Tom Sandora, MD MPH
@tomsandora.bsky.social
Hospital Epidemiologist at Boston Children's Hospital, pediatric infectious diseases physician. Duke U & Harvard Med alum. Musician, traveler. Views mine. #MedEd
This decision will predictably make it more difficult for seniors to afford managing their health conditions, which is already hard enough now.
Trump Will End Subsidies for Medicare Drug Premiums (Gift Article)
Millions of older Americans could pay more for their prescription drug coverage next year.
nytimes.com
Cuts to PEPFAR (a program that has saved 26 million lives since 2003) are disproportionately affecting children living with HIV infection - in 2025 the program supported 77,000 fewer children than the prior year.
1,700 H.I.V. Treatment Sites Closed After Trump Aid Cuts, a Study Finds
New research also shows that children and high-risk adult populations have been particularly affected.
nytimes.com
The Trump administration last year cut the CDC’s program that monitors food-borne illness outbreaks so they can intervene. In case you’re wondering why an outbreak of explosive diarrhea has sickened 2000 people but the CDC is only reporting 145 cases. www.cidrap.umn.edu/foodborne-di...
CDC cuts back foodborne illness surveillance program
cidrap.umn.edu
Scores Fall Ill at Air Force Base After Hegseth Makes Flu Vaccine Optional
Scores Fall Ill at Air Force Base After Hegseth Makes Flu Vaccine Optional
nytimes.com
NEW: Tiny footprints. A blue blanket. The autopsy reports of babies who died after not receiving a vitamin K shot at birth included heartbreaking details about how small the babies were — and what items they had with them when they died.
What I Can’t Forget About the Babies Who Died After Not Receiving a Vitamin K Shot
Babies have died after not receiving the vitamin K shot at birth. Their autopsy records underscore how preventable their deaths could have been.
propublica.org
Needless to say, hiding information from the public does not cultivate trust.
F.D.A. Blocked Publication of Research Finding Covid and Shingles Vaccines Were Safe
nytimes.com
1,671 measles cases in the US so far in 2026, and 59 children have been hospitalized already this year. Measles-related hospitalizations are preventable by vaccination.
Measles cases already reach 75% of last year’s record-breaking total, CDC reports
The RSV immunization period has been extended by most states as the CDC reports 96 additional measles cases and four new pediatric influenza-associated deaths.
publications.aap.org
“The last night I was a pediatric resident, a child came in with Hib and promptly died by the next day. I didn’t work for 50 years to have everything destroyed by one man.” -Dr. Kathryn Edwards, Vanderbilt University This is what RFK Jr. and the anti-vaxxers have wrought.
A deadly bacterial disease is returning, doctors warn, as vaccination rates fall
Hib once killed 1,000 children a year, permanently disabling many more. Doctors who've never seen the disease say the comeback is changing the way they practice medicine.
nbcnews.com
This is nothing short of disastrous. Rabies is universally fatal - it’s critical to have capacity for testing.
Helen Branswell 🇨🇦@helenbranswell.bsky.social · 4mo agoWhat could possibly go wrong? #CDC pauses support for states on testing for #rabies & #mpox because it doesn't have the personnel to do the work. 2 pathogens you really don't want to mess with, rabies & mpox. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/01/h...
If you have either of the affected lots, throw them out.
Nearly 90,000 bottles of children’s ibuprofen recalled
The recall follows complaints of a “gel-like mass and black particles in the product.”
publications.aap.org
Air Travel Disruption And Skyrocketing Prices—Should Travelers Book Now?
Air Travel Disruption And Skyrocketing Prices—Should Travelers Book Now?
Political instability is upending global travel—if booked, you should check your insurance policies closely.
forbes.com
Raw cheese has caused an outbreak of E. coli - at least 7 people have been infected so far (4 of them are kids younger than 3 years). Sequencing linked the outbreak to a dairy producer called Raw Farm (Fresno, CA), who have not pulled the product from the market despite recommendations to do so.
CDC, FDA investigating multistate E coli outbreak linked to raw cheddar cheese
cidrap.umn.edu
A relatively small amount of money could be doing so much to help children.
Boston nonprofit details how children are dying due to last year's USAID cuts
Partners in Health's Dr. Joia Mukherjee says she's seen children die of malnutrition and go blind from malaria because of the loss in humanitarian aid.
wgbh.org
This article presents one example of how policy decisions and Medicaid cuts are directly affecting kids in the U.S.
More kids are in ERs for tooth pain. Trump cuts and RFK Jr.'s anti-fluoride fight aren't helping.
Dentists, hygienists, and researchers say a shortage of rural dental care professionals and worsening oral hygiene since the COVID-19 pandemic mean more kids are ending up in the emergency room for to...
cbsnews.com
“This is really an economic disaster, a public health disaster, a moral disaster."
