US #flu activity still high, with 8 more pediatric deaths
Levels of #RSV also remain high in many areas of the country, while #COVID-19 activity is waning in most of the country.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/i…— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) February 27, 2026 at 3:15 PM
3. Now #flu:
More kids have died from flu, both this season & last. (Reporting of pediatric deaths to #CDC can be slow.)
8 more kids died in 2025-26, bringing the total to date to 79.
In the past 2 weeks, CDC has been alerted to 4 more peds flu deaths in 2024-25, bringing that year's total to 293!— Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 (@helenbranswell.bsky.social) February 27, 2026 at 11:41 AM
4. #CDC reports that 90% of the kids who died from #flu who were old enough to be vaccinated (<6 months is too young) & for whom vax status is know had not been vaccinated. Last year's death toll was record-breaking but this year Sec. Kennedy's #HHS dropped the flu vax recommendation for kids.
— Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 (@helenbranswell.bsky.social) February 27, 2026 at 11:41 AM
6. To give you a sense of what #flu is like where you are, the map on the left is for the week ending 2/21. On the right shows what things were like at the peak of the season, between Xmas and NY. Not out of the woods yet, but the end of flu season is coming. www.cdc.gov/fluview/surv…
— Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 (@helenbranswell.bsky.social) February 27, 2026 at 11:41 AM
European regulators recommend approval of combined mRNA vaccine for flu and COVID
If the recommendation is accepted by the European Commission, Moderna's mCombriax vaccine will be available for adults 50 and older throughout the European Union.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/c…— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) February 27, 2026 at 4:48 PM
WHO updates all 3 viral strains to be included in fall flu shots
The recommendation for vaccines for the next flu season includes a new influenza variant—subclade K—that started to increase last fall.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/i…— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) February 27, 2026 at 7:08 PM
Medical societies recommend RSV vaccines for older or immune-compromised adults
The American College of Physicians recommends adults age 75 and older receive one dose of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/p…— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) March 3, 2026 at 11:53 AM
Both #Covid & the #flu can have an impact after infection subsides. And while both viruses can leave lasting lung damage, only #SARSCoV2 causes persistent brain inflammation & small blood vessel injury, even after the virus is no longer detectable. New research medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02…
— Delthia Ricks (@dricks.bsky.social) February 27, 2026 at 3:49 PM
Report: #COVID survivors at nearly 5 times the risk for kidney failure
SARS-CoV-2 infection was also implicated in new-onset chronic kidney disease, acute kidney injury, and end-stage renal disease.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/c…— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) March 3, 2026 at 2:56 PM
COVID-19 can directly infect heart tissue.
Researchers at the Centenary Institute and UTS created a human heart cell model showing SARS-CoV-2 can directly infect heart tissue, helping explain why some people develop serious heart complications during and after COVID-19 infection.— Denis – The COVID Info Guy (@thecovidinfoguy.bsky.social) March 3, 2026 at 8:08 PM
Source: medicalxpress.com/news/2026-03…
— Denis – The COVID Info Guy (@thecovidinfoguy.bsky.social) March 3, 2026 at 8:08 PM
UK: COVID‑19 National Day of Reflection
"Sunday, 8 March marks the National Day of Reflection across the UK – a moment for communities to come together to remember the impact of the COVID‑19 pandemic"
"Gathering at Memorial Corner, outside County Hall in Dorchester at 10am"
archive.md/VLRAA— Denis – The COVID Info Guy (@thecovidinfoguy.bsky.social) March 2, 2026 at 8:26 PM
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“Elect a businessman,” they said.
“Make government run like a business,” they said. “It will save money.”
1: The gov’t isn’t a business. 2: Businesses are not inevitably efficient; today’s economy has lots of incentives to be anything but.
3: Either way, don’t elect a mafia bust-out specialist.
[image or embed]— Boston Tom Levenson (@tomlevenson.bsky.social) February 22, 2026 at 2:33 PM
Nearly $900 million in HHS preparedness funds lack coordinated oversight, report says
The funds strengthen the nation’s ability to prepare for threats such as extreme weather and infectious disease outbreaks.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/b…— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) February 25, 2026 at 9:41 AM
Russ Vought is refusing to release the scientific research funding allocated to the NIH by Congress.
“We want them in trauma”.
