Audrey John MD PhD
@odomjohnlab.bsky.social
Infectious diseases physician, scientist, mentor, mom, Chief @CHOP_ID | lab goals: new ways to diagnose and treat infection | views my own | #PedsIDSky #IDSky #PedsSky
Professional guidance from the AAP on neonatal vitamin K deficiency publications.aap.org/pediatrics/a...
Vitamin K and the Newborn Infant
Intramuscular administration of vitamin K for prevention of vitamin K deficiency bleeding (VKDB) has been a standard of care since the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended it in 1961. Despite th...
publications.aap.org
This is family facing information that shares stories about children and families impacted by vitamin K deficiency- hemorrhagic disease of the newborn www.cdc.gov/vitamin-k-de...
Real Stories: People with Vitamin K Deficiency Bleeding
Personal stories from families affected by vitamin K deficiency bleeding.
cdc.gov
I made a free tool to help people write their comments re: OMB proposed rule change. Please use it before July 13 bsky.app/profile/drru...
Ruth Ann Crystal@drruth.bsky.social · 4w ago$1.1 trillion in federal grants is on the line, including Medicaid, Head Start, and community health centers. Learn about a free tool that I built to help you write your public comment in <5 minutes. 🔗 drruth.substack.com/p/i-built-yo... Deadline: July 13. Every voice counts. #medsky #2CFR200
Latent cytomegalovirus disrupts innate NK cell responses to P. falciparum and impairs parasite control in first infection in adults journals.plos.org/plospathogen...
Musk says not a single person has died due to him axing USAID. Sadly, part of my job involves tracking aid spending. So here’s a thread with just some of the people who lost their lives because of USAID cuts
Well written and very measured editorial - worth a read! #IDSky #PedsIDSky #PedsSky #pediatrics
JAMA Pediatrics@jamapediatrics.com · last mo.💬 Editorial: Meta-analysis findings confirm very low risk of bacterial meningitis and bacteremia in febrile #infants aged 60 to 90 days, supporting less invasive evaluation and shared decision-making for laboratory procedures. ja.ma/3QZz6vE
Among infants born at a Philadelphia health system, female newborns were less likely to receive the vitamin K shot — which helps prevent dangerous bleeding — than male newborns. The apparent reason: Parents cannot get male infants circumcised in-hospital if they refuse shot.
Why more male than female newborns may get the crucial vitamin K shot
Vitamin K lowers the risk of bleeding, including in a circumcision. That procedure may explain a disparity in which infants are more likely to get the shot.
sciencenews.org
The PIDS Foundation kicked off a 6-part webinar series on vaccine confidence and messaging. We are excited to share the fourth installment next Tuesday, June 16 at 1pm ET – Addressing Common Misconceptions About Vaccines: Part 2. Contact us for registration information.
MIS-C is historical at this point, but it wasn't benign... "MIS-C is associated with broad multisystem morbidity persisting years after acute COVID-19, challenging earlier reports of transient illness."
Long-Term Outcomes of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children up to 4.5 Years After COVID-19
OBJECTIVES. The risk of persistent multisystem dysfunction following multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), a severe postviral complication of COVID-19, remains unknown.METHODS. We inv...
publications.aap.org
AAP supports ACOGs latest maternal vaccine recommendations to help our most vulnerable population from preventable diseases. Read more about ACOGs recommendations: bit.ly/43YWjAW
IDSA endorses @acog.org's 2026 Maternal Immunization Schedule.
ACOG@acog.org · 2mo agoToday, ACOG released the 2026 Maternal Immunization Schedule, endorsed by 13 major medical and health organizations. Grounded in science, the schedule will help ensure pregnant patients and their infants are protected from vaccine-preventable illnesses. Read the schedule: https://bit.ly/3QiBhtQ
BREAKING: New proposed OMB regulation, applying to all federal grants, requiring grant reviews by senior political appointees and re-emphasizes that "peer review remains advisory and does not replace agency discretion". #standupforscience public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2026-10817.pdf
public-inspection.federalregister.gov
So... I got more information about this plan. The most important points follow on the next posts. 1/3
Jeremy Berg@jeremymberg.bsky.social · 2mo agoI heard from several sources yesterday that NIH is planning to release a Request for Information (RFI) that apparently will include this: Scores and percentiles for NIH grant applications will not be shared with applicants although they will be provided to NIH program officers and staff. 1/3
To explain this for my non-science followers. Such a proposal would be to create a black box around review of scientific proposals - this reduction in transparency is what you would do if you wanted to make political or partisan decisions about funding and not scientific ones
Jeremy Berg@jeremymberg.bsky.social · 2mo agoI heard from several sources yesterday that NIH is planning to release a Request for Information (RFI) that apparently will include this: Scores and percentiles for NIH grant applications will not be shared with applicants although they will be provided to NIH program officers and staff. 1/3
We've written about AI-induced physician deskilling that has already surfaced thelancet.com/journals/lan... @tberzin.bsky.social AI-induced never-skilling among newly trained doctors, while not yet proven, is a serious concern that needs to be addressed nature.com/articles/s41...
#PedSky #MedSky #Pulmsky #EpiSky #policysky #polisky 🛟 🫁💊🧪 🌍⚖️ @nbcnews.com : No child deaths definitively linked to Covid shots, FDA says The agency’s analysis contradicts claims made by former vaccine chief Dr. Vinay Prasad.
