Nathan Lo

As measles cases climb, these 9 diseases threaten comebacks When it comes to infectious diseases, measles is “the canary in the coal mine,” one expert said.

New @washingtonpost.com article reviewing the risk for re-emergence of vaccine-preventable diseases in the United States, with my comments based on our recent research:

Community health project in Kenya and Uganda dramatically cuts new HIV infections Large-scale study finds that simplifying delivery of prevention medication and improving connections to clinics is key

Wow - such important and impressive work to reduce HIV infections. Read below.

Line graph shows US newborn Hepatitis B virus vaccination rates, forecasting ratio of HBV vaccinations to live births. Actual, ARIMA forecast, and training data from 2017-2026 are displayed, with a magnified inset focusing on the forecasted timeframe.

#HepatitisB virus newborn vaccination rates in the US peaked at 83% in early 2023 but dropped to 73% by August 2025, coinciding with increased public discourse regarding childhood vaccination.

ja.ma/4qMf1Vv

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

Screenshot from an NIH website reading: "Table 1 shows the number of principal investigators (PIs) applying for or receiving an R01-equivalent grant in FYs 2021 to 2025, disaggregated by career stage. NIH supported 1,423 and 1,144 ESIs in FYs 2024 and 2025, respectively. The decrease seen in FY 2025 may likely be due in part to NIH implementing a requirement to use 50% of its remaining competing Research Project Grant (RPG) funds (starting in June 2025) for full-year funded competing RPGs, which was expected to lead to fewer awards and support fewer researchers overall."

Check this out straight from the NIH website, acknowledging that multiyear funding was likely responsible for a 20% decrease in early stage investigators.

And that it was expected.

A strange approach for someone so committed to the next generation of scientists.

grants.nih.gov/news-events/...

U.S. closes in on 1,000 measles cases in first two months of 2026 The nation is struggling to control the spread of the wildly contagious virus as vaccination rates continue to fall.

U.S. closes in on 1,000 measles cases in first two months of 2026. Measles kills 1-2 people out of every 1000 who catch it.
www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...

Measles is raging worldwide: are you at risk? Cases in fully vaccinated people are rare and usually mild, but are likely to become more common as exposure to the virus rises.

Check out this @nature.com News explainer article on measles, with my comments about our prior work, and featuring an upcoming article led by Drs @malar0ne.bsky.social and @joshuasweitz.bsky.social: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

We are thrilled to welcome three new Associate Division Chiefs to the Infectious Diseases Division! Dr. Brian Blackburn will be leading Education and Trainees, Dr. Prasanna Jagannathan will be heading Research, and Dr. Mindy Sampson will be taking on Hospital and Clinics.

At least 2 measles cases confirmed inside Texas detention center

DHS said all movement within the facility has stopped.

www.cidrap.umn.edu/l...

What South Carolina’s soaring measles outbreak means for the rest of the U.S. More than 840 measles infections have been reported in South Carolina, surpassing the tally in Texas last year. Public health experts say it shows the risks when vaccination coverage falls.

NEW: South Carolina’s measles outbreak is country’s largest in more than 25 years. But its falling vaccination coverage + rising religious exemptions from school requirements don’t make it an outlier. My story. Gift link. 1/3
wapo.st/4rttZRg

Wow that’s too kind! Hope you’re doing well, you are missed here!

Postdoc (Stanford, USA)
Modeling neglected tropical diseases (particularly schistosomiasis) and public health control strategies
with Nathan Lo
at Stanford University
More details: http://iddjobs.org/jobs/2464

(1/2) MMWR: Measles Outbreak Linked to Air Travel — Colorado, 2025

An unvaccinated traveler exposed others during an international flight and at Denver International Airport, leading to:
• 9 secondary & 1 tertiary case in Colorado
• 7 more cases in other states
• 4 hospitalizations, mostly unvaxxed

Interpreting Breakthrough Infections Given Assortative Mixing of Partially Vaccinated Populations Declining vaccine coverage across the United States has increased the risk of outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases. Even when vaccines have low primary failure rates, conventional epidemic theory...

In a new preprint, we combine modeling with school-level vaccine data to contextualize the risk of 'breakthrough infections' and impacts on the ongoing US measles outbreak. #idsky #episky

www.medrxiv.org/content/10.6...

