Greg Folkers

UKHSA: New mpox strain identified in England

genome contained elements of clade Ib and IIb mpox. 

bit.ly/48pl4rz

A study on 1.7 million people in Hong Kong shows superior hybrid immunity to Covid in people who got vaccinated before infection vs. people who got infected first. "Our findings are a direct rebuttal to arguments for natural immunity," the authors write. doi.org/10.1016/j.va...

DOGE kills

Fig. 2: The care cascade of HBV infection and the current gaps

REVIEW | Global burden of #hepatitisB virus: current status, missed opportunities and a call for action
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Full-text link: rdcu.be/eTFsa

This figure shows the care cascade of HBV infection and current gaps
#HBV #NoHep #hepatitis #Liversky

Sustainable HIV prevention in Africa Despite more than four decades of progress, HIV remains a global health challenge, with 1·3 million new infections a year. The six-paper Series on Sustainable HIV Prevention in Africa argues that…

AVAC is a proud contributor to @thelancet.com series, "Sustainable HIV prevention in Africa". Read all 6 papers to learn why epidemic control depends on shifting from fragmented, donor-led programs to country-led, integrated systems, w/ examples of impact from 7 African countries buff.ly/rMX1lLZ

Underrepresented Populations in the U.S. Biomedical, Clinical, Behavioral and Social Sciences Research Enterprise In spite of tremendous advancements in scientific research, information, educational and research opportunities are not equally available to all. NIH encourages institutions to diversify their student and faculty populations to enhance the participation of individuals from groups that are underrepresented in the biomedical, clinical, behavioral and social sciences, such as: Individuals from racial and ethnic groups that have been shown by the National Science Foundation to be underrepresented in health-related sciences on a national basis (see data at http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/showpub.cfm?TopID=2&SubID;=27) and the report Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering). The following racial and ethnic groups have been shown to be underrepresented in biomedical research: Blacks or African Americans, Hispanics or Latinos, American Indians or Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders. In addition, it is recognized that underrepresentation can vary from setting to setting; individuals from racial or ethnic groups that can be demonstrated convincingly to be underrepresented by the grantee institution should be encouraged to participate in NIH programs to enhance diversity. For more information on racial and ethnic categories and definitions, see the OMB Revisions to the Standards for Classification of Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity (https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-1997-10-30/html/97-28653.htm). Individuals with disabilities, who are defined as those with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, as described in the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended. See NSF data at, https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/2017/nsf17310/static/data/tab7-5.pdf. Individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds, defined as those who meet two or more of the follo…

A point that was made repeatedly in reporting this story:

NIH's definition of diversity does include racial diversity, but it's much more expansive than that. This has been taken down from the website.

As @jeremymberg.bsky.social put it, “It’s a good cross section of America"

The top US health director who stood up for science — and was fired Susan Monarez is part of Nature’s 10, a list of people who shaped science in 2025.

Fired CDC director Susan Monarez is one of Nature's 10 people who shaped science in 2025.

“I always challenge the status quo because that’s what you do in science,” Monarez told me. “You challenge it to try to do better, but you don’t compromise your moral and scientific integrity for expediency.”

The Vaccine Guardrails Are Gone RFK Jr.’s allies are in full control of U.S. immunization policy.

Atlantic: The Vaccine Guardrails Are Gone

RFK Jr.’s allies are in full control of U.S. immunization policy.

bit.ly/3XHp16q

A Threat to Evidence-Based Vaccine Policy and Public Health Security at the FDA | NEJM Twelve former commissioners of the FDA express concern that the agency’s recent moves will undermine a regulatory model designed to ensure vaccine safety, effectiveness, and availability.

This is extraordinary. Prasad's memo was something else, but to have 12 former FDA commissioners get together so quickly and say what a threat it is...just wow. www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.... #medsky #vaccine #fda

How some treatments can lead to a ‘functional cure’ for HIV Specific class of immune cells help keep virus at bay for months or years—even in the absence of drugs

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

Georgetown University Medical Center: Treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS: Unfinished business bit.ly/3XYYLo2

PLOS Med/ Fauci and Folkers on World AIDS Day:Treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS: Unfinished business

bit.ly/4pbR365

New Yorker: The Undermining of the C.D.C.

