René F. Najera, MPH, DrPH, FCPP

Pediatricians are fighting misinformation one conversation at a time. Trust, patience, and listening — not lectures — are what's bringing hesitant parents back. 🔗

Inside one WA county's race to contain a measles outbreak Three cases became six, then 10, then 12. Here's an inside look at what's been happening to track exposures, test residents and persuade people to quarantine.

A measles outbreak in Snohomish County, WA grew to 14 cases — but swift public health action and strong MMR vaccination rates kept it from being far worse. The countdown to it being over starts now.
www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...

Free lecture alert! 🏥 On March 18, the College of Physicians of Philadelphia examines 1970s nurse-led rural health clinics, their innovation, community activism & politics.
🔗 collegeofphysicians.org/events/tackl...

📚 Free event! The Historical Medical Library Spring Open House is on April 16, 4:30–6:30 PM in Philadelphia. Rare books, manuscripts, crafts & more!
🔗 collegeofphysicians.org/events/out-s...

In 1872, horses were the supply chain… and they all got the flu at once. Cities ground to a halt. Sound familiar? The Great Epizootic is a forgotten catastrophe with very modern echoes. open.substack.com/pub/phnights...

New BMJ study: GLP-1 drugs (like semaglutide) linked to lower risk of alcohol, opioid, cocaine & nicotine disorders in 600K+ veterans with diabetes. Also fewer ER visits & overdoses in those w/ existing addiction. Observational, but striking.
bmj.com/content/bmj/392/bmj-2025-086886.full.pdf

Babies, Blood Types, and Blunders: A Night to Remember in the Blood Bank A simple mistake almost tore a family and a labor and delivery unit apart.

A mislabeled newborn blood sample. A father who remembered Mendelian genetics. A 3 AM crisis that turned out okay (barely). A healthcare lesson worth reading.

The COVID vaccine myocarditis signal was real, and science caught it. With today's formulations, that risk is back to baseline. So why is ACIP's March agenda still stuck in 2021? 🔬
buff.ly/mFrPOrD

The Rabies Outbreak That Didn’t Add Up How a so‑called hydrophobia epidemic in 1884 Alabama exposed the press’s eagerness to turn Black suffering into spectacle.

In 1884, papers claimed a rabies epidemic swept through Black workers on an Alabama plantation. The biology doesn't add up. Sometimes the outbreak isn't the pathogen, it's the story being told.
medium.com/microbial-instincts/the-rabies-outbreak-that-didnt-add-up-9f3ea50c0404

Meningococcal B vaccine fails to prevent gonorrhea, trial finds Manjurul / iStock

Recent research reveals that the meningococcal B vaccine does not prevent gonorrhea in high-risk groups, particularly among gay and bisexual men. The study, led by Australian researchers, showed similar infection rates in vaccinated and placebo groups. www.cidrap.umn.edu/gonorrhea/me...

Challenges Issued to Anti-Vaccinationists An unvaccinated activist accepted a challenge to be exposed to smallpox and he nearly died!

In 1901, an anti-vaccine activist accepted a challenge to enter a smallpox hospital unvaccinated. He nearly died. History has lessons for today's vaccine debates.
stopantivaxpropaganda.substack.com/p/challenges...

Denmark's "One of Us" program sends mental health ambassadors into schools, hospitals & police stations. After meeting them, 98% of health workers felt better prepared to help. Personal stories change minds.

www.nytimes.com/2026/03/03/h...

First combined COVID-19 and influenza vaccine for people 50 years and older | European Medicines Agency (EMA) mCombriax helps to protect against both COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2 and seasonal influenza

The EMA has recommended mCombriax — the first combined COVID-19 & flu mRNA vaccine — for adults 50+. One shot, two protections, backed by data from 8,000 participants.
🔗 www.ema.europa.eu/en/news/firs...

A titan of vaccine development sees his field’s achievements slip away Stanley Plotkin, the 93-year-old "godfather of vaccines," is watching his field’s achievements slip away.

Stanley Plotkin, the 93-year-old "godfather of vaccines," helped end rubella & rotavirus as mass killers. Now he's watching vaccination rates fall. "We're going downhill," he says. His warning matters.

