Sonja Rasmussen

Antigenic Drift and Antivaccine Shift in the 2025–2026 Influenza Season | NEJM Both viral and host factors have contributed to the intensity of influenza activity during the 2025–2026 season. Some of these factors can be managed, whereas others are largely beyond human control.

Sharing our paper published yesterday discussing the 2025-2026 influenza season and challenges to future seasons, given recent HHS decisions
www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....

Statement: CIDRAP stands behind public health officials after attack on CDC

-from the CIDRAP Leadership

We declare our unwavering support of the CDC and all public health agencies and their steadfast dedication to improve the health of all people

www.cidrap.umn.edu/p...

"Mr. Kennedy continues to use words that make it sound like he knows what he's talking about, but, in fact, he doesn't," Osterholm, the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, told PBS News Hour's Geoff Bennett on Wednesday.

Exactly.

I am quoted in this article. Time to stop the anti-vaccine and anti-science rhetoric that is putting public health workers at risk.

Former surgeon general: The CDC shooting must be a wakeup call “When influential figures amplify falsehoods, they legitimize the anger that leads to violence,” writes former Surgeon General Jerome Adams.

www.statnews.com/2025/08/09/c...

I am quoted in this article. As a former MMWR Editor-in-Chief, I am concerned about what public health issues we are not hearing about during this MMWR slowdown.

RFK Jr. has stated that the measles vaccination routinely causes deaths, which is not true. The truth is that measles vaccination has prevented more than 60 million deaths globally. Vaccinating your children not only protects them, but also entire communities.

YouTube video by American Public Health Association AJPH 03/2025: "What Is Public Health: The Role of the MMWR

I’m happy to share this video where I am interviewed by the editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Public Health about the critical role of CDC’s MMWR. m.youtube.com/watch?v=jwRx...

What Obstetric Health Care Providers Need to Know About Measles and Pregnancy From January 1 to April 3, 2015, 159 people from 18 states and the District of Columbia were reported as having measles. Most cases are part of an outbreak linked to a California amusement park. Becau...

and here's an article via @srasmussen7690.bsky.social that was published in the @greenjrnl.bsky.social - pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...

Report: Every dollar of NIH research funding doubles in economic returns Research funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) generated $2.46 in economic activity for every $1 of funding in 2023, a total of $92.9 billion, according to an

NIH research funding supported 412,000 jobs in 2023 & doubled economic returns www.fiercebiotech.com/research/rep... #NIH #research #funding

NIH funding creates medicines, jobs and economic growth

Tyranny requires your fear and your silence and your compliance.

Democracy requires your courage.

So gather your justice and humanity, Illinois, and do not let despair overcome us when our country needs us the most.

USDA says it accidentally fired officials working on bird flu and is trying to rehire them In a statement, an Agriculture Department spokesperson told NBC News that officials are "working to swiftly rectify the situation."

"working to swiftly rectify the situation..."
www.nbcnews.com/politics/dog...

www.npr.org/sections/sho...

Thank you!

The Consequences of Silencing the “Voice of CDC” | NEJM For more than 60 years, the MMWR has published life-saving information on U.S. public health crises. The Trump administration’s pause on health communications has disrupted that essential mission.

Our paper released yesterday:

The ongoing existing and potential threats to the health of the US population underscore the reality that we cannot afford a cessation of data-driven updates from our country’s lead public health agency.

www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....

The NIH’s drastic cut to indirect cost rates is a critical threat to U.S. research infrastructure The drastic reduction in indirect costs is not a path to innovation or cost savings — it’s a threat to U.S.’s position as global leader in medical research.

www.statnews.com/2025/02/08/n...

Cover of The Lancet: "Health institutions may be hesitant to criticise the new administration publicly, but this timidity is a mistake. Trump's actions must be called out for the damage they are doing."

Oh, hell yeah

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

CDC scientific report resumes publication after unprecedented pause But three studies about bird flu remain on hold even as the outbreak spreads.

I’m pleased that MMWR was published this week but disappointed that the articles about H5N1 were excluded from the issue. I am quoted here - we need this information! www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

This is horrifying

Health researchers alarmed as Trump administration pauses travel, communications The halt has frozen research grants, meetings and key health updates. “Everything is basically in chaos,” said one cancer researcher.

Cancer researchers said grants were on hold.

Health briefings were abruptly canceled.

The CDC’s famed Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report didn’t publish as scheduled.

Our look at the sweeping consequences of the Trump admin’s “pause” of health communications.

with @lenasun.bsky.social + pals

Important thread on the importance of NIH research

Trump's Gag Order Halts CDC Publication MMWR did not publish as usual at 1 p.m. today

I am quoted in this article about the publication of MMWR being on pause. It is concerning that information relevant to the public’s health is not able to be distributed.

www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdi...

Trump officials pause health agencies’ communications, citing review The agencies are charged with making decisions that touch the lives of every American and are the source of crucial information to health-care providers.

New: Trump officials have paused all external communications at health agencies like CDC, FDA, NIH.

No health alerts and the famed MMWRs; no updates to key websites or social media posts.

And no indication how long the pause will last.

With @rachelroubein.bsky.social + Lena Sun.

COVID 5 years later: Learning from a pandemic many are forgetting Five years after SARS-CoV-2 surfaced, scientists reflect and look ahead to the next threat

www.science.org/content/arti...

Trump, Egged On by Musk, Condemns Spending Deal, Raising Fears of Government Shutdown The president-elect weighed in against the huge spending package after Elon Musk had spent the day warning Republicans not to support it. The blowup left the compromise on life support.

Threatening to shut down the government is a reckless and destructive tactic. Just the risk causes huge wastes of time for our government because workers have to set aside their usual work to prepare for a shutdown.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/18/us/politics/trump-musk-spending-bill.html?smid=…

Trump’s CDC pick wouldn’t let go of false theory vaccines cause autism Dave Weldon’s long record of promoting the disproven link between vaccines and autism raises concerns among some public health experts about his ability to run the CDC.

Situation just gets worse and worse and worse.

Trump’s CDC pick wouldn’t let go of false theory vaccines cause autism wapo.st/4iACoi0

"...record of promoting the disproven link btw vaccines & autism in the face of OVERWHELMING scientific evidence attesting to the safety & efficacy of vaccines..."

So many deeply concerning issues with the MAGA picks for health & science leadership.

Near the top – and not emphasized enough – is their consistently demonstrated inability to understand how science works.

Anti-science zealots to run science? Dark Age 2.0.