Craig H

Coalition directs Health NZ to stop saying 'pregnant people' Associate Health Minister Casey Costello has told the agency "only women and people of the female sex can get pregnant".

This is petty, cruel and shows the bizarre priorities of NZ First.

However, Health NZ can still be inclusive and technically obey this jammy little demand by jammy little people. Here’s my comms person take 🧵

www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

Even physical activity on weekends only (Weekend warrior, WW) linked with a significant favorable impact of all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality, cancer mortality
MVPA-moderate to vigorous physical activity
from UK Biobank, >90,000 participants
www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/...

Tuberculosis treatment

Yes, #Tuberculosis (TB) is curable!

TB is treated with antibiotics taken daily for 4–6 months. ⚠️ Stopping treatment early can lead to drug-resistant TB.

Funding cuts & rising drug resistance put the most vulnerable at risk. Sustained support is crucial to #EndTB 👉 bit.ly/4ilkK1h #WorldTBDay

The stage at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford. The stage is shaped like a ship. In the centre of the stage is the shape of a body with the flag of Denmark draped over and two spotlights on the shroud.

Bluesky user craigjh4 and a friend in front of the William Shakespeare statue in Stratford

A portrait of William Shakespeare made of Lego pieces

Amazing day seeing Hamlet at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon today, not sure if I’m more impressed by the acting or the fact we managed to keep up with what was going on 😅

To overcome vaccine hesistancy, we must do a better job of explaining the risks of illness vs vaccine side effects

Really important & timely @plosglobalpublichealth.org
commentary by Dr Peter Hotez

journals.plos.org/globalpublic...

Whoops, forgot to share this with #BookSky 📚

A list of books the user read in 2024 with star ratings. The photo reads: 2024 List, page 1 of 2 Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent by Judi Dench ⭐️ 4.5 The Lover by Silvia Moreno-Garcia ⭐️ 3.75 Stargazer by Laurie Petrou ⭐️ 4.0 Prophet Song by Paul Lynch ⭐️ 4.5 Legendborn by Tracy Deonn ⭐️ 4.5 The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green ⭐️ 4.25 Bloodmarked by Tracy Deonn ⭐️ 4.75 The Will of the Many by James Islington ⭐️ 5.0 All Systems Red by Martha Wells ⭐️ 4.0 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams ⭐️ 4.5 Artificial Condition by Martha Wells ⭐️ 4.25 Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells ⭐️ 3.5 Red Rising by Pierce Brown ⭐️ 4.75 Golden Son by Pierce Brown ⭐️ 4.75 Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson ⭐️ 4.25 Morning Star by Pierce Brown ⭐️ 5.0 Fellow Travelers by Thomas Mallon ⭐️ 4.25 Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver ⭐️ 3.75 The Watchers by A.M. Shine ⭐️ 3.75 Exit Strategy by Martha Wells ⭐️ 4.0 Iron Gold by Pierce Brown ⭐️ 4.0 All-Night Pharmacy by Ruth Madievsky ⭐️ 4.25 The Atlas Complex by Olivie Blake ⭐️ 3.25 Valor on the Move by Keira Andrews ⭐️ 3.75 Spillover by David Quammen ⭐️ 4.25

A list of books the user read in 2024 with star ratings. The photo reads: 2024 List, page 2 of 2 Penance by Eliza Clark ⭐️ 4.5 Coming Up for Air by Tom Daley ⭐️ 3.75 The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman ⭐️ 4.25 The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon ⭐️ 5.0 A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers ⭐️ 5.0 A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers ⭐️ 4.75 Evenings and Weekends by Oisín McKenna ⭐️ 5.0 Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss ⭐️ 3.75 Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett ⭐️ 5.0 Shorefall by Robert Jackson Bennett ⭐️ 4.25 Locklands by Robert Jackson Bennett ⭐️ 3.75 Let's Split Up by Bill Wood ⭐️ 4.25 Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman ⭐️ 4.0 Queen Macbeth by Val McDermid ⭐️ 4.0 Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark ⭐️ 4.0 Woom by Duncan Ralston ⭐️ 3.0 The Shining by Stephen King ⭐️ 5.0 Demonic by Jeff Strand ⭐️ 4.75 The Health Gap by Michael Marmot ⭐️ 5.0 I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy ⭐️ 4.5 Whalefall by Daniel Kraus ⭐️ 4.0 The Stand by Stephen King ⭐️ 5.0 Graveyard Shift by M.L. Rio ⭐️ 4.0 Lovers at the Museum by Isabel Allende ⭐️ 3.75 Orbital by Samantha Harvey ⭐️ 4.75

