John Barnard, MD

Measles Could Go “Viral”

When America was great and measles was common, the US Public Health Service published a weekly report on infections like cholera, plague, and measles. Here is a photo of a 1938 measles report. This is what will happen if immunization rates fall below herd immunity levels.

John, thanks for this important and meaningful perspective on the "wonderful continuum of the human experience" which is indeed worth celebrating.

Very interesting commentary, John. Thanks.

Are you puzzled by #CBME? Confused by EPAs, milestones and competencies? Then our NEW episode with Dr. Cary Sauer is for you!

We break down this important #MedEd concept and how it applies to pediatric GI training.

🎧 👉 www.buzzsprout.com/581062/episo...

Round Pneumonia | NEJM A 4-year-old girl presented with a 3-day history of fever and dry cough. A chest radiograph showed a large, rounded opacity in the left lower lobe with subtle air bronchograms.

A unique CXR finding found in children. Click on the link to view so called “round pneumonia”, in this case due to Mycoplasma | New England Journal of Medicine www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....

🚨From the Desk of the President🚨Interested in joining the webinar wave? 🌊 The 2026 @naspghan.bsky.social Webinar submission form and site 💻are still open until 4/30/25 so get those brilliant submissions in! Excited to see the new ideas brewing!! tinyurl.com/4t8b87e6

In 2023, guns continued to be the top cause of death for children. More than cancer. More than car accidents. More than sudden unexplained infant death (SUID). Gun deaths are 100% preventable.

A shock to the global nutrition system: why nutrition scientists should challenge the dismantling of the United States Agency for International Development and the United States' withdrawal from the W... Imagine a world where over 1 million children across 85 countries died from a single nutrient deficiency—deaths that could be prevented with a semi-annual vitamin supplement. Millions of lives saved c...

ajcn.nutrition.org/article/S000...

How decreased/eliminated funding from US influences global health? A summary + data from Locks et al - how global nutrition system is affected. @NASPGHAN has a survey to hear more of how spending cuts are affecting you to further work on advocacy efforts - www.surveymonkey.com/r/ZCJP9NX

Opinion | Sorry, R.F.K.: There Is No Autism Mystery Greater awareness, not vaccines, has driven an increase in diagnoses.

Insightful commentary by a autistic science and university leader @holdenthorp.bsky.social @nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/2025/03/20/o...

Just published @science.org
On fixing the NIH 15% cap
"The consequences of failing to do so—reduced research capacity, weakened scientific competitiveness, and increased financial strain on institutions—are simply too dire to ignore."
science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Measles is a vaccine preventable disease. My condolences to the family bearing this tragic loss.

Today’s ‘economic blackout’ began from an unlikely source. But it’s tapped into Americans’ anger | CNN Business In early February, John Schwarz, a self-described “mindfulness and meditation facilitator,” proposed a 24-hour nationwide “economic blackout” of major chains on the last day of the month.

www.cnn.com/2025/02/28/b...

F.D.A. Cancels Meeting of Vaccine Experts Scheduled to Advise on Flu Shots The cancellation plays into fears among scientists who worry that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will use his position as health secretary to sow doubts about vaccines.

Hey! Along with millions of other people across the US, this is MY family’s fall 2025 flu vaccine we are putting at risk here!

www.nytimes.com/2025/02/26/u...

Best to prevent obesity in children. We are not there yet.

In the meantime, this placebo controlled trial of a GLP1 receptor agonist is good news. Nice summary below.

NIH In Your State - United For Medical Research Select a state on the map to see the impact of NIH funding across America.

If you wish to know how much NIH funding your state receives, and the economic activity that results from it (the "NIH multiplier effect"), check out this website. May be useful for writing your representatives in Congress. www.unitedformedicalresearch.org/nih-in-your-...

NIH slashes overhead payments for research, sparking outrage Move to cut indirect cost rate to 15% could cost universities billions of dollars

Indirect (facility and admin) costs are real. For 70 years, the US biomedical research enterprise has been structured on recovery of these institutional expenditures. Reduction of indirect costs recovery to 15% will cripple US biomedical research for decades.

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

Former surgeon general: America needs a better discourse on DEI “As a former U.S. surgeon general, I believe our country deserves a better discourse on DEI,” writes Jerome Adams.

This is a well-reasoned interpretation of the current discourse on diversity, equity and inclusion. We can do better.

Former surgeon general: America needs a better discourse on DEI www.statnews.com/2025/02/04/d... via @statnews.com

Great advice herein. As a pediatric gastroenterologist, I can especially endorse: "trust your gut"!

YouTube video by Sheriff of Sodium Rank Order List: Buyers and Sellers Edition

Starting today at noon, Match applicants can begin submitting their rank order lists.

But before you do… here’s what residency applicants consistently overvalue - and what they consistently undervalue - when picking a program.

Rank Order List: Buyers and Sellers Edition
youtu.be/rDtlD1BH0Yw

It is easy to understand the benefit of a new cure for cancer. It feels like a miracle. Vaccines are different. We will never know if one of us, or one of our loved ones, has been saved from death or severe illness by a vaccine. That's prevention. And it is no less a miracle than a cure for cancer.

According to US News, I am still a practicing doc, living in Gainesville FL, practicing in Columbus OH, and holding hospital privileges in nearby West Virginia hospitals. I remain on insurance rolls and appointments are available! Other than living in Gainesville, none of this is true!

Recruit more physicians and scientists to the clean air of the BlueSky, friends!

Walking Pneumonia Is Spiking. Here’s How To Stay Safe The respiratory illness typically affects school-age kids, but the CDC reports a rise in cases in children aged 2-4.

It was the CDC's communications that alerted the medical community to the dramatic national increase in M. pneumonia infections this fall. These alerts appropriately reshaped clinicians' approach to management of children and adults with respiratory symptoms.

www.sciencefriday.com/segments/wal...

Trump hits NIH with ‘devastating’ freezes on meetings, travel, communications, and hiring Researchers facing

Trump hits NIH with ‘devastating’ freezes on meetings, travel, communications, and hiring www.science.org/content/arti...

Pediatric gastroenterology colleagues, take note. Fascinating to think of the future of non-invasive ways to monitor our IBD patients for relapse - kind of
like a DAILY calprotectin!

This seems to be a very practical
resource. Love it. Important as the body of evidence linking consumption of ultra processed foods to adverse health outcomes is increasingly robust.

Gut microbiome signatures of vegan, vegetarian and omnivore diets and associated health outcomes across 21,561 individuals - Nature Microbiology Using 21,561 individuals, the authors present a cross-sectional study of how gut microbiome signatures are associated with dietary intake patterns and with host health outcomes.

Microbiome analysis from over 21,000 vegans, vegetarians, and omnivores reveals microbe signatures associated with each diet type. Microbes found in diets rich in plant-based foods were associated with favorable markers of cardiometabolic health!

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

We all had very similar symptoms,
Nearly concurrently. Probably same pathogen. Anyway, hope you are better soon, Temara!

Not a great way to spend the holiday - being sick and alone. In my family, we solved that the hard way. Everyone was sick! 😀

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