Charlene Rodrigues

"Research needs to shift from externally driven agendas to locally led initiatives that reflect African needs, values, and perspectives. This approach promotes equity, mutual respect, and shared ownership, while minimising harm."

#HBV

Aka decolonising science🥰

Some perspective: The S&P opened down -1.3% on Trump's Greenland saber-rattling. That's $750 billion of wealth destroyed -- roughly equal to estimates of the value of Greenland.

And so ~in dollar terms~ his shenanigans have already cost the US one Greenland, and we've got nothing to show for it.

We are recruiting for a number of PhDs in the HPRU in Public Health Genomics, based at @unibirmingham.bsky.social, in collaboration with UKHSA. 🦠🧬

Apply below to work on cutting-edge science and public health priorities! (NB deadline of 9th January / UK only due to funding restrictions)
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African and Global Civil Society Call on African Heads of State and Government to Demand Fair Terms in U.S. Health Agreements - Resilience Action Network Africa (RANA)

"Last week, the U.S. signed bilateral agreements with Kenya, Rwanda, Liberia and Uganda...which would give the U.S. extensive access to national health data systems and pathogen samples while providing no corresponding commitments on equity, benefit-sharing, technology transfer, pricing or....

Experts Warn: Trump’s Vaccine Rewrite Risks Public Health YouTube video by Save America Movement

Experts Warn: Trump’s Vaccine Rewrite Risks Public Health youtube.com/shorts/4wnNy... with
@angierasmussen.bsky.social

@ggronvall.bsky.social

@gregggonsalves.bsky.social

@drdemetre.bsky.social

@gavinyamey.bsky.social

@doritreiss.bsky.social

@jeremyfaust.bsky.social
@tnicholsmd.com

👍

Congrats @efosternyarko.bsky.social and team for this great work building capacity for public health genomics to investigate cholera and other enteric bacteria, across Africa 👏

www.lshtm.ac.uk/research/cen...

Honoured and quite blown-over to receive this award. I have been, and continue to be, very lucky - first with great mentors, and then really prodigious students, postdocs and collaborators. Working with them has been a joy.

I’m a physician who went to the anti-vaccine movement’s biggest gathering. More of my colleagues should too A pro-vaccine physician went to the anti-vaccine movement’s biggest gathering. He warns that public health must learn what it’s up against.

I'm a very pro-vaccine physician.

Last weekend, I went to the biggest gathering of anti-vaxxers.

More of my public health colleagues should've been there.

I explain why for @statnews.com
www.statnews.com/2025/11/11/c...

AMRnet: a data visualization platform to interactively explore pathogen variants and antimicrobial resistance Abstract. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a substantial threat to global public health. Whole genome sequencing is increasingly used as a core method

🚨 New paper out on @narjournal.bsky.social.
Many thanks to everyone involved, especially the project leader Professor @katholt.bsky.social and the wonderful #AMRnet team: @msmicrobiocode.bsky.social, Vandana Sharma, Mary Maranga, Ebenezer Foster-Nyarko, Megan Carey
academic.oup.com/nar/advance-...

Glad to see the cricket bat made it with Bray!

The value of public R&D

Government has published one of those quiet but important documents that might get overlooked as it is not 'newsy'. The headline finding is that £1 of public R&D investment generates £8 in net economic benefits for the UK over the long term
www.gov.uk/government/p...

Meningitis and septicaemia are rare but serious. Protect children with the MenB vaccine and ensure teens get MenACWY at school when offered.

Know the key symptoms and keep a close watch on those who suddenly get sick.

Read the full news story: https://bit.ly/3X606ZQ

#WHO report shows rising #antibiotic resistance in common bacteria

@katholt.bsky.social & @josebengoechea.bsky.social explain resistance worryingly high in #Klebsiella & E.coli as 1 in 6 lab-confirmed #bacterial infections in 2023 shown resistant to antibiotics.

www.lshtm.ac.uk/newsevents/n...

🌍🧼 Today on #CleanHospitalDay we shine a spotlight on what’s often unseen: hospital cleanliness and the unsung heroes who keep it safe.

👉Surfaces matter.
💁‍♂️Cleaners matter.
🤝Patient safety matters.