Mission accomplished.— Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD (@elizabethjacobs.bsky.social) February 27, 2026 at 12:39 PM
15 states sue Trump administration over childhood vaccines
The lawsuit asks the courts to nullify the Trump administration’s decision to reduce the childhood vaccine schedule
www.cidrap.umn.edu/1…— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) February 25, 2026 at 3:46 PM
Cover of The Lancet:
@thelancet.com
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan…— Carl Quintanilla (@carlquintanilla.bsky.social) February 27, 2026 at 6:15 AM
An international meeting to determine the status of measles elimination in the US has been delayed 7 months from its original date in mid-April until November. Measles had been considered eliminated in the US since 2000. But huge outbreaks starting last year are radically changing US measles status👇
— Delthia Ricks (@dricks.bsky.social) March 3, 2026 at 5:28 PM
The Pan American Health Org, a regional division of the World Health Org, has a panel that determines the measles elimination status of countries in the Americas. The Regional Monitoring & Re-Verification Commission for Measles, Rubella & Congenital Rubella Syndrome votes on nations' measles status
— Delthia Ricks (@dricks.bsky.social) March 3, 2026 at 5:28 PM
Just over a year ago, probationary federal CDC employees were illegally fired. While fighting to get reinstated & salvaging what they could of RIFd programs, they built NPHC, our shadow CDC.
Proud of ya @firedbutfighting.bsky.social 🥹
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026…— Alt CDC (they/them) (@altcdc.altgov.info) February 26, 2026 at 9:56 AM
The fabulous and prolific @nurseteria.bsky.social and Dr. Arthur Lavin have a piece out about the lessons that polio taught us about vaccines and public health.
It’s ludicrous that RFK Jr. and his minions want to destroy the progress made against infectious disease.— Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD (@elizabethjacobs.bsky.social) February 26, 2026 at 1:37 PM
An opinion piece by Jerome Adams, former Surgeon General advocating against Casey Means' nomination.
He raises concerns about conflicts of interest.
A surgeon general is not a wellness influencer. One of many red flags.
🧪 www.statnews.com/2026/02/27/c…— Princess Vimentin PhD | Cancer Biologist (@princess-vimentin.bsky.social) March 1, 2026 at 1:35 PM
... Some of my Republican colleagues argue that merit and standards must always trump diversity and inclusion of different people and ideas. If that principle is to mean anything, it must apply here. Holding the surgeon general — the nation’s top doctor — to a lower bar than the officers they command is indefensible…
It's Monday morning and Casey Means still doesn't have the votes to become Surgeon General. Let's keep it that way. Send a letter to your Senators now. If you have friends, famiy, colleagues who can do so, urge them on to act now. actionnetwork.org/letters/oppo…
— Gregg Gonsalves (@gregggonsalves.bsky.social) March 2, 2026 at 7:29 AM
Yes, this is the same wellness influencer who wants to "raise the vibration of humanity" and claimed that birth control was a “disrespect for life.”
— Mother Jones (@motherjones.com) February 25, 2026 at 5:18 PM
This is essential viewing—thank you Dr Green for sharing it
It’s a genuine tragedy to see the NIH Director embracing censorship so gleefully; his response to Dr Green (“it’s bad science!”) is one of the most repulsive things I’ve seen from Jay Bhattacharya, amidst a long list of vile utterances— Prof Gavin Yamey (@gavinyamey.bsky.social) March 2, 2026 at 5:48 PM
A new analysis of social media data shows that Twitter is the platform that generates the most conspiracy theories.
It also shows that just 100 accounts are responsible for 68% of conspiratorial posts.
Among other things, the authors recommend that social media algorithms should be public.— Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD (@elizabethjacobs.bsky.social) February 26, 2026 at 9:31 AM
Here to lend support. Like I said, I wondered how many other women noticed and resented this. I know Nancy and I weren’t the only ones who did.
— Angie Rasmussen (@angierasmussen.bsky.social) February 26, 2026 at 5:47 AM
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US measles cases soar past 1,100
The number of #measles infections reached 1,136, putting the US on pace to exceed last year’s 2,281 total by springtime
www.cidrap.umn.edu/m…
Photo: Heather Hazzan / Self Magazine— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) February 27, 2026 at 3:18 PM
As the U.S. officially breaks 1,000 measles cases in 2026, experts say that the rate of infections is accelerating much faster this year than it did in years past
— Scientific American (@sciam.bsky.social) February 27, 2026 at 2:59 PM
1. A #measles & #flu update, starting with measles.
The confirmed case count for this year has topped 1,000 already. It now stands at 1,136.