No child deaths definitively linked to Covid shots, FDA says
The agency’s analysis contradicts claims made by former vaccine chief Dr. Vinay Prasad.
nbcnews.com
When you survive a global pandemic, you are never quite the same. I wrote a reflection on the Hantavirus outbreak aboard the Hondius, the invisible work of outbreak containment, and how COVID changed the way many of us process fear, trust, and infectious threats. open.substack.com/pub/bktitanj...
The Things We Carry After a Pandemic
How pandemic trauma reshaped the way we think about infectious threats
open.substack.com
Happy to share that our paper examining pediatric malaria in the US, was recently published! I huge thank you to all of our collaborators across the country!
Audrey John MD PhD@odomjohnlab.bsky.social · 3mo agoPleased to share our recent work on imported pediatric malaria cases in the US. A fabulous partnership across 9 children's hospitals. publications.aap.org/pediatrics/a...
#IDSky #PedsIDSky #publichealth #malaria #parsitology #InfectiousDisease #InfectiousDiseases #pediatrics
Audrey John MD PhD@odomjohnlab.bsky.social · 3mo agoPleased to share our recent work on imported pediatric malaria cases in the US. A fabulous partnership across 9 children's hospitals. publications.aap.org/pediatrics/a...
Pleased to share our recent work on imported pediatric malaria cases in the US. A fabulous partnership across 9 children's hospitals. publications.aap.org/pediatrics/a...
Malaria in Children at 9 US Hospitals: 2016–2023
10.1542/6390324821112Video AbstractPEDS-VA_2025-0735566390324821112OBJECTIVES. This study set out to describe imported pediatric malaria in the United States over an 8-year period, including patient demographics, clinical outcomes, and risk factors for severe disease.METHODS. A retrospective descriptive study of pediatric patients treated for malaria at 9 hospitals in the United States from 2016 to 2023 was conducted to analyze patient demographics, clinical outcomes, and risk factors for severe malaria.RESULTS. A total of 171 children were treated across the 9 US hospitals included in this study from 2016 to 2023. Most patients had traveled to West Africa to visit friends and relatives. Fever was the most common symptom recorded (90%), and most reported at least 1 abdominal symptom (66%). Thirty-two percent of patients were diagnosed with severe malaria. No deaths occurred. Delayed diagnoses were common (26%), occurred at similar rates across all hospitals in the study, and were a risk factor for severe malaria.CONCLUSIONS. Delayed diagnoses of travel-acquired malaria were common for pediatric patients presenting to hospitals in the United States and are associated with higher risk for severe malaria, which is associated with longer hospitalizations and increased morbidity. Chemoprophylaxis against travel-acquired malaria and prompt diagnosis of imported cases are crucial to improving patient outcomes.
publications.aap.org
A momentous (and kind of exhausting) week for the Odom John lab! 18 years of science 🧫🧪🦠 257 boxes 📦 1 stunning new lab space Thrilled to move across the river to our beautiful new digs at the CHOP Morgan Center for Research and Innovation! @chopresearch.bsky.social
🧪 #measles #vaccination Thanks for posting this @jennifernuzzo.bsky.social 😢 This is a gift link, free to read, in case some people can’t read the whole thing www.nytimes.com/2026/04/21/o...
Opinion | When Your Child Dies of Measles
nytimes.com
Jennifer Nuzzo, DrPH, SM@jennifernuzzo.bsky.social · 4mo agoThis gutted me. “That’s why herd immunity is so important. If there hadn’t been an outbreak when Renae was a baby, I don’t think she would have contracted it. She was eligible for the vaccine just seven months later” www.nytimes.com/2026/04/21/o...
A pleasure to speak to Gretchen Vogel @science.org - highlighting recent studies on neurocognitive outcomes of severe malaria #PedsIDSky #IDSky #Parasitology www.science.org/content/arti...
Severe malaria may affect children’s cognitive abilities more than a decade later
Children who had cerebral malaria or severe malaria anemia have lower scores on tests measuring general cognition and math achievement
science.org
Now at #ESCMIDGlobal2026 Late Breaking research from @jama.com Severe malaria leaves a long shadow. Children with cerebral malaria (CM) and severe malarial anemia (SMA) had worse cognitive function & lower academic achievement 4–15 years later 📉 Early injury → long-term impact.
💬 Editorial: Children surviving cerebral #malaria or severe malarial anemia face long‑term cognitive and academic deficits years after infection, highlighting that the burden of #Malaria extends far beyond hospital discharge. #ESCMIDGlobal2026 ja.ma/3ONM4eX
A new study shows that strain-level surveillance of Staphylococcus aureus in NICUs can identify hidden transmission pathways and enable targeted interventions to reduce serious infections in vulnerable newborns. #IDsky #Medsky www.contagionlive.com/view/a-path-...
A Path to Prevention: Precision Tracking of Staph in NICUs Reveals Hidden Transmission Risks | Contagion Live
A new study shows that strain-level surveillance of Staphylococcus aureus in NICUs can identify hidden transmission pathways and enable targeted interventions to reduce serious infections in vulnerabl...
contagionlive.com
We are recruiting 1-2 postdoctoral fellows to investigate the specificity of human anti-influenza virus antibodies, and to determine how these antibodies impact global antigenic drift of influenza viruses. Join our lab at Penn in Philly. Reach out if you are interested in applying! Please repost!
PIDS has released a statement on the revised ACIP charter and its attempt to upend US vaccine policy by shifting away from public health and toward misinformation and litigation. Read the full statement at pids.org/2026/04/10/p...