And here is my full list of books I read in 2024 with ratings, please feel free to send me recommendations you think I may like!

I do update Goodreads but mainly use Storygraph these days so feel free to follow/add me on there

app.thestorygraph.com/profile/crai...

An infographic of 9 book covers which the user rated 5 stars in 2025. The books are: Evenings and Weekends by Oisín McKenna Morning Star by Pierce Brown The Will Of The Many by James Islington The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon The Shining by Stephen King A Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett The Health Gap by Michael Marmot The Stand by Stephen King

An infographic which reads: I’m going into 2025 reading… Underneath are two book covers The first book is Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton. Above the title is a symbol of a book with a lightning bolt on the page to show that it is being read on an e-reader. The second book is And The Band Played On by Randy Shilts. Above this title is a symbol of headphones to show that the user is listening to the audiobook of this title.

I rated 9 books five stars, although my average rating was 4.29🌟 so high scores across the board (I think I’ve just gotten to know which books I’ll probably enjoy)

Going into 2025 reading Jurassic Park and listening to And The Band Played On 📚🎧

Infographic title slide which reads: Craig’s Reading Wrapped 2024 Goal: 50 books Read: 50 books

2024 Reading Statistics slide featuring a list of statistics and a graph of books and pages read over time in 2024. The graph shows peaks in activity in February and July, with smaller peaks in October and December. The statistics read: 📚 Books read: 50 ⚡️ Kindle: 37 (74%) 📖 Physical: 3 (16%) 🎧 Audiobook: 10 (20%) 🚀 Fiction: 44 (88%) 💡 Non-fiction: 6 (12%) 🌟 Average rating: 4.29 📊 Top Genres: Sci-Fi, Fantasy, LGBTQIA+, Horror 🤓 Most read author: Martha Wells & Pierce Brown (4 books each) ⬇️ Shortest: The Lover by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (43 pages) ⬆️ Longest: The Stand by Stephen King (1,211 pages)

Thought I would bring my annual reading wrap up to BlueSky, so here it is!

✨ I read 50 books this year, only just hitting my reading goal!

📊 I got really into my kindle this year, and read mostly sci-fi, fantasy, LGBTQIA+, and horror books.

I read a lot - let’s be friends on storygraph 🤓📚 (also on goodreads but trying to move away from using it so much)

Also need good book recommendations for 2025 - literary or fantasy/sci-fi fiction, and interesting memoirs or public health related non-fiction!

app.thestorygraph.com/profile/crai...

The pitch at Old Trafford at half time

2-0 up so far at Old Trafford 💪🏻🇾🇪

#WorldAIDSDay
Accidentally timed my listening/reading of And The Band Played On with World AIDS Day. It’s fascinating hearing the scientific side of things and epidemiological investigation, but even more moved by the people who pushed for change and justice early in the epidemic.

December 1st! Same as Christmas music 🎅🏻 you’ll use up all the Christmas spirit too early otherwise!

Hopefully this work provides more context to clinicians and those utilising LFTs to make better decisions and interpretations regarding their use and results

🧵8/8

My final thought, and not one that we picked up on in the paper but from my experience in hospital epi - think about how you are using them, is it really cost effective? Will you PCR anyway? What is the context - is there an outbreak? Could moving a possible case present risk to others?

🧵7/8

The study highlights the importance of prevalence in interpretation. High specificity can still result in low PPV when prevalence is low.These nuances are tricky but vital for interpreting results in different settings.

