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Reposted by Sarah Alexander

🎃nisillos @onisillos.bsky.social · 5d

I made another attempt at providing some insight into the journals process

(To prevent procrastination, I didn’t proofread it. So don’t judge it too harshly)

open.substack.com/pub/onisillo...

Rejection doesn't mean your paper was bad

It's disappointing, but try to not take it personally.

open.substack.com

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Wellcome Sanger Institute @sangerinstitute.bsky.social · 12d

Samples from 1917 have helped identify the genetic culprits responsible for the spread of treatment-resistant infections 🔎

By mapping plasmid evolution since the pre-antibiotic era, experts found that a minority of plasmids cause most of the multidrug resistance in the world 🧵

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Roland Pease @peaseroland.bsky.social · 13d

Talking to @zaminiqbal.bsky.social about plasmids and bacterial adaptability was a delight. A brilliant metaphor every other sentence, almost.

Zamin Iqbal @zaminiqbal.bsky.social · 13d

If you can't face reading War and Peace or my massive thread, I was interviewed on BBC Science in Action, you can hear me 12 mins into this episode (we are not the headline paper, which was on autism):
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

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Zamin Iqbal @zaminiqbal.bsky.social · 13d

If you can't face reading War and Peace or my massive thread, I was interviewed on BBC Science in Action, you can hear me 12 mins into this episode (we are not the headline paper, which was on autism):
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

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British Association for Sexual Health and HIV (BASHH) @bashhuk.bsky.social · 13d

Happy #WorldContraceptionDay! BASHH believes in the importance of non-judgemental access to a wide range of contraception options, and improving access to effective education and services.

Access Brook's advice on contraception: bit.ly/47dc20p #WCD2025

World Contraception Day
Friday 26th September 2025

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Sarah Alexander @sarah1alexander.bsky.social · 12d

Wonderful to work woth you too. Thank you. What a treat of a paper could read about griffin's, lions and eagels all day

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Sarah Alexander @sarah1alexander.bsky.social · 12d

The quote of the day about griffins! Brilliant tread- about plasmid evolution- Game oF Thrones at a molecular biology level

Zamin Iqbal @zaminiqbal.bsky.social · 13d

Ah - i need to refer back to my spoilers! Griffins! I sometimes say fusion plasmids are as surprising as lions and eagles mating to make fertile griffins which successfully compete with lions and eagles.
21/n

a flock of eagles flying over a mountain range

ALT: a flock of eagles flying over a mountain range

media.tenor.com

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Alex Merz 🇺🇸🇨🇦🇺🇦 @merz.bsky.social · 13d

Much improved over the preprint, and the preprint was awesome.

Zamin Iqbal @zaminiqbal.bsky.social · 13d

Delighted to see our paper studying the evolution of plasmids over the last 100 years, now out! Years of work by Adrian Cazares, also Nick Thomson @sangerinstitute.bsky.social - this version much improved over the preprint. Final version should be open access, apols.
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Sarah Alexander @sarah1alexander.bsky.social · 13d

please read this thread - even if you don;t get time to read the paper!!!!! just the best - great work, really really great.

Zamin Iqbal @zaminiqbal.bsky.social · 13d

Delighted to see our paper studying the evolution of plasmids over the last 100 years, now out! Years of work by Adrian Cazares, also Nick Thomson @sangerinstitute.bsky.social - this version much improved over the preprint. Final version should be open access, apols.
Thread 1/n

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Sarah Alexander @sarah1alexander.bsky.social · 24d

Made sure i got that into the discussion!

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Sarah Alexander @sarah1alexander.bsky.social · 24d

Thanks Kate 😊- its a bit like groundhog day - bloody evolution!

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Kate Baker @ksbakes.bsky.social · 24d

(Alluding to what happened for chlamydia in Sweden 🇸🇪 for those new to the area sti.bmj.com/content/96/5...)

Rise and fall of the new variant of Chlamydia trachomatis in Sweden: mathematical modelling study

Objectives A new variant of Chlamydia trachomatis (nvCT) was discovered in Sweden in 2006. The nvCT has a plasmid deletion, which escaped detection by two nucleic acid amplification tests (Abbott-Roch...

sti.bmj.com

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Kate Baker @ksbakes.bsky.social · 24d

History repeats itself: more disappearing STIs from molecular target mutation 😬 Great 🕵️ work by @sarah1alexander.bsky.social and colleagues!

Sarah Alexander @sarah1alexander.bsky.social · 27d

The @ukhsa.bsky.social STI Reference Lab has identified a strain of Neisseria gonorrhoeae which evades detection on the Cepheid Xpert CT/GC Assay.

Read more in our eurosurveillance article

www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2...