Interpreting Breakthrough Infections Given Assortative Mixing of Partially Vaccinated Populations Declining vaccine coverage across the United States has increased the risk of outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases. Even when vaccines have low primary failure rates, conventional epidemic theory...

The ms is led with @joshuasweitz.bsky.social & thanks to co-authors @tgoel.bsky.social @beckettstephen.bsky.social @nathanlo.bsky.social @jdushoff.bsky.social Akash Arani & Kejia Zhang.

www.medrxiv.org/content/10.6...

The killing of Alex Pretti is a heartbreaking tragedy. It should also be a wake-up call to every American, regardless of party, that many of our core values as a nation are increasingly under assault.

Alex Pretti, who is identified as the man fatally shot by a U.S. Border Patrol officer in Minneapolis on Saturday, was an intensive care nurse dedicated to treating veterans.

Read more about him here: https://wapo.st/3M62eyV

Measles is spreading fast in S.C. Here's what it says about vaccine exemptions More than 550 people have contracted measles in Spartanburg County, S.C., in a fast-growing outbreak. Like a majority of U.S. counties, nonmedical exemptions to school vaccination are also rising.

Additional media mentions:
www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...
www.cnn.com/2026/01/14/h...
www.npr.org/2026/01/16/n...

@stanford-med-id.bsky.social @stanforddeptmed.bsky.social @stanfordmedicine.bsky.social @stanfordcigh.bsky.social @stanfordasp.bsky.social

Co-led by Mustafa Fattah (NBC, Columbia) and Lauren Stoffel (Stanford), key input from @peterhotezmdphd.bsky.social and @mathewkiang.com with full team listed below, along with NBC colleagues (@joemurph.bsky.social)

Trends in County-Level Childhood Vaccination Exemptions in the US This study examines US county-level trends in nonmedical and medical exemptions to childhood vaccination requirements.

Our latest study in @jama.com on trends in county-level vaccine exemptions, demonstrating geographic pockets of high vaccine exemptions and high susceptibility to vaccine-preventable diseases. Great collab with @nbcnews.com colleagues and our Stanford team. jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Trends in County-Level Childhood Vaccination Exemptions in the US This study examines US county-level trends in nonmedical and medical exemptions to childhood vaccination requirements.

Our new article in @jama.com led by @nathanlo.bsky.social @stanfordmedicine.bsky.social jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

The return of measles: how a once-vanquished disease is spreading again A year after the Texas outbreak began, new US cases reveal gaps in vaccination and rising risk for children

"Measles is the canary in the coalmine"

www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

JAMA RESEARCH LETTER shows US childhood vaccination exemptions. Maps show prepandemic(2010-2020) & postpandemic(2021-2024) rates by county; colors denote exemption % ranges. A graph shows county-level variation over 2 periods by state.

County-level data indicate a sharp rise in nonmedical childhood #vaccination exemptions in the US from 2010 to 2024, with post-pandemic rates highest in Utah, Idaho, Oregon, Wisconsin, and Arizona.

ja.ma/4qky0qM

In a new, timely project led by @nathanlo.bsky.social, we collected vaccine exemption rates (mostly) at the county-level for nearly all states.

Now up at @jama.com: jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

The NIH has lost its scientific integrity. So we left “We can no longer lend our credibility to an organization that has lost its integrity,” write four scientists and administrators who recently resigned from the NIH.

This is so incredibly heart-breaking. To Jay Bhattacharya and Matthew Memoli at NIH--you have betrayed the entire scientific community. Deeply committed staff are leaving in droves--because you are destroying the institution. Shame on you. www.statnews.com/2026/01/10/n...

DP5 mechanism also cancelled this past year

Opinion | Trump’s War on Public Health Is a Battle to the Death

Many thanks @nytimes.com for highlighting our recent @jama.com paper led by @nathanlo.bsky.social @stanfordmedicine.bsky.social

Trump’s War on Public Health Is a Battle to the Death www.nytimes.com/2025/12/23/o...

MAHA Wins

U.S. plans to stop recommending most childhood vaccines, defer to doctors The plan, which is not finalized, suggests children get fewer shots and shifts to a model telling parents to consult doctors to make their own vaccine choices.

BREAKING: US. plans to stop recommending most childhood vaccines, defer to doctors, per sources familiar. HHS consulted w chief science officer and top FDA official. Me and @rachel_roubein
1/4
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...