For some context: In the first 2 months of 2026 the US has recorded half as many measles cases as were confirmed in all of 2025, which was a very bad year.— Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 (@helenbranswell.bsky.social) February 27, 2026 at 11:41 AM
2. CDC reports 92% of the confirmed cases this year were unvaccinated or had unknown vax status.
Most of these cases are from ongoing transmission chains. Only 6 this year were infected abroad.
At least 5% of the cases this year were so sick they needed hospital care. www.cdc.gov/measles/data…— Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 (@helenbranswell.bsky.social) February 27, 2026 at 11:41 AM
Jayanta Bhattacharya, now acting CDC director, is urging measles vaccination in the midst of the largest measles outbreaks seen in the US in decades. Bhattacharya, who also oversees the Nat'l Institutes of Health, says the CDC is "surging" resources to affected states thehill.com/policy/healt…
— Delthia Ricks (@dricks.bsky.social) March 3, 2026 at 5:52 PM
The first concern with measles is, of course, the devastating health impact.
But this article does a great job of explaining the economic costs.— Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD (@elizabethjacobs.bsky.social) March 1, 2026 at 7:52 AM
“Epidemiological data is being used politically and selectively to create a scapegoat for routine infection rates that rise and fall…” says RFK Jr.’s BFF, Leslie Manookian.
No, Leslie. Measles was eliminated in the U.S.
It’s easy to be an anti-vaxxer because you’re not confined to facts.— Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD (@elizabethjacobs.bsky.social) March 2, 2026 at 1:18 PM
Camp East Montana in El Paso is currently under quarantine following a measles outbreak and cases of tuberculosis.
My breaking story:— Jeff Abbott (@palabrasdeabajo.bsky.social) March 3, 2026 at 12:44 PM
CDC: Unvaccinated international traveler spread #measles to 17 other travelers to, within US
The index patient had a fever, persistent cough, cold-like symptoms, and conjunctivitis (“pink eye”) during travel.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/m…
Photo: Carrib / Flickr cc— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) March 2, 2026 at 4:51 PM
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There haven't been new reports of #H5N1 infected dairy herds in the US for several months, but I keep an eye on the #USDA page where they're posted. Sometime in the past few weeks 4 more herds were added to Idaho's total. Infections were last April-May. publicdashboards.dl.usda.gov/t/MRP_PUB/vi…
— Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 (@helenbranswell.bsky.social) March 2, 2026 at 2:41 PM
Bird flu has wiped out 7.4 million chickens in Pennsylvania in the past month, a swift and devastating loss. Infections of flocks raised to produce eggs and meat extend a U.S. outbreak that began four years ago and has eliminated 196 million birds nationwide.
www.reuters.com/business/hea…— Ian Weissman, DO (@drianweissman.bsky.social) February 27, 2026 at 11:12 PM
Bird flu is infecting California elephant seals for the 1st time. 30 seals, primarily weaned pups, have died since late last week www.nytimes.com/2026/02/25/s… Gift article
— Delthia Ricks (@dricks.bsky.social) February 26, 2026 at 4:13 PM
Spain confirms person with variant swine flu in Catalonia
The patient remains asymptomatic, and all close contacts have tested negative for the virus.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/s…
Photo: James Hill/Flickr cc— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) March 2, 2026 at 4:13 PM
6. The upshot: No reason to be alarmed yet. But all such cases need to be investigated. www.reuters.com/business/hea…
— Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 (@helenbranswell.bsky.social) February 27, 2026 at 2:04 PM
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US study shows rising prevalence of fungal infection
Analysis of electronic health record data shows US aspergillosis diagnoses increased by more than 5% annually from 2013 through 2023.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/f…
Photo: Joe Rubin / Flickr cc— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) March 2, 2026 at 4:42 PM
Denmark becomes first country in the European Union to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis. This is testament to universal health access and a functioning public health system.
The US recorded 4000 cases of congenital syphilis in 2024.
www.who.int/news/item/27…— BK. Titanji (@boghuma.bsky.social) February 27, 2026 at 10:46 AM
Novel 1-pill regimen tamps down virus in older adults with HIV, study suggests
The regimen combining bictegravir and lenacapavir provided similar viral suppression as multi-pill antiretroviral therapy
www.cidrap.umn.edu/h…— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) February 25, 2026 at 2:15 PM
Listeria again: Over 55k pounds of blueberries have been recalled because of potentially fatal Listeria contamination.
