The New England Journal of Medicine and the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy are to begin publishing a new journal, "Public Health Alerts," with a view to conveying the information that used to be disseminated in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). The MMWR has been published since 1952 and is the place where details of new outbreaks and diseases are announced, but practitioners' trust in it has been shaken as a result of various actions by the Trump administration. Here's more from Stat News.

https://flip.it/jeXkF8

#Medicine #Science #Doctors #DiseaseControl #PublicHealth #MMWR #TrumpAdministration #CDC

Per epidemiologist Dr. Elizabeth Jacobs: The editors of the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) were apparently fired today.

The precursor to MMWR began in 1878 to address emerging public health threats rapidly.

We are not “great” without it. We are vulnerable to threats from sporadic foodborne illness to bioterrorism. #PublicHealth #MMWR #CDC #fascism https://bsky.app/profile/elizabethjacobs.bsky.social/post/3m2vctueny22g

"The staff of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the journal that reports on health trends and emerging infectious threats, was also laid off. The publication’s storied history includes a June 1981 report that five previously healthy gay men were treated for an unusual pneumonia — the first hint of the AIDS epidemic."

MMWR has been an important public health publication for decades.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/us/politics/trump-administration-cdc-layoffs.html

[Edit: this was a cock-up. 🤦
"workers who produce Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report may have mistakenly received reduction-in-force notices because of coding errors in their job classifications." https://www.statnews.com/2025/10/11/cdc-morbidity-and-mortality-weekly-report-staff-fired/]

#CentersForDiseaseControlAndPrevention #MMWR #MorbidityAndMortalityWeeklyReport #USpolitics #JournalPublishing #ScholComm #MedicalJournals

Preliminary surveillance suggests the 2024-2025 trivalent #FluVaccines have been about as effective as usual.

What is added by this report?

Interim 2024–2025 seasonal influenza VE estimates were derived from four U.S. VE networks. Among children and adolescents, VE was 32%, 59%, and 60% in outpatient settings (three networks) and 63% and 78% against influenza-associated hospitalization (two networks). Among adults, VE was 36% and 54% in outpatient settings (two networks) and 41% and 55% against influenza-associated hospitalization (two networks).

What are the implications for public health practice?

Vaccination with the 2024–2025 influenza vaccine reduced the risk for influenza-associated outpatient visits and hospitalization. These findings support recommendations that all eligible persons aged ≥6 months should receive an annual influenza vaccination. Vaccination should be offered as long as influenza viruses are circulating.

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/74/wr/mm7406a2.htm

(So nice to see #MMWR back!)

#influenza

Disturbing... ☹️

We are going to be SO hammered by the next #Pandemic!!

"Concerns over avian flu preparedness are further compounded by recent political shifts in the United States. Since January 21, the US Department of Health and Human Services has frozen most external communications, including health documents and guidance, until new officials are appointed to review and approve them.

As a result, for the first time in over 60 years, the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report— a public health publication — was not published on January 23 and 30. Publication resumed on February 6, but according to The Washington Post, there was no mention of the avian flu outbreak or information about the three studies on H5N1 that were scheduled to be published in January."

"First Human H5N1 Death in the United States"

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/first-human-h5n1-death-united-states-just-beginning-2025a100053i

#BirdFlu #H5N1 #D11 #CDC #MMWR #PublicHealth #Censorship #Trump #US