Let’s make the invisible visible👍

Read more 👉 bit.ly/3L3ILhn

Asked lots about this piece on Chronic Lyme disease, and disappointed in the @guardian (a publication I both subscribe and contribute to) for running it. Short thread explaining the multitude of problems with it, and why I consider it irresponsible to run as is..🧵

Pathogen distribution and antimicrobial resistance among neonatal bloodstream infections in Southeast Asia: results from NeoSEAP, a multicentre retrospective study Neonatal sepsis in tertiary hospitals in Southeast Asia is predominantly caused by gram-negative bacteria, with high rates of non-susceptibility to commonly prescribed antibiotics.

Across Southeast Asia most newborn infections are now caused #AMR bugs, making standard treatments for neonatal sepsis ineffective. Without updated, locally informed treatment guidelines and new antibiotic development, infant mortality rates will rise.

www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

🤗 Out now @naturemedicine.bsky.social results of our genomic NBS study BabyScreen+ 👶🧬

👉 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

1,000 babies
WGS using existing cards
600+ conditions
13 day TAT
16 diagnoses (vs 1 in std NBS)
High clinical impact
High parental acceptability

CDC has been a global leader in public health & played a key role in smallpox eradication. Health depts in red states & blue states rely on CDC expertise & support. The CDC EIS program trains the next generation of public health leaders & disease detectives.

They are burning it to the ground.

RIFs at CDC.

Destroying the Epidemic Intelligence Service, NCIRD, NCIPC & a dozen other areas/divisions/branches will cause enormous harm and suffering to America, and indeed to the whole world.

Call your Reps about it.

Then call them again.

For more information about the Friday night massacre at CDC, I wrote up an analysis of who got terminated and what that means for public health.

Grateful to @saveamericamvmt.bsky.social for supporting and amplifying. We are in really terrible trouble.

rasmussenretorts.substack.com/p/the-death-...

Don’t become numb to these events

Ciprofloxacin resistance in Klebsiella pneumoniae: phenotype prediction from genotype and global distribution of resistance determinants BACKGROUND Ciprofloxacin resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae is common or emerging in many geographies, and knowledge of local resistance rates is important for empirical therapy. Whilst there are known K...

Come for the Klebs resistance data, stay for the DataViz! Massive congratulations to @karatsang.bsky.social on juggling such a huge meta-analysis; Ciprofloxacin resistance in Klebsiella pneumoniae: phenotype, genotype, global resistance patterns #MicroSky 💻🧬 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Congenital rubella syndrome and autism spectrum disorder prevented by rubella vaccination--United States, 2001-2010 - PubMed We estimate that rubella vaccination prevented substantial numbers of CRS and ASD cases in the United States from 2001 through 2010. These findings provide additional incentive to maintain high measle...

MMR vaccines do not cause autism (see my 🧵 of studies)

At the same time, one potential cause of autism is rubella, which is *prevented* by MMR vaccines.

Which means...vaccines may actually help prevent autism.

🧵

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21592401/

The CDC presents the benefits/risks of administering the hepatitis B vaccine and the risk/dangers of revoking the recommendation. Serious side effects like life-threatening allergic reactions occur only one in 1 million doses.
#ACIP

I just saw a patient with liver cancer from hepatitis B that was acquired at birth. Vaccination would’ve prevented it.

There’s been a 99% reduction in annual childhood hep B infections since 1991 thanks to universal birth dose vaccination. We can’t afford to roll back that progress.

Thrilled to share this preprint on Klebsiella pneumoniae plasmids in a One Health setting 🦠 Fantastic work by @twinkler.bsky.social! 🎉 @irenlohr.bsky.social @margaretlam.bsky.social

‘Kissing bug’ disease is now endemic in the U.S., CDC says. What is it? The U.S. is seeing a rise in Chagas disease, a life-threatening illness transmitted through “kissing bugs” known to bite human faces. Pets can be carriers.

“Non-imported cases of Chagas disease have been identified in at least eight U.S. states so far: California, Arizona, Texas, Tennessee, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi and Arkansas.” www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

Newborn hepatitis B vaccine under fire as RFK Jr. and GOP Senators question immunization The CDC's vaccine advisory panel is set to discuss and possibly vote on the vaccine at a meeting next week.

Vaccinating babies at birth has reduced hepatitis B infections by 99 percent. Is RFK’s new CDC committee about to stop recommending it?
share.google/9e3BTpcrGKSY...