States Move to Limit Access to H.I.V. Treatment
nytimes.com
RFK Jr. pledged more transparency. Here's what the public doesn't know anymore abcnews.com/Politics/wir... via @mikestobbe.bsky.social
RFK Jr. pledged more transparency. Here's what the public doesn't know anymore
Health experts say the federal government now shares less public health data, even after Robert F_ Kennedy Jr_ promised “radical transparency.”
abcnews.com
Ageee with so many of these wise words, especially about leadership and opportunities to advance our field.
ASHE Journal@ashejournal.bsky.social · 6mo agoCareers in Healthcare: hear from Dr. Mark Rupp, "There is a great deal of beauty and goodness in the world, you just have to open your eyes to see it." doi.org/10.1017/ash....
41,000 people gave informed consent to participate in this well-designed trial, to generate new knowledge & advance our ability to protect our health. Now the FDA has invalidated all of that goodwill, time, effort, & money based on ideology. We must vote for those who believe in & support science.
F.D.A. Refuses to Review Moderna Flu Vaccine
nytimes.com
This is the human cost of cutting US aid.
‘Biblical Diseases’ Could Resurge in Africa, Health Officials Fear
nytimes.com
At a time when many decisions are being made that will cause infectious diseases to surge (or re-emerge) in the US, here is some good news on a global scale to celebrate.
Guinea worm disease nears worldwide elimination, with only 10 cases in 2025
To date, the WHO has certified 200 countries free of Guinea worm disease.
cidrap.umn.edu
This abrupt change (based on no data) is outrageous and endangers the health & lives of US children. I have seen kids die from flu, meningococcus, and RSV. These deaths are preventable by vaccination. I urge parents to talk to your doctor about how best to protect your kids from these diseases.
Kennedy Scales Back the Number of Vaccines Recommended for Children
nytimes.com
Tetanus is a horrific disease - extreme pain, spasms, inability to drink or breathe normally, months in the hospital - and it's very difficult to manage medically (sedatives, paralysis, mechanical ventilation). It's also completely preventable by vaccination.
As tetanus vaccination rates decline, doctors worry about rising case numbers
The harrowing, deadly infection could make a comeback, especially in states vulnerable to climate-linked natural disasters, like Florida and Texas, an NBC News investigation finds.
nbcnews.com
Worth posting this @theatlantic.com piece by @katherinejwu.com again, which dismantles the Denmark comparison argument that Kennedy, Høeg, Kulldorff, and others have been using to argue for a pared down US vaccine schedule. Key points...🧵 www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...
The Obvious Reason the U.S. Should Not Vaccinate Like Denmark
It isn’t Denmark.
theatlantic.com
Investigators have identified persistent immune activation and proinflammatory responses in individuals with long COVID (compared with controls), suggesting potential biomarkers and, more importantly, new therapeutic targets. (Link to Nature Immunology publication follows in 🧵.)
Break in the case for long COVID investigators — Harvard Gazette
Research highlighting chronic inflammation opens path to treating illness that affects millions of Americans.
news.harvard.edu
Legionnaire's disease typically presents with fever, cough, shortness of breath, headache, and muscle aches. If you attend the gym to which this outbreak may be linked, contact your doctor to discuss testing and treatment.
14 cases of Legionnaires' disease reported in Florida, may be linked to gym
At least 14 cases of Legionnaires' disease have been reported in central Florida with a possible link to a gym.
abcnews.go.com
It's very concerning that the ACIP may vote to delay hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccines for children, as reported by @reuters.com Here's why. 🧵 www.reuters.com/legal/litiga...
Call your representatives and tell them you don’t support actions that will harm the health of children.
AAP expert: Delaying hepatitis B vaccine ‘could be devastating to children’s health’
Health officials have recommended a universal birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine since 1991. Annual hepatitis B infections among infants and children have dropped 99% from 16,000 to less than 20.
publications.aap.org
Thank you, MDPH. "Vaccines do not cause autism, and there is no link between childhood vaccines and autism. This has been proven repeatedly through decades of rigorous, high-quality research involving millions of children worldwide. The evidence is clear, consistent, and overwhelming."
mass.gov
Pertussis (whooping cough) is surging across the country because of falling vaccination rates. It’s especially dangerous for infants under a year old, who can stop breathing during coughing fits. Many need to be hospitalized, and about 1% will die. And we know that vaccines do NOT cause autism.
Waning Immunity and Falling Vaccination Rates Fuel Pertussis Outbreaks - KFF Health News
New details from health officials suggest the whooping-cough surge may be part of a national pattern driven by slipping vaccine coverage and waning immunity, with infants bearing the brunt of the cons...
kffhealthnews.org
