Helen Branswell 🇨🇦

If you are making a break for other social media platforms, I am on Bluesky at @helenbranswell.bsky.social and on mastadon at @HelenBranswell@scicomm.xyz. And yes, they are pleasant places.

#CDC has been informed of another child who died from #flu this season; the death was earlier this month. (Flu circulates year round, but at lower levels in summer.) The to-date season total is 261 pediatric deaths, a tragically high number. Most weren't vaxed.…

A very big study from Denmark generates some reassuring findings about aluminum in childhood vaccines, finding no association between aluminum and development of a number of illnesses, including asthma. statnews.com/2025/07/14/alu…

Relitigating settled #vaccines science through an ideological lens: Secretary Kennedy, a long-time critic of vaccines, is staffing key HHS positions with anti-vax allies. @ChelseaCirruzzo reports. statnews.com/2025/07/14/ant…

Yesterday, the Trump administration announced a change that seems to have mostly flown under the radar... But it could have major implications for community health centers, Head Start, and other state/local health programs that get federal dollars. NEW: statnews.com/2025/07/11/ken…

#NIH cracks down on studies it perceives as "gain of function" research, suspending grants to dozens of projects. Some of the axed work doesn't seem to actually qualify as actual GOF work, though, @sciencecohen & @jocelynkaiser report. science.org/content/articl…

Valuable cell lines that are key to research are being sold at bargain basement prices as the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine divests itself of its collection of induced pluripotent stem cells. Time is running out, @JonathanWosen reports. statnews.com/2025/07/11/ste…

New #H5N1 #birdful detections in dairy herds are few & far between these days. But the virus is still around. #USDA reported a new infection in California today, CA's 768th & the nation's 1,075th since the outbreak in cows was first recognized in March 2024.…

#Moderna's #Covid vaccine for children has finally moved from an emergency use authorization — an EUA — to a full license. But the FDA approval includes the limitation that Sec. Kennedy announced a while back, that it should be used in kids at high risk from Covid.…

Using doxycycline after unprotected sex — doxy PEP — is effective at reducing some sexually transmitted infections in some people. But new research suggests is probably also driving development of resistance to tetracycline antibiotics in some bacteria. statnews.com/2025/07/09/dox…

When Secretary Kennedy fired the former members of #ACIP, he said it was needed to restore confidence in the committee. His dept promised to release conflict of interest forms for the new ACIP members he chose. Hasn't happened, @isabellacueto reports. statnews.com/2025/07/09/ken…

#CDC is one step closer to having an actual director. statnews.com/2025/07/09/sen…

#CDC reports the confirmed #measles count in the country so far this year has hit 1,288, the highest single year total since 1992 — and the highest since measles was declared eliminated in the US in 2000. statnews.com/2025/07/09/mea…

A number of professional organizations representing physicians are suing HHS Secretary Kennedy over his unilateral decision to exempt kids and pregnant people from those recommended to get Covid shots. @ChelseaCirruzzo reports. statnews.com/2025/07/07/doc…

#CDC reports 3 more pediatric #flu deaths for the 2024-25 season, bringing the total to date to 256. Pediatric flu death reports to CDC are often delayed, so the total could still rise. For the kids in whom vaccination status is known, 90% weren't vaccinated. So tragic.…

Low morale, layoffs & voluntary departures, and distrust of the new leadership is hindering the functioning of the #FDA, @LizzyLaw_ reports. This is hardly the recipe for an effective drug regulatory agency. statnews.com/2025/07/07/fda…

As courts have struck down #NIH grant terminations, the agency has charted a new path towards cutting that it hopes can withstand court challenges. @AnilOza16 has the scoop. statnews.com/2025/07/06/hhs…

Red states miss out on the impact of the ruling overturning the cancelation of research grants. Only researchers in states whose attorneys general took part in the suit challenging the cutting of funding — ie mostly in blue states — see their grants restored.…

Though the West Texas #measles outbreak has slowed down, the nationwide number of confirmed cases this year is still climbing. The number of recorded cases in the first 6 months of 2025 is close — 8 shy — to surpassing the 2019 total to become the highest yearly tally since…