Detection and characterisation of Xpert CT/NG assay Neisseria gonorrhoeae diagnostic escape mutants, England, June 2025

We report the timely detection of a strain of Neisseria gonorrhoeae which was confirmed as a diagnostic escape mutant on the Cepheid Xpert CT/NG assay in England in June 2025. The reason for assay failure was a likely recombination event with Neisseria meningitidis, which removed both assay target sites. Seven historical putative Xpert CT/NG assay diagnostic escape mutants were also identified following subsequent in silico screening of gonococcal genome collections, but currently there is no evidence of widespread circulation.

www.eurosurveillance.org

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Lewis C. E. Mason @lewiscemason.bsky.social · Aug 28

How should #XDR #shigellosis cases be treated? Our new education piece at #BMJ #SexuallyTransmittedInfections explores specific empirical treatment. Our recommendations are subsequent to our microbial genomic, phenotypic #AMR, and clinical/pharmacological analyses. sti.bmj.com/content/earl... 🧫💻🛟🧪🧬🦠

Antimicrobial treatment options for extensively drug-resistant (XDR) shigellosis in men who have sex with men

The sexual transmission of Shigella s onnei and Shigella flexneri has been observed since the 1970s between men who have sex with men (MSM) associated with living with HIV, sexually transmitted infect...

sti.bmj.com

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Eurosurveillance journal @eurosurveillance.org · 27d

This week's rapid communications describe

➡️A strain of Neisseria gonorrhoeae producing false negative results on Xpert CT/NG assay in England

🔎An atypical sixfold rise in #influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 cases in Denmark during summer

Full issue here 👉 bit.ly/eus2036

#EpiSky #IDSky #MedSky #STISky 🛟🦠🧫⚕️

Image showing the table of content of issue 36 in 2025:

Rapid communication
Detection and characterisation of Xpert CT/NG assay Neisseria gonorrhoeae diagnostic escape mutants, England, June 2025

An interseasonal outbreak of influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 related to a music festival, Denmark, August 2025

Research
Progress towards HIV transmission elimination targets: model-based estimation of incidence and the extent of undiagnosed infection, Scotland, 1981 to 2022

Repeated cross-sectional surveys show a decreasing trend in Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato seroprevalence over a 50-year period, Finland, 1966 to 2017

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Sarah Alexander @sarah1alexander.bsky.social · 27d

The @ukhsa.bsky.social STI Reference Lab has identified a strain of Neisseria gonorrhoeae which evades detection on the Cepheid Xpert CT/GC Assay.

Read more in our eurosurveillance article

www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2...

Detection and characterisation of Xpert CT/NG assay Neisseria gonorrhoeae diagnostic escape mutants, England, June 2025

We report the timely detection of a strain of Neisseria gonorrhoeae which was confirmed as a diagnostic escape mutant on the Cepheid Xpert CT/NG assay in England in June 2025. The reason for assay failure was a likely recombination event with Neisseria meningitidis, which removed both assay target sites. Seven historical putative Xpert CT/NG assay diagnostic escape mutants were also identified following subsequent in silico screening of gonococcal genome collections, but currently there is no evidence of widespread circulation.

www.eurosurveillance.org

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Alt CDC (they/them) @altcdc.altgov.info · Aug 29

Our veterans put their bodies on the line for our freedoms. And in return, we demand even more control over their bodies?

Abortion is a medical decision to be made by the patient and their medical providers. Limiting abortion access increases maternal mortality. We are seeing that in Texas already

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WHO @who.int · Aug 6

Access to safe abortion protects the health of women and girls.

As with all other health services, women and girls should be able to access safe and respectful abortion care, when they need it, without fear of harm, punishment or recrimination.

#HealthForAll

Illustration of a woman standing in a lit doorway, casting a long shadow down a dark hallway. Text on the image reads: 'Restricting access to safe abortion drives women and girls to unsafe procedures.'

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Nicola Low @nicolamlow.bsky.social · Jul 30

#stihiv2025 🧪
Closing plenary @drjeannem.bsky.social on #DoxyPEP

Clearly reduces #syphilis #chlamydia

But #gonorrhoea…
Staph. aureus resistance and group A Strep increases

Potential to drive ceftriaxone resistance in N. gonorrhoeae - which will be a *real problem

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Nicola Low @nicolamlow.bsky.social · Jul 30

#stihiv2025 🧪
Closing plenary @drjeannem.bsky.social

Great promise of long-acting HIV PrEP, if available, accessible, in a functioning health system

All it takes is a disaster…

Like withdrawal of PEPFAR - a humanitarian crisis

👇 @avac.org counter of preventable deaths

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AVAC @avac.org · Jul 30

“Silence equals death. We cannot go back there. We must resist erasure and rebuild trust with communities we’ve abandoned.” — Jeanne Marrazzo at the #STIHIV2025 closing, calling for renewed #STI & #HIV activism, diversified funding & unapologetic advocacy.

@stihiv2025.org

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Sarah Alexander @sarah1alexander.bsky.social · Jul 30

Always an inspiration Dr. Marrazzo - provides loads of hope, keep passionately advocating! We need honest conversations, work with our community partners and don’t lose ground - fantastic #STIHIV2025

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Trish Greenhalgh @trishgreenhalgh.bsky.social · Jul 30

In Oxford? Got kids? There’s a great exhibition of stunning blown-up photos of insects (plus lots more) at the Museum of Natural History

www.oumnh.ox.ac.uk/event/micros...

Microsculpture

Over the coming months, as we work on their new, permanent displays, our 6 latest display cases will feature an exhibition of work by British photographer Levon Biss.

www.oumnh.ox.ac.uk

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Sarah Alexander @sarah1alexander.bsky.social · Jul 30

Adolescent girls x6 more likely than boys in eastern and Southern Africa to acquire HIV

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Sarah Alexander @sarah1alexander.bsky.social · Jul 30

What about the women???? No good news for women.... again "Dr Marrazzo"

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