

☝️ A single-dose benzathine #penicillin G was just as effective as the standard three doses for treating patients with early #syphilis, regardless of the patient’s #HIV status.

www.healio.com/news/infecti...

A single dose of benzathine penicillin G successfully treated early syphilis just as well as three doses, a study showed.

Florida moves to end vaccine mandates

Healio Infectious Diseases @healioid.bsky.social · Sep 4

💉 Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, MD, PhD, said Wednesday that the state will work to “end all vaccine mandates,” including for children.

@gohealio.bsky.social spoke w/ J. Glenn Morris, MD, MPH, TM, and @pauloffit.bsky.social about the change.

www.healio.com/news/pediatr...

Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, MD, PhD, announced Wednesday that the state will work to “end all vaccine mandates,” including for children.“Every last one of them is wrong an...

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Healio Infectious Diseases @healioid.bsky.social · Sep 4

🚨 Health officials in the DRC have declared an #Ebola outbreak in Kasai province. As of Thursday, 28 suspected cases and 15 deaths have been reported.

#IDsky #MEDsky #GlobalHealth

Here's the full story from @caitstulpin.bsky.social 👇

www.healio.com/news/infecti...

FDA will review ensitrelvir for COVID-19 prevention

Healio Infectious Diseases @healioid.bsky.social · Sep 3

👍Over-the-counter #PrEP could help expand access to #HIV prevention outside of clinics, a survey suggests.

@caitstulpin.bsky.social spoke to @harvardmed.bsky.social’s Lauren Violette, PhD, MPH, about the survey's results, which showed support for OTC PrEp.

www.healio.com/news/infecti...

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Healio Infectious Diseases @healioid.bsky.social · Sep 2

💊 The FDA accepted a new drug application from Shionogi to use ensitrelvir, a daily oral antiviral, as post-exposure prophylaxis for #COVID19. Data presented earlier this year showed it’s promise as #PEP.

www.healio.com/news/infecti...

The FDA on Tuesday accepted a new drug application from Shionogi to market ensitrelvir, an oral antiviral, as post-exposure prophylaxis for COVID-19, the company announced.

FDA approves new COVID shots, with restrictions

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Healio Infectious Diseases @healioid.bsky.social · Aug 27

💉 The FDA has approved updated COVID-19 vaccines for the 2025-2026 respiratory disease season, but with limitations not seen in previous years.

@gohealio.bsky.social spoke with @ameshaa.bsky.social and @pauloffit.bsky.social about the approvals could mean this fall.

www.healio.com/news/infecti...

The FDA on Wednesday approved the updated COVID-19 vaccines for the 2025-2026 respiratory disease season, but with limitations not seen in previous years.

The field of ID has never been more important. Tell us why you chose it by emailing [email protected], with the subject line “Hooked on ID.”

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Healio Infectious Diseases @healioid.bsky.social · Aug 26

🐛 The first human case of New World screwworm infestation in the U.S. was confirmed by the CDC. New World screwworm flies lay eggs in mammals’ wounds and their larvae feed on live tissue. The scourge has been inching closer to the U.S. in recent years.

www.healio.com/news/infecti...

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Healio Infectious Diseases @healioid.bsky.social · Aug 22

Details on how to submit your own story: www.healio.com/news/infecti...

Hooked on ID

Hooked on ID with Sara K. Schultz, MD, FACP, FIDSA, FCPP

Healio Infectious Diseases @healioid.bsky.social · Aug 22

🦠 Latest #HookedOnID went up this morning: Sara K. Schultz, MD, FACP, FIDSA, FCPP, from @templeid.bsky.social.

#IDSky #MedSky #PotatoSalad

www.healio.com/news/infecti...

When I attended Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, I was pre-med mainly for the fun of getting to say, “I’m pre-med,” with little understanding of the actual...

Annals of Internal Medicine ignores call from RFK Jr. to retract study

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Healio Infectious Diseases @healioid.bsky.social · Aug 13

📖 A journal said it won't retract a study on aluminum-adsorbed vaccines & childhood chronic diseases, despite a call from HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to do so. @ameshaa.bsky.social told @gohealio.bsky.social the study does not have "significant weaknesses."

www.healio.com/news/primary...

The Annals of Internal Medicine has no plans to retract a study on aluminum-adsorbed vaccinations and childhood chronic diseases, despite a call from HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to do so, acco...

Documents show accused CDC shooter had vaccine grievances, officials say

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Healio Infectious Diseases @healioid.bsky.social · Aug 12

🚨 Written documentation shows that the man accused of firing nearly 200 shots at the CDC campus last week expressed discontent with and was distrustful of COVID-19 vaccines, law enforcement officials said Tuesday.

Here's @gerardgallagher.bsky.social's report 👇

www.healio.com/news/infecti...

Written documentation shows that the man accused of attacking the CDC last week was “discontent” with and distrustful of COVID-19 vaccines, law enforcement officials said Tuesday.

In aftermath of shooting, CDC workers told they can stay home

Healio Infectious Diseases @healioid.bsky.social · Aug 11

🏢 CDC employees were given the option to work from home after a shooting that targeted the agency’s headquarters in Atlanta.

The CDC workers' union said the tragedy “was not random” and “compounds months of ... vilification that CDC staff have endured.”

www.healio.com/news/infecti...

CDC employees were given the option to work from home on Monday following the shooting that targeted the agency’s headquarters in Atlanta on Friday evening, HHS confirmed to Healio.

US abandons mRNA vaccine development despite triumphs

Healio Infectious Diseases @healioid.bsky.social · Aug 7

💉 HHS is winding down 22 mRNA vaccine development efforts under BARDA, which is responsible for medical countermeasures to address health emergencies, such as pandemics.

@gohealio.bsky.social spoke to @ameshaa.bsky.social and Jeff Coller, PhD, about the decision.

www.healio.com/news/infecti...

The decision to cancel almost $500 million dollars in U.S. funding for the development of messenger RNA vaccines is dangerous, shortsighted and tarnishes the legacy of a scientific advancement that sa...