IQF Blueberries sold by Oregon Potato Co., distributed the berries to 4 states & Canada. Listeria is one of the key food contaminants no longer monitored by U.S. health agencies👇— Delthia Ricks (@dricks.bsky.social) February 26, 2026 at 2:28 PM
In the summer of 1981, Dr. Anthony Fauci and other physicians began admitting patients with a mysterious and deadly illness years before it was called HIV/AIDS. 🧪
— Museum of Science (@museumofscience.bsky.social) March 1, 2026 at 12:10 PM
On The Road – Winter Wren – Santa Cruz: Wilder Ranch (1 of 2)
Baud
The culling continues.
Thanks for the roundup, AL.
MagdaInBlack
@Baud: Oh, they’re just gettin’ warmed up.
Thank you, A.L.
CCL
Appreciate these posts, Anne Laurie. Thank you.
Suzanne
Very grossed out to see that news about Richard Axel.
I am obvs not in the healthcare field, but my clients are, and so I have spent a great deal of time with nurses, administrators, physicians, support staff, etc. I have witnessed some really terrible behavior and heard many stories about other incidents. It has always been incomprehensible to me how people, many of them men, can spend so much of their lives working on behalf of others. At great personal sacrifice of time and energy and money! And then go on to treat their colleagues, especially women “lower” than they are on the Big Flow Chart….. so badly. It’s really one of those human mysteries for me.
People are complicated and I still haven’t really resolved that.
lowtechcyclist
And if they believed that, they’d be arguing that Trump’s entire Cabinet should be fired and replaced by career staffers from each of their agencies.
Baud
@lowtechcyclist:
Depends on the criteria for assessing merits and standards. Theirs isn’t the same as ours.
p.a.
Via mikethemadbiologist
nature.com/articles/d41586-026-00468-1
not directly bio-med, but another case of idiocy: cnn.com/2026/02/13/weather/trump-colorado-lab-ncar-supercomputer-climate
lowtechcyclist
Well, that’s true. But let’s put it this way: what I said would be true by any set of standards and merit that they were willing to publicly state, since I doubt they’d be willing to publicly weight ‘loyalty to Dear Leader’ to an extent that it outweighed traditional measures of knowledge and competence.
Van Buren
Will we need to fly to Europe to get flu vaccines?
I can make this work for me.
danielx
@Baud:
This is true. Primary qualification for them lies in willingness to give DJT tongue baths upon demand.
Mai Naem mobile
@Baud: how come the culling never takes RFK Jr?
Professor Bigfoot
I’m off to Cali tomorrow morning to hang out with my old college roommates.
I will be wearing a mask on those flights, thanks you AL!`
(I can see it happening now: “Why you wearing that face diaper?” “‘Cause y’all some nasty motherfuckers and I don’t need y’alls fucking diseases.”)
Scout211
It’s not COVID and it’s not Influenza A or B, but you still feel horrible. Maybe it’s human metapneumovirus (HMPV)?
. . .
Scout211
Have fun! We’ve had great weather lately with plenty of sun.
Pro-tip: Don’t call our state “Cali” unless you want locals to give you plenty of side eye. Californians are not fond of that nickname.
Ten Bears
Fit you into the head-footline, below the fold top of after the graphic …
Jay
Thank you, Anne Laurie!.
dc
@Professor Bigfoot: I always where an N95 mask on planes. No one has ever said anything to me. And I’m a small, older woman. And Asian like looking, no not exactly white, so perfect person to be picked on by a bully.
lowtechcyclist
Got my measles (MMR) shot this morning. Was in and out of CVS in <10 minutes. Not feeling any effects from the shot. One less thing to worry about.
WTFGhost
@Suzanne: Wielding power is fun, and a lot of people know what they’re doing is stuff their mother would whip their butts for, but as long as they can excuse it away as “hysteria,” they feel as if it’s not real, because there aren’t consequences. It only becomes a crime if they’re caught, and even then, if they can deny it, well, it’s kind of like getting away with it.
It’s like Kavanaugh. He scares the eff out of some young woman, then, years later, calls her a crazy lady for having an accurate memory. Kavanaugh expected his horseplay to end, once he’d had his fun (and maybe some wank material); he despised the very thought that, once it was over, there might be consequences. “How dare this woman make my sexual assault really real, rather than being just a bit of horseplay? How dare she be afraid! How dare she be hurt!”
Well, the world has changed, and guess what, not only do women get to have orgasms, they also get to have feelings, bodily autonomy, and a memory for having been pointlessly hurt and abused.
WTFGhost
@Professor Bigfoot: The scrappy young teen in me wants to respond to “it’s only a face diaper if a mouth spews shit, like yours.”
lowtechcyclist
@Baud:
On this subject, from TPM’s Morning Memo: