Jeff Duchin
@docjeffd.bsky.social
Retired Health Officer & Chief, Communicable Disease Epidemiology & Immunization Section for Public Health–Seattle & King County, WA. EIS ‘92 Emeritus Professor of Medicine, Division of Allergy & Infectious Diseases, U of Washington.
Strong leaders aren’t afraid of their audiences. They know themselves well enough to say what they mean and are mature enough to revise their positions in front of the public.” www.nytimes.com/2026/06/23/o...
Opinion | The Covid Czar People Still Trust
nytimes.com
beaconbio.org/en/report/?r... “The Biothreats Emergence, Analysis and Communications Network (BEACON) is an open source informal surveillance program designed to revolutionize global biothreats surveillance and response.”
BEACON
Track biological threats, share vital information, and collaborate on solutions for community protection and preparedness.
beaconbio.org
“The erosion of public confidence in vaccines alongside the increasing strain on hospitals may lead to catastrophic results for children and their families.” Measles Is Roaring Back. We Are Not Ready. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/20/o...
Opinion | Measles Is Roaring Back. We Are Not Ready.
nytimes.com
“…heightened cumulative lifespan stress & elevated inflammation were associated with shorter survival among Black participants, suggesting these pathways may represent plausible mechanisms mediating racial disparities in mortality among Black & White US individuals.” jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
Cumulative Lifespan Stress, Inflammation, and Racial Disparities in Mortality
This cohort study examines whether greater cumulative lifespan stress exposure and elevated inflammation are associated with increased mortality risk among Black compared with White individuals in the...
jamanetwork.com
Rejecting Decades of Science, Vaccine Panel Chair Says Polio and Other Shots Should Be Optional www.nytimes.com/2026/01/23/h...
Rejecting Decades of Science, Vaccine Panel Chair Says Polio and Other Shots Should Be Optional
nytimes.com
Here’s a more appropriate way for the U.S. to strive to be more like Denmark. “Denmark remains on course to meet its 2030 target of slashing its territorial greenhouse gas emissions by 70% from 1990 levels…” www.reuters.com/sustainabili...
Denmark on track to hit 2030 emissions cuts goal, council says
Denmark remains on course to meet its 2030 target of slashing its territorial greenhouse gas emissions by 70% from 1990 levels, provided that the country delivers on its stated plans, a government-app...
reuters.com
Trump Administration Plans to Break Up Premier Weather and Climate Research Center “The center, founded in 1960, is responsible for many of the biggest scientific advances in humanity’s understanding of weather and climate.” www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/c...
Trump Administration Plans to Break Up Premier Weather and Climate Research Center
nytimes.com
“The first time a constituent of mine dies because of measles, I’m going to lose my mind, because we should never have a person in America die of measles in 2025 because they wouldn’t take a damn vaccine.” SC State Senator Josh Kimbrell (R). www.nytimes.com/2025/12/13/u...
A Measles Outbreak Brings With It Echoes of the Pandemic
nytimes.com
“Rising health care spending is killing the American dream. $27,000 a Year for Health Insurance. How Can We Afford That? www.nytimes.com/2025/12/10/o...
Opinion | $27,000 a Year for Health Insurance. How Can We Afford That?
nytimes.com
“Almost every statement made by this committee was misinformation, disinformation, or outright lies…They are cherry-picking data, pulling up fringe papers, misunderstanding good papers. They are not the right people to be making decisions.” kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
In RFK Jr.’s Upside-Down World of Vaccines, Panel Votes To End Hepatitis B Shot at Birth - KFF Health News
A session of a vaccine panel dominated by skeptics was chaotically at odds with past practices of the CDC, which HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has described as a “cesspool of corruption.” His cr...
kffhealthnews.org
“The privilege that American scientists have taken for granted—one that is now being trampled—is the ability to go about their work free of political interference.” www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
The Undermining of the C.D.C.
The Department of Health and Human Services maintains that it is hewing to “gold standard, evidence-based science”—doublespeak that might unsettle Orwell.
newyorker.com
“The West Coast Health Alliance (WCHA) strongly supports that hepatitis B vaccination continue to be routinely offered to all newborns…” doh.wa.gov/newsroom/wes...
West Coast Health Alliance, WA DOH, and Leading National Medical Organizations Continue to Recommend Hepatitis B Vaccination for Newborns
For immediate release: December 5, 2025 (25-145) Contact: DOH Communications
doh.wa.gov
“The…meeting of ACIP-the committee that once guided evidence-based US vaccine policy before being upended under RFK Jr.—just wrapped. &…it was something else. Disgraceful. Unprepared. Dysfunctional. Incompetent. Terrifying. Embarrassing. Opaque.” yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/p/acip-key-t...
ACIP key takeaways: What really happened and what it means for you
The two-day meeting of ACIP—the committee that once guided evidence-based U.S.
yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com
“The days of trusting A.C.I.P. and C.D.C. for vaccine recommendations are gone…” An End to Hepatitis B Shots for All Newborns www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/h...
An End to Hepatitis B Shots for All Newborns
nytimes.com
“We wanted to see if there was any new evidence…that justified delaying the birth dose for newborns. What we found is that there’s not any new evidence to suggest that delaying the birth dose would be safer or more efficacious in the US population.” www.cidrap.umn.edu/childhood-va...
New review finds no evidence to support delaying universal hepatitis B birth-dose vaccination
cidrap.umn.edu
“Further, based on our body of work on this topic and the overwhelming scientific consensus, we support the statement that vaccines do not cause autism.” www.nationalacademies.org/news/stateme...
National Academies - Statement on CDC’s Updated Vaccine Guidance
National Academies respond to CDC’s updated vaccine guidance, offering scientific context and clarity on vaccine safety.
nationalacademies.org
“Our organizations, representing autistic individuals, their families, medical professionals & public health workers, are alarmed that the CDC is promoting the outdated, disproven idea that vaccines cause autism.” www.apha.org/news-and-med...
Statement on CDC autism website changes
Our organizations, representing autistic individuals, their families, medical professionals and public health workers, are alarmed that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is promoting the ...
apha.org
“The new preventive strategies reduce hospitalizations by roughly 70% to 85%, representing one of the largest single advances in respiratory virus prevention in decades.” www.cidrap.umn.edu/respiratory-...
CIDRAP Op-Ed: RSV prevention—a remarkable medical achievement finally realized
cidrap.umn.edu
“ Studies show that heat, air pollution, disease spread and food insecurity linked to climate change are worsening and costing millions of lives around the world each year.” theconversation.com/want-to-make...
Want to make America healthy again? Stop fueling climate change
From extreme heat to mosquito-borne illnesses, climate change is making people sicker and more vulnerable to disease. Health scientists explain what individuals and governments can do about it.
theconversation.com
“Washington State Department of Health is working with local, state, Oregon Health Authority and federal public health partners to investigate Shiga Toxin-Producing E. coli (STEC) infections linked to consumption of aged, raw milk cheese.” www.foodsafetynews.com/2025/10/e-co...
E. coli outbreak linked to Washington raw milk cheese
Washington State Department of Health is working with local, state, Oregon Health Authority and federal public health partners to investigate Shiga
foodsafetynews.com
“Most of the bills…were supported by at least one of four national groups connected to Kennedy: MAHA Action, Stand for Health Freedom, the National Vaccine Information Center and the Weston A. Price Foundation. The groups also opposed dozens of science-driven bills.” apnews.com/article/vacc...
Anti-science bills hit statehouses, stripping away public health protections built over a century
More than 420 anti-science bills attacking longstanding public health protections – vaccines, milk safety and fluoride – have been introduced in statehouses across the U.S. this year.
apnews.com
“The Measles Exposure Location Tracker shows public places where a person with contagious measles recently was.” Excellent! doh.wa.gov/newsroom/doh...
DOH Launches Measles Exposure Map to Help Keep Washingtonians Safe
For immediate release: October 21, 2025 (25-128) Contact: DOH Communications
doh.wa.gov
“The prevalence of reported conflicts of interest in the CDC's ACIP and the FDA's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee has declined from the early 2000s to historically low levels through 2024, attributed to policy changes and increased scrutiny.” ja.ma/3WPGQzz
Conflicts of Interest in Federal Vaccine Advisory Committees
This study analyzes the prevalence of reported conflicts of interest (COIs) among attendees at 2000-2024 meetings of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization...
ja.ma
“Heat probably plays the most crucial role in generating these micro- and nanoplastics…” www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...
Microplastics are everywhere. You can do one simple thing to avoid them.
The biggest sources of microplastics have one thing in common: Heat.
washingtonpost.com
“You’ll be able to get an updated coronavirus shot in every state without a prescription…You should be able walk into your pharmacy just like you have every other season…Most Americans are expected to keep free access to Coronavirus vaccines.” www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...
CDC recommends coronavirus vaccine with a new caveat. Here’s what to know.
Updated coronavirus vaccines are now recommended after consulting a clinician. In practice, that can mean little difference for a consumer or create complications.
washingtonpost.com
“I cannot think of a single benefit of splitting up these vaccines. It was a terrific scientific triumph to be able to put them all together.” [said William Schaffner, an epidemiologist and professor of public policy at Vanderbilt University.] thehill.com/policy/healt...
thehill.com
“AAFP’s recommendations are closely aligned with other medical societies to ensure continuity for both patients and physicians…We review the same evidence and share the same goal: supporting physicians in protecting patients through safe, effective vaccination.” www.aafp.org/news/media-c...
AAFP Announces Fall Immunization Recommendations, Reaffirming Commitment to Vaccine Safety and Public Health
The AAFP announced the release of our fall immunization recommendations, reinforcing our unwavering commitment to the health of communities across the country. As we navigate fall respiratory virus se...
aafp.org
