@epiren
Father. Husband. Epidemiologist. Instructor at GMU and JHBSPH. Fellow at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. Believer in Truth, Justice, and a Better Tomorrow. All opinions, my own. Learn more: https://linktr.ee/rene.najera
The COVID vaccine myocarditis signal was real, and science caught it. With today's formulations, that risk is back to baseline. So why is ACIP's March agenda still stuck in 2021? 🔬
buff.ly/mFrPOrD
In 1884, papers claimed a rabies epidemic swept through Black workers on an Alabama plantation. The biology doesn't add up. Sometimes the outbreak isn't the pathogen, it's the story being told.
medium.com/microbial-instincts/the-rabies-outbreak-that-didnt-add-up-9f3ea50c0404
Recent research reveals that the meningococcal B vaccine does not prevent gonorrhea in high-risk groups, particularly among gay and bisexual men. The study, led by Australian researchers, showed similar infection rates in vaccinated and placebo groups. www.cidrap.umn.edu/gonorrhea/me...
In 1901, an anti-vaccine activist accepted a challenge to enter a smallpox hospital unvaccinated. He nearly died. History has lessons for today's vaccine debates.
stopantivaxpropaganda.substack.com/p/challenges...
Denmark's "One of Us" program sends mental health ambassadors into schools, hospitals & police stations. After meeting them, 98% of health workers felt better prepared to help. Personal stories change minds.
www.nytimes.com/2026/03/03/h...
The EMA has recommended mCombriax — the first combined COVID-19 & flu mRNA vaccine — for adults 50+. One shot, two protections, backed by data from 8,000 participants.
🔗 www.ema.europa.eu/en/news/firs...
Stanley Plotkin, the 93-year-old "godfather of vaccines," helped end rubella & rotavirus as mass killers. Now he's watching vaccination rates fall. "We're going downhill," he says. His warning matters.
Policy fights ≠ science reversals. Vaccine schedule controversy is about governance & process, not evidence that vaccines don't work. They do. Don't get confused by the noise.
🇩🇰 Denmark is the first EU country certified by WHO for eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV & syphilis — a milestone built on universal healthcare & strong prenatal care.
Agreed. I'll take 40% over nothing any day of the week, especially in a country with such bad access to affordable health care.
I’ve been hand-editing out my speaking tics since before AI. A product called descript now transcribes my lectures so I can see the mistakes. English is my second language, and it shows A LOT when I lecture, especially when tired. It’s distracting to students. I still sound human, I think. YMMV.
🇩🇰 Dinamarca, primer país de la UE certificado por la OMS en eliminar la transmisión del VIH y la sífilis de madre a hijo. Salud universal + voluntad política = vidas protegidas.
🔗
Former EPA scientists warn: 12 dangerous pollutants face weakened protections — PFAS, lead, mercury, soot & more. "Exposure is not inevitable. It's the result of choices."
insideclimatenews.org/news/2702202...
New CIDRAP update: 1,136 measles cases so far this year in the US, with 160 added in the past week. Most are in unvaccinated kids and teens, and officials warn the US is on track to lose its measles-elimination status. MMR remains our best protection.
WHO has recommended updating all 3 strains in next season’s Northern Hemisphere flu shots, including a newer H3N2 subclade K that emerged too late for this year’s vaccines. Canadian data still show ~40% protection against H3N2 illness requiring outpatient care.
An infographic titled "THE U.S. VACCINE APPROVAL PROCESS," showing a left-to-right timeline with diverse individuals. Steps include Preclinical Development, IND Application, three phases of Clinical Trials, FDA Review & Licensure, Use Recommendations (ACIP role), and Post-Licensure Safety Surveillance. A top bar notes "CONTINUOUS SAFETY MONITORING." Small text bubbles, callout boxes, and illustrations detail activities, goals, participants, and review steps. Typical durations are listed along the bottom, ranging from months to years, with surveillance marked "Ongoing."
Used 3 LLMs: ChatGPT deep research and a few PDFs I have in my files to get the information. Claude to create the suggested images. And then I wrote a custom prompt for Gemini. It looks okay (after tweaking the prompt). Please double-check?
Give me an hour? Need to go get kid and I have a lecture at five.
The sad thing is that they’ll be caught and burned in their jobs, and public health is a small world.
I might DM you later about this. I'm facing the same issues. I'm *this* close to handing out little blue books again.
Just read a Lancet Global Health comment arguing that the Mercator map we often use in science visually shrinks many LMICs and inflates higher-latitude regions. The authors call for equal-area projections like Equal Earth for mapping disease burden. www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
A chikungunya outbreak investigation from Bangladesh is a masterclass in why clinic data alone isn’t enough. Door-to-door community work revealed most infections would have been missed if investigators stopped at the clinic.
In my new article, I unpack the American Academy of Pediatrics et al. v. Kennedy et al. lawsuit. I explain how COVID-19 vaccine recommendations were changed outside the usual ACIP process and why major medical groups say this undermines evidence‑based policy.
historyofvaccines.org/blog/when-sc...
Infographic titled 'Vaccine Ambassadors: Empowering Youth to Lead Public Health Education.' It describes a Wayne State University program that trained high school students as vaccine ambassadors to address post-pandemic vaccination rate declines in Detroit. The left side illustrates 'The Two-Step Empowerment Model': Step 1 shows ambassadors completing a 3-week curriculum on immunology, myth-busting, and communication (with flexible synchronous and asynchronous access); Step 2 depicts peer-to-peer outreach through interactive myth-busting sessions at community health fairs and after-school programs. The right side, titled 'Proving the Impact,' presents a bar chart showing ambassador knowledge scores rose 38% (from 56.7% to 78.3% pre- to post-training), and youth taught by ambassadors saw proficiency scores nearly double from a 45% baseline to 82%, compared to 45% for community youth not in the program.
Just read a study on a Detroit “vaccine ambassadors” program where high schoolers learn vaccine science and communication. Ambassadors and participants showed big knowledge gains, suggesting peer-to-peer models can boost vaccine understanding.
Article: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
This article on children being exposed to tear gas during federal immigration operations is deeply troubling. Experts in it stress we don’t know long‑term effects and that kids are especially vulnerable. Strong case for tighter regulation and oversight.
Just read a striking investigation into a proposed CDC-funded hepatitis B vaccine trial in Guinea-Bissau. It details an unusually fast, politically driven grant process and serious questions about ethics oversight and protections for newborns in a high–hepatitis B setting.
This NYT Opinion essay by clinicians in Philadelphia is devastating. Patients are skipping meds after sudden deportations, getting sicker in ICE custody, and avoiding clinics, schools, and labs out of fear.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/19/o...
Bwahahahaha.
Just watched a smart breakdown of the “obesity gene” idea. No single gene dooms anyone, but genetics strongly affect hunger, food reward, body fat “set points,” and even how GLP‑1 meds feel. It’s a call to balance personal responsibility with compassion.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2hL...
I just watched a powerful webinar on “Sustainability in Philadelphia” from The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, and it reshaped how I think about cities and health. You should check it out if climate science and public health are your jam.
Just watched a fascinating “One Health and Climate Change” webinar from the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. It links climate science to real examples, and it is worth a watch:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1s4s...