Ursula Hofer

That looks amazing! I'm away this week, missed it.

Long-term waning of vaccine-induced immunity to measles in England: a mathematical modelling study Measles case dynamics in England are consistent with scenarios assuming the waning of vaccine-induced immunity. Since measles is highly infectious, slow waning leads to a heightened burden in outbreak...

There's epi/modelling work, eg this one looking at England. Overall, waning happens, however, it's very slow compared to many other viral vaccines. It's not impossible to get infected if you were vaccinated and on a population level adds up, individual risk low.

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

The updated International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) recommendations suggest what journals can do to ensure appropriate use of AI, but real compliance starts in the institutions where researchers learn their habits. buff.ly/DVxxIJZ

Anyway, thanks for the paper. Very interesting!

Less screening leads to longer TATs. Also not sure whether one can directly compare initial desk decision with peer review decisions. For selective journals can former can be done quite reliably. Second is not only about accept/reject, more so about improving article.

I'm obviously biased
, but as an editor at a selective journal, I'm not sure whether tighter screening and desk rejections really turns authors off submitting. If they have a high-quality paper, they want it published with other high-quality peer papers. What turns them off is very long TATs.

Nature News Intern, Springer Nature Opening Doors Programme Nature News Intern, Springer Nature Opening Doors Programme London, UK - Hybrid Working Model Application deadline: 9th March 2026 Are you looking for an internship that provides hands-on experience i...

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Also, I wouldn't rate longer reports and longer replies as a positive outcome...

Loved this week's episode; never a good sign if your surgeon says yikes... Also wondering whether John Tothill was in one of our malaria challenge papers.

Reading peer review reports: Reviewer 2 saying I LOVE THIS, BRAVO in all caps. My heart ❤️😊🥲

What annoys me is if protocols are heavily redacted because of commercial or competition concerns. Ok, don't want to publish everything in appendix but at least need transparency for editorial assessment and peer review.

Rant over 😉

For clinical trials, we check protocols before publication. Can be complex though, eg if there's protocol changes, trials are registered in more than one registry, or protocols are not in English (we ask for translation or editorial colleague who knows language check, love diverse Lancet team).

Exactly. Issued when there are concerns warranting further investigation (usually by institution). What happens afterwards depends on findings. Correction, retraction, no action. For last, I would like to see note to say investigated and resolved. Doesn't always happen.

Exactly. That and how much strain regular stuff such as commuting or being 'on' in an office for a traditional workday can put on disabled people. It's a shame that much of the progress in flexible working is being rolled back.

A potential late sequelae of measles after normal recovery.
Occurs in ~ 2/10,000. Fatal.
www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.... @nejm.org today

New Documents Reveal a Controversial Vaccine Study's Unusual Path to CDC Approval A new investigation has found irregularities in the ethics review of a grant to study effects of a birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine in Guinea-Bissau.

🧪 #ResearchEthics

Appalling Guinea Bissau #hepB #vaccine trial
„an international ethics fiasco[…]

„…CDC appointees allied with Kennedy circumvented critical scientific and ethical safeguards…„

Kudos to investigative journalist @katherineeban.bsky.social

www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

Panel A shows the cumulative incidence of regimen failure (the primary outcome), which was defined as the earliest occurrence of either virologic failure or permanent discontinuation of the trial treatment. Also shown is the cumulative incidence of virologic failure, treatment-related failure (defined as the earliest occurrence of virologic failure or premature treatment discontinuation due to treatment-related adverse events), and permanent discontinuation (key secondary outcomes). Panel B shows the times to regimen failure and virologic failure in step 2. The week 48 visit was performed within a prespecified window (>42 to 50 weeks after randomization). CI denotes confidence interval.

Cabotegravir plus Rilpivirine for Persons with HIV and Adherence Challenges

Aadia Rana & co for the ACTG A5359 LATITUDE Trial Team

Monthly cabotegravir–rilpivirine were superior to standard ART in reducing failure among PWH who had adherence challenges

www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.... #IDSky #HIVSky

Zing, virus taxonomy wars continue. Language stickler in me welcomes the zeal for order and correctness. Although, if one were very strict that acknowledgement heading should maybe be renamed as conflicts of interest...

Fluffy tabby cat sitting on a bed, head half turned backwards towards camera, looking accusingly

Side eye from a resentful cat. Tonight's atrocities will not be forgiven. Humans left to go to a sea shanty concert each assuming the other one had already fed the cat. Barely escaped starvation.

Everyone can easily find our email, there really is no priority access. If you do decide to send a presub, then at least please include an abstract, full paper if you already have it.

Mucosal vaccination in mice provides protection from diverse respiratory threats Traditional vaccines target specific pathogens, limiting their scope against diverse respiratory threats. We describe an intranasal liposomal formulation combining toll-like receptor (TLR) 4 and 7/8 l...

Not disparaging original paper, very interesting basic science

Single vaccine could protect against all coughs, colds and flus, researchers say A Stanford University team have tested their nasal spray vaccine in animals but still need to do human clinical trials.

Single vaccine could protect against all coughs, colds and flus, researchers say

In mice, this ex-researcher says

Also, I would volunteer to have my immune system put on "high alert" for months

Maybe. But gosh, that's a relief.

Reading the letters of your ID successes for our anniversary issue later this year are my highlight of the day, wish I could accept all of them 💜

I worked at WHO: the USA leaving will not make America healthier On Jan 30, 2020, WHO declared COVID-19 a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), the highest alarm it can sound, which is used for moments when the world must act together or risk ca...

🆕 I had the honor of working at WHO during the COVID-19 & mpox PHEICs.

In my comment for Lancet ID, I explain why global coordination is critical & offer an inside view of what the US is walking away from.

Pathogens have no borders. In public health time is vital

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

I really don't understand why the US is just binning mRNA vaccines. Besides public health (which we know they don't care about), could they at least look at the money? It's a billion dollar market and expected to grow substantially over the next couple years. Alas, not anymore...

February cover of The Lancet Microbe

Our February issue is now online:

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

Our journal is #OpenAccess, so you are free to explore all of our content. But these hashtags offer a flavour: #Klebsiella #AMR #malaria #dermatophytosis #trichuriasis #gonorrhoea #meningitis #tuberculosis

#IDSky #ClinMicro #OA

A newborn baby being examined at the Simao Mendez central hospital in Bissau. Copyright: Giacomo Pirozzi/Panos Pictures.

"...randomly assigning newborns to not receive the vaccine denies a safe and life-saving intervention to infants in Guinea-Bissau."

New World Report by Gilbert Nakweya ⤵️ spkl.io/63325AsFTL

Transmission of MPXV from fire-footed rope squirrels to sooty mangabeys - Nature An outbreak of MPXV in sooty mangabeys in Côte d’Ivoire was linked to MPXV-infected fire-footed rope squirrels, providing direct evidence of interspecies transmission and indicating risk for zoonotic transmission of MPXV from both hosts.

Nature research paper: Transmission of MPXV from fire-footed rope squirrels to sooty mangabeys

go.nature.com/4a9xMxa

Top US medical body to review vaccine effectiveness as government ‘abdicates’ responsibility AMA to review safety of respiratory vaccines as health agencies end recommendations based on no new data

ACIP, the vaccine committee that scrutinizes evidence on vaccines and offers guidance, has “now effectively collapsed,” the @ama-assn.org says. Organizations like AMA and the Vaccine Integrity Project at @cidrap.bsky.social are stepping into the gap. My latest:
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...