🧵6/8

Bottom line: Use LFTs to identify highly infectious cases during periods of high prevalence, but not as a standalone diagnostic tool. Negative results require careful interpretation, especially in asymptomatic or low-prevalence settings. Use them wisely, not blindly!

🧵5/8

Negative LFT results are reassuring but not definitive. Sensitivity is only 25.65%, so LFTs miss many PCR positive cases. For high-risk or symptomatic patients, a negative LFT shouldn’t rule out infection.

🧵4/8

High specificity (99.91%) means if you get a positive LFT, it’s likely to be a true positive, however low prevalence (0.43%) pulls the PPV down to ~56%, so only about half of positive LFTs are true positives in this dataset. A reminder: prevalence matters for PPV (and NPV)!

🧵3/8

So what did we find? Firstly, LFTs are highly specific (99.91%) but have low sensitivity (25.65%). So, LFTs rarely give false positives, but they miss many true positives.

🧵2/8

Test performance of lateral flow rapid antigen tests for COVID-19 in Welsh adult care home staff using routine surveillance data Background Lateral flow tests (LFTs) have been used to screen for SARS-CoV2 in Wales since January 2021. Between May and August 2021, adult care home staff policy was for biweekly Innova LFT and weekl...

Now I’ve settled into BlueSky, I’d like to take the chance to share our work published earlier this year on the test performance of LFT testing for COVID-19 in an adult care home population, using routine LFT & PCR surveillance data

#EpiSky #IDSky

🧵 1/8

dx.plos.org/10.1371/jour...

Dr Nisreen Alwan presenting at a conference discussing ‘health inequity, epidemic injustice and the claim of objectivity’, in front of a room full of people. Dr Alwan is stood next to a screen which says: “Scrutinise the claim of objectivity in public health research. De-stigmatise ‘self-reporting’. It maybe the best way to measure inequity Let's not inflict epistemic injustice in the name of rigour.”

Fantastic keynote by @nisreenalwan.bsky.social at the UK Public Health Science Conference @ukphsci.bsky.social .
Lots of thoughts for me as an epidemiologist about how we define cases and the harm that unconsidered ‘objectivity’ can have in our work.

Multiple rows of conference delegates, watching a speaker standing at a podium with screens either side

Excited to be at the UK Public Health Science Conference, really looking forward to the many talks and posters focusing on inequalities. @ukphsci.bsky.social #UKPHSci #EpiSky

Writing a letter of reference for someone? Or (gasp) drafting for someone who’s writing for you?

If you haven’t seen this graphic on avoiding gender bias, read it. Ref letters are broadly biased in both major and seemingly tiny ways. The bias is avoidable once you’re aware.

Two tubs of ice cream, one with colourful sprinkle toppings and the other with hazelnut sprinkles on to, and a flake in each.

First global health assignment done ✅ now for ice cream to celebrate! #MPH #EpiSky

a blue poster that says gender affirming care is life-saving ALT: a blue poster that says gender affirming care is life-saving

Trans Day of Remembrance is today. A reminder trans people have always existed and will always exist. They are beautiful, they deserve respect, healthcare, and rights.

Today I created an epicurve and found a textbook point source outbreak pattern… some days you need the small wins 🤓🦠📊

#EpiSky #IDSky

Reducing antimicrobial resistance: accelerated efforts are needed to meet the EU targets Data published by ECDC in connection with European Antibiotic Awareness Day shows that, despite improvement in some areas, the EU is lapsing in progress towards its 2030 antimicrobial resistance (AMR)...

Today is European #Antibiotic Awareness Day & start of World #AMR Awareness Week

Latest data presented by ECDC today: between 2019-2023, antibiotic consumption in the European Union 📈 by 1%, moving away from the 20% reduction target for 2030

#PublicHealth #IDSky EpiSky MedSky 🩺🧪 @ec.europa.eu

I made one for 'types of paper in epidemiology and public health'
#EpiSky