#DanielDennett on “black box science” and #AI: It's so easy to do black box science by pushing a few buttons to get an output generated by an artificial system... But are we starting to abandon our fundamental capacity to understand how things work?

A message from @HowieRose:

“Until antibiotic discovery is funded at a scale that matches the threat posed by AMR, efforts will be reactive instead of proactive, costing money and lives,” cidrap.umn.edu/antimicrobial…

Dentists still write millions of prescriptions a year for an antibiotic with life-threatening risks Dentists wrote more than 27 million antibiotic prescriptions last year, many of them unnecessary. Part 1 of a 3-part series by @lizszabo.bsky.social cidrap.umn.edu/antimicrobial…

In this video I discuss antibiotic resistant bacteria and how people acquire these infections

In this @cvdall @CIDRAP piece I’m quoted about E.coli infections, their burden, and antibiotic resistant versions. cidrap.umn.edu/antimicrobial…

In this @CIDRAP @cvdall piece I’m quoted about drug resistant gonorrhea and the potential of zoliflodacin, a novel and promising antibiotic developed using an innovative partnership cidrap.umn.edu/antimicrobial…

Aaron Siri is misrepresenting flu vaccine evidence by selectively citing studies. Doing this after the deadliest non-pandemic pediatric flu season on record — 280 children dead, 89% of whom were not fully vaccinated — is unconscionable. Here’s what the data actually show. 🧵

In this video I give a brief overview of Long COVID

There are two different KFF numbers about the ACA out there. Both are accurate, but mean different things. 114%: The average increase in out-of-pocket premiums if enhanced tax credits expire. 26%: The average increase in what insurers are charging for benchmark ACA plans.

“they had received care at the veterinary teaching hospital when it was experiencing its CPE outbreak. They likely became colonized with the bacteria at the hospital and then spread it to their owners.” cidrap.umn.edu/antimicrobial…

Unlike MMRV (which carries a small, well-documented increase in febrile-seizure risk for the 1st dose), there’s no new safety signal to justify changing hepatitis B policy. Today’s ACIP briefs show hep B birth-dose safety and highlight risks of rescinding it. The birth dose reduces failure points in real-world care and serves as a safety net when screening or documentation is missed. We know what happens without the birth dose: - Maternal screening misses cases - Babies get infected from household contacts - ~90% of infected infants develop chronic infection leading to lifelong liver disease, cancer, and premature death Before universal infant vaccination, thousands of U.S. infants and young children were infected each year despite targeted strategies. The graph shows 30 years of uninterrupted success. Tomorrow they vote to reverse it. For what — to appease “public concerns”? To score political points? This is how diseases return: by undoing proven prevention without scientific cause. Watch tomorrow’s vote closely. This is bigger than one vaccine — it’s about whether evidence or ideology drives U.S. health policy.

RT @greg_folkers: .@CIDRAP : Experts warn loss of USAID endangers the fight against deadly TB bit.ly/3VMl7YU t.co/QnLt…

"TB has always been smarter than us, but we're giving it good conditions to continue to do its damage," cidrap.umn.edu/tuberculosis/…

Are you a driven science journalist with a passion for infectious diseases? Join the CIDRAP News team and a great work environment. We are hiring a general-assignment writer/editor and an investigative reporter. Apply today hr.myu.umn.edu/jobs/ext/3701… hr.myu.umn.edu/jobs/ext/3701…

For my latest CIDRAP News long-read, I spoke with several tuberculosis experts and NGO officials about the impact from the loss of USAID funding. Here's what they told me.

This claim that @SecKennedy continues to make about childhood vaccines not being tested in placebo-controlled trials is total BS. As I told @cvdall last June, "essentially every childhood vaccine has been tested in placebo-controlled trials of some sort." cidrap.umn.edu/adult-non-flu…

@RandPaul is wrong about hepatitis B vaccination. Here's why universal birth dosing matters: 🧵

CDC cuts back foodborne illness surveillance program The CDC's FoodNet program has reduced required surveillance from eight foodborne pathogens to two, a move some experts warn could leave the country more vulnerable to outbreaks. cidrap.umn.edu/foodborne-dis…

CDC is now not a functional agency.  At this point professional societies, state health departments, industry, academic groups, self-organized expert groups, internatioanal groups  must do their best to fill the hole left by the destruction launched by Kennedy and his stooges