Don't Confuse the Policy Fight on Vaccines With Vaccine Science The vaccine schedule debate is about process and politics, not wether vaccines work. They do, and they save lives.

Policy fights ≠ science reversals. Vaccine schedule controversy is about governance & process, not evidence that vaccines don't work. They do. Don't get confused by the noise.

Denmark becomes first country in the European Union to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis The World Health Organization (WHO) has certified Denmark for the elimination of mother-to-child transmission (EMTCT) of HIV and syphilis, recognizing the country's sustained commitment to ensuring…

🇩🇰 Denmark is the first EU country certified by WHO for eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV & syphilis — a milestone built on universal healthcare & strong prenatal care.

Agreed. I'll take 40% over nothing any day of the week, especially in a country with such bad access to affordable health care.

I’ve been hand-editing out my speaking tics since before AI. A product called descript now transcribes my lectures so I can see the mistakes. English is my second language, and it shows A LOT when I lecture, especially when tired. It’s distracting to students. I still sound human, I think. YMMV.

Dinamarca, primer país de la UE en eliminar la transmisión del VIH y la sífilis de madre a hijo CONPHENAGUE, DINAMARCA/ SALUD DIGITAL.- La Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) ha certificado que Dinamarca ha sido el primer país de la Unión Europea en eliminar la transmisión mate ...

🇩🇰 Dinamarca, primer país de la UE certificado por la OMS en eliminar la transmisión del VIH y la sífilis de madre a hijo. Salud universal + voluntad política = vidas protegidas.
🔗

Former EPA Staff Detail Expanding Pollution Risks Under Trump - Inside Climate News The Trump administration’s relentless rollback of public health and environmental protections has allowed widespread toxic exposures to flourish, warn experts who helped implement safeguards now…

Former EPA scientists warn: 12 dangerous pollutants face weakened protections — PFAS, lead, mercury, soot & more. "Exposure is not inevitable. It's the result of choices."

insideclimatenews.org/news/2702202...

US measles cases soar past 1,100 Heather Hazzan / Self Magazine

New CIDRAP update: 1,136 measles cases so far this year in the US, with 160 added in the past week. Most are in unvaccinated kids and teens, and officials warn the US is on track to lose its measles-elimination status. MMR remains our best protection.

WHO updates all 3 viral strains to be included in fall flu shots KAMPUS / iStock

WHO has recommended updating all 3 strains in next season’s Northern Hemisphere flu shots, including a newer H3N2 subclade K that emerged too late for this year’s vaccines. Canadian data still show ~40% protection against H3N2 illness requiring outpatient care.

Used 3 LLMs: ChatGPT deep research and a few PDFs I have in my files to get the information. Claude to create the suggested images. And then I wrote a custom prompt for Gemini. It looks okay (after tweaking the prompt). Please double-check?

Give me an hour? Need to go get kid and I have a lecture at five.

The sad thing is that they’ll be caught and burned in their jobs, and public health is a small world.

I might DM you later about this. I'm facing the same issues. I'm *this* close to handing out little blue books again.

The power of representation: why how scientists visualise the world matters Given growing amounts of global health data, world maps increasingly shape how scientists and policymakers perceive global disease burdens and locate solutions to critical health issues. Leading…

Just read a Lancet Global Health comment arguing that the Mercator map we often use in science visually shrinks many LMICs and inflates higher-latitude regions. The authors call for equal-area projections like Equal Earth for mapping disease burden. www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

You Can't Find What You Don't Look For Why clinic-based outbreak investigations only show you the tip of the iceberg — and what Bangladesh's chikungunya investigators did about it.

A chikungunya outbreak investigation from Bangladesh is a masterclass in why clinic data alone isn’t enough. Door-to-door community work revealed most infections would have been missed if investigators stopped at the clinic.

In my new article, I unpack the American Academy of Pediatrics et al. v. Kennedy et al. lawsuit. I explain how COVID-19 vaccine recommendations were changed outside the usual ACIP process and why major medical groups say this undermines evidence‑based policy.
historyofvaccines.org/blog/when-sc...

Just read a study on a Detroit “vaccine ambassadors” program where high schoolers learn vaccine science and communication. Ambassadors and participants showed big knowledge gains, suggesting peer-to-peer models can boost vaccine understanding.
Article: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...