The Department of Health and Human Services maintains that it is hewing to “gold standard, evidence-based science”—doublespeak that might unsettle Orwell.

by Dhruv Khullar

bit.ly/4a66rMT

JIAS/D Daskalakis:

This is not normal: a call for HIV activism

bit.ly/3Xq7M9y
by @drdemetre.bsky.social

bioRxiv: Detection and isolation of H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b high pathogenicity avian influenza virus from ticks (Ornithodoros maritimus) recovered from a naturally infected slender-billed gull (Chroicocephalus genei)

Dylan Andrieux et al

bit.ly/48uy13L
@biorxivpreprint.bsky.social

UNICEF/UNAIDS: Their Future is on the Line: Cost of inaction on HIV for children

uni.cf/43TspyI

npj Vaccines: Influenza mRNA vaccine reduces pathogenicity and transmission of A(H5N1) virus in a ferret model

Masato Hatta et al

go.nature.com/4p1YcG2
#h5n1

FDA Memo Claims to Link 10 Kid Deaths to COVID Shots Expert calls report without proper scientific review 'dangerous and irresponsible'

MedPage Today: FDA Memo Claims to Link 10 Kid Deaths to COVID Shots

Expert calls report without proper scientific review "dangerous and irresponsible"

by @kristinafiore.bsky.social
@medpagetoday.com

bit.ly/4amSjP7

NYT/ David Wallace-Wells: When the Next Pandemic Comes, MAHA Says, You’re on Your Own

nyti.ms/4prM5C2

Commentary on Jay Bhattacharya, Matt Memoli op-ed

NEJM: Daily Mosnodenvir as Dengue Prophylaxis in a Controlled Human Infection Model

Anna P. Durbin et al

bit.ly/4in51zr

NYT: Trump Administration Will No Longer Commemorate World AIDS Day

nyti.ms/4ipVgR1

“It just seems petty and hostile, frankly....."

(yes)

C&EN: At MAHA Summit, the NIH head pushes for research that risks failure

"....we have not done a good job in the past"
😕
i can think of dozens of big advances, many transformational, in many disciplines

bit.ly/3XjV8Je

PNAS: Pathogens spread by high-flying wind-borne mosquitoes

Roland Bamou et al

bit.ly/44waq1i

CIDRAP: Experimental mRNA flu vaccine shows superior efficacy against symptomatic illness

bit.ly/48h76bA

@cidrap.bsky.social

medRxiv: Emergence of a novel reassorted high pathogenicity avian influenza A(H5N2) virus associated with severe pneumonia in a young adult  

Joel Armando Vazquez-Perez et al

bit.ly/4p45KZ2

h5n1 h5n2 etc

Doctor Critical of Vaccines Quietly Appointed as C.DC.’s Second in Command

The latest phase of the MADA movement

Make Americans Dead Again

[Gift link]

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/h...

1/4

South Carolina’s Measles Outbreak Shows Chilling Effect of Vaccine Misinformation - KFF Health News When a measles outbreak emerged in Spartanburg, South Carolina, in October, health officials announced that most cases were tied to one public charter school, where only 17% of the 605 students enroll...

KFF Health News: South Carolina’s Measles Outbreak Shows Chilling Effect of Vaccine Misinformation

by Lauren Sausser

bit.ly/4iGt0Kl

NOTUS: CDC Quietly Turned Off Its Vaccine Search Tool. It’s Not Clear When It’s Coming Back

By Margaret Manto

👉 bit.ly/4p5h1Z5
@notus.com
@margaretmanto.bsky.social

Commentary: Reaching a new low, CDC discards science in claims about vaccines and autism Changing its web page, the CDC now promotes the myth that vaccines are linked to autism despite years of research refuting the claim.

LA Times: Reaching a new low, CDC discards science in claims about vaccines and autism

by michael hiltzik

lat.ms/48jHvPa

Wow.