Anna McNaughton

CDC Panel Sidesteps Key Exposure Risk in Hep B Vax Debate The Trump administration is continuing its push to revise federal guidelines to delay the hepatitis B vaccine newborn dose for most children.

“The notion that hepatitis B is only confined to transmission for prostitutes, drug users, etc., is such an ignorant and uninformed way of approaching infectious disease” - Dr. Jason Goldman of @acpimphysicians.bsky.social.

Bingo... #MedSky + #IDSky

www.medscape.com/s/viewarticl...

Our new study shows HIV infections look set to significantly increase in sub-Saharan Africa, as a result of funding for HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) being halted under the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.

Published in Lancet #HIV

hpruebs.nihr.ac.uk/news/new-stu...

New paper from colleagues @bristoluni.bsky.social @hpruebs.bsky.social estimating the increase in #HIV infections across sub-Sahahran #Africa as a result of #PEPFAR cuts - showing key populations hardest hit
#LancetHIV #PrEP
authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S...

A new Ebola outbreak in Congo kills dozens as health officials warn of lack of funds As a deadly new Ebola outbreak kills dozens in southern Congo, health officials are warning that they lack the funds and resources to mount an effective response.

A new Ebola outbreak in Congo kills dozens as health officials warn of lack of funds. WHO says 57 cases and 35 deaths have been reported since outbreak was announced this month.
www.statnews.com/2025/09/25/e...

The lack of oversight from regulatory bodies on diagnostic tests was shocking during #COVID19 - and put many lives at risk.
Those in charge at the time should be held accountable.

Funding crisis for #HBV in #WHO #Africa region…
A survey shows
⚠️0%⚠️
have sufficient funding to enact priority interventions for agreed international targets for #elimination.

Presented by Dr Akudo Ikpeazu
#COLDA2025 #SOLDA #NoHep #PublicHealth #hepatitis
@who.int
🧪

Hepatitis D epidemiology and access to diagnostic testing among healthcare providers in Africa: A multi-country survey Reliable data on the prevalence of chronic HDV infection in Africa are limited. To address this, a multi-country survey was conducted across Africa to assess healthcare providers’ knowledge of HDV pre...

The authors in today’s #readoftheweek📚 ran a survey on HDV infection in Africa and found that awareness of HDV prevalence & access to diagnostic tests is limited and suboptimal, though there is substantial regional variability.

Read on JHEP Reports: www.jhep-reports.eu/article/S258...

#LiverSky

The 16th Ebola Virus Disease Outbreak in Bulape Health Zone, Kasai, Democratic Republic of the Congo: A new spillover event from an unknown reservoir host Background The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is currently facing concurrent outbreaks including mpox, cholera and malaria (1-4). The Ministry of Public Health, DRC has declared the 16th Ebola...

Sequence data from the new Ebola outbreak in DRC suggests it is indeed a new spillover.

And just incredible to see the virus sequenced and the data publicly shared less than 24 hours after confirmation of the outbreak.
#IDsky 🧪

virological.org/t/the-16th-e...

RDC : l’épidémie d’Ebola officiellement déclarée à Bulape au Kasaï, 16 décès déjà enregistrés Le ministère de la santé a confirmé ce jeudi 4 septembre l’épidémie de la maladie à virus Ebola dans la zone de santé de Bulape, au Kasaï.

New ebola outbreak in DRC. According to this 4 health care workers among the 16 already dead.

actualite.cd/2025/09/04/r...

From bank robber to scholar: the Knoxville dropout fighting to change how we see addiction Kirsten Smith was 19 when she first tried heroin; within a few years she was in prison. She says she willingly made those choices and wants society to stop treating addiction as a disease

Important read for anyone working in addiction research - research institutes need to be more open to supporting individuals with lived experience, and dogma should be challenged
www.theguardian.com/news/2025/se...

Malawi set to run out of TB drugs in a month after US, UK and others cut aid Gains in cutting deaths from tuberculosis at risk as health officials warn clinics forced to ration drugs and testing

Malawi set to run out of TB drugs in a month after US, UK and others cut aid

Botswana declares national public health emergency The country is facing a shortage of medical equipment and medicines, President Duma Boko says.

Botswana declares public health emergency, partly due to Trump’s International aid cuts leading to shortages of vital HIV medicines.
HIV treatment not only prevents AIDS, it also prevents transmission.
Without treatment, people will die and more people will acquire HIV.

Anger, fear and a total rejection of politics: the Palestine Action protest was a snapshot of Britain today | Andy Beckett Keir Starmer’s government is treating voters with contempt. With the arrest of hundreds of protesters in London, for many, the feeling is mutual, says Guardian columnist Andy Beckett

Anger, fear and a total rejection of politics: the Palestine Action protest was a snapshot of Britain today | Andy Beckett

The Legionnaire's Disease cluster in Central Harlem has now grown to 58 cases. 21 hospitalized.

Tragically there has been a 2nd death.

If you live or work in zip codes 10027, 10030, 10035, 10037 or 10039 and you develop flu-like symptoms, contact a health care provider immediately.

this work saved millions of lives in 2021, won the Nobel Prize in 2023, and is cancelled in 2025

Break the selective silence on the genocide in Gaza Substantial and well-documented evidence indicates a catastrophic public health emergency in Gaza (appendix pp 1–5), marked by severe food insecurity and alarming levels of malnutrition-related deaths...

Gaza has recorded the most health-care worker deaths (over 1400 deaths), UN deaths (295) & journalist deaths (212) than in any recent conflict zone.

Life expectancy at birth dropped 35 yrs in 2024. From Oct '23-May '25, there were 720 attacks on healthcare targets www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Pregnant woman

📰News!📰 New research shows worldwide scale of HCV among babies & children.
“Given the availability of effective medicine & further progress in this field, it’s vital that testing & diagnosis rates improve so more people can be treated & cured.”
➡️ bit.ly/4oh4zFI #WorldHepatitisDay @nihr.bsky.social

Today is #WorldHepatitisDay!
Did you know, that >5 million people in the EU/EEA live with chronic hepatitis B or C?

🚫 Most people don’t even know they’re infected!
➡️ Hepatitis B & C cause ~50,000 deaths/year in the EU/EEA – mostly preventable.

bit.ly/ECDCHepDay2025

New Editorial - World Hepatitis Day 2025: elimination at a critical juncture

buff.ly/gcnJooI

#WorldHepatitisDay #LiverSky #MedSky #IDSky #HepSky

Scaling back PEPFAR will leave 700,000 without PrEP and cause 6700 new HIV infections within a year The 13th International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Science (IAS 2025) in Kigali, Rwanda has been dominated by the impact of the US government funding cuts. Especially urgent are discussions on...

News from #IAS2025: Scaling back PEPFAR will leave 700,000 without PrEP and cause 6700 new HIV infections within a year @iasociety.bsky.social
aidsmap.com/news/jul-202...

"Ceasing #PREPFAR's funding for PrEP in sub-Sharan Africa will remove 700,000 individuals from using PrEP"

- Jack Stone, #IAS2025

NEWS ALERT! 🚨 We finally heard back from the UK government which is keen to hear reports of impact of funding cuts on UK-ECRs research - please (if you haven't already)fill in this survey and/or contact us if you want your voice and experience to be reported! docs.google.com/forms/d/1Yoa...

Evaluating the impact of two decades of USAID interventions and projecting the effects of defunding on mortality up to 2030: a retrospective impact evaluation and forecasting analysis USAID funding has significantly contributed to the reduction in adult and child mortality across low-income and middle-income countries over the past two decades. Our estimates show that, unless the a...

Elon Musk casually, and illegally, dismantled USAID. According to a new study in the Lancet, that action will lead to *14 million* premature deaths between 2025 and 2030.

Again: Elon Musk is directly responsible for 14 million coming deaths. 4.5 million will be children.

😂

Challenges of the current yellow fever outbreak in Colombia Yellow fever was once mainly sylvatic in remote Colombian regions throughout the 20th century. However, the 21st century has seen the re-emergence of yellow fever in endemic zones and it has spread to...

"In 2024, 23 cases of yellow fever were reported in Colombia, with 13 deaths. As of June 9, 2025, there have been 104 cases and 45 deaths..."

In a new letter, authors explore the challenges of the current yellow fever outbreak in Colombia: tinyurl.com/3ykcr8uu

Skyrocketing mpox outbreak in Sierra Leone raises fears of wider spread Boom in infections in the West African nation is driven by the same viral strain that caused a global outbreak in 2022.

#Mpox is surging in Sierra Leone — representing more than half of all new infections for Africa over the past month — raising risk of spread to neighbouring countries. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

TGIF! Happy Friday!
Our symposium is just around the corner!
The FINAL PROGRAMME is out! Take a look: londoninfection.wixsite.com/home/lipn
It's a full day of infection science and registration is still open: shorturl.at/wLyWY

First detection of West Nile virus in UK mosquitoes UKHSA says there is no evidence to suggest ongoing circulation of the virus in birds or mosquitos in the UK and the risk to the general public is very low

📢Breaking news - @ukhsa.bsky.social confirms 1st detection of #WestNileVirus particles in mosquitoes in the UK. This is a zoonotic virus that usually spreads in birds, but very occasionally infects people. Risk to UK public is extremely low, no detection in Scotland yet

www.gov.uk/government/n...

Photo of packed meeting room in Amsterdam as new EASL guidelines for HBV are announced

New European #guidelines for #HBV launched and presented this morning in Amsterdam, outputs from panel and Delphi process, led by Markus Cornberg
📢🧪
@easlnews.bsky.social @ecdc.europa.eu @whoeurope.bsky.social

Male bias in medical trials risks women’s lives. But at least the data gap is finally being addressed | Caroline Criado Perez We know some medications work differently in men and women. Why is it taking so long for studies to reflect this, asks author Caroline Criado Perez

Male bias in medical trials risks women’s lives. But at least the data gap is finally being addressed | Caroline Criado Perez