I’m a high school biology teacher in rural western NY. In addition to general bio and AP Bio, I also teach an infectious diseases elective (prior to teaching, I was a clinical/research tech working in an ACTG/AVEG lab). Your work has been a great source of info for me and my students!
While you diversify, please do continue to give us updates on COVID-19. It is a daily struggle to figure out my risk budget. So far my caution and good luck have allowed me to stay Covid-free.
I worked in the contracts and grants office of TAMU Ag program for 8 years many years ago. Part of my job was to read, edit for grammar, and submit research findings to the THECB. I know good science when I read it. I have trusted you implicitly since I read your first posting. You write science based truths in a way that I can share with my non-science loving friends. Thank you. And congratulations on turning 4!
I'm a covid writer in Knoxville, Tn. Covid turned into a political football and as a result we had one of the worst responses in the world. Our emergency care infrastructure has still not recovered. The effects of covid will stay with this town for years. We are also the last metropolitan area to not test our wastewater for pathogens. We are completely unprepared for the next pathogen that moves in. We won't see it coming until it's too late to do anything about it. As of this last covid wave I've started referencing your work more and more frequently. I thought I would be done with the topic of covid by this time. Four years ago, I was a guy on a safety committee at UPS who decided to take this seriously. I'm still taking it seriously.
I guess I missed the survey but I would love to see info on the impact of families foregoing children’s vaccines to others in the community. I am just past 60 so sometimes wondering in I should get my childhood vaccines again because of this. I have gotten tdap numerous times because first I worked at a clinic with elderly patients and later worked labor and delivery and postpartum.
I suspect very few subscribers know about the ongoing shortage of legal prescribed opioids in the U.S. as this has rarely been reported. A person undergoing surgery or in need of a strong pain medication - an opioid- may find that their pharmacy is out of stock almost all of the time. This leads them to searching for opioids on the street, or buying heroin.
The reaction to opioid addiction has gone overboard, and now people who have a legitimate need for them have a very hard time finding them. The reason for the shortage: the DEA has imposed quotas on the manufacturing companies. They are not allowed to make enough to fill the demand. The DEA has lowered the quotas for 2024.
Thanks for all you've done in providing clear, concise, research and fact-based public health information for the last 4 years.
Thanks for all the work you do, and have done. I have found your work very useful, especially during the height of the pandemic, as a reference to someone else, recognized more broadly than I, who was saying either the same things I was, or providing supporting science and data-driven information. Your ability to communicate clearly while sticking to the science has been a real help.
We learned several lessons in this Pandemic.
1. It's not enough to provide the the data and references to the science when someone else is misinterpreting the same science with an interpretation that sounds good but is actually fact-free because, if it fits the preconceptions of the readers... or if the readers of the misinformation trust the messenger, whose claim to fame is not science but opinion, data and references are too hard to follow, and they'll go with the explanation that they like, not the one that may be uncomfortable.
2. Clear, factual messaging is hard to write. In clinical work, in slower times, I was pretty good at communicating with patients, families and even community groups about topics (and cases) I was expert on. In the height of the Pandemic, the material was coming fast and furious, and distilling it was time-consuming. And worse, we could see data supporting a premise one day, only to have another study (or several) provide more convincing data of a different conclusion the next. I suffered from data and information overload, and my near-daily updates to my organization meant I was often accused of not being consistent with the "facts" (a moveable feast!) or that I was lying.
3. Distilling solid conclusions from research studies and journal articles can be tedious, and especially when someone's reading preprints, you have to essentially read the article as if you're one of their journal reviewers. I might read, at the Pandemic's height, 10 or more articles per day, but for preprints, I was often reduced to one or two, because I was doing my own data analysis, looking up citations and sometimes, providing feedback to the authors of errors or questions.
You did a lot of the same work, and provided me a cross-check on my work and more important, my conclusions.
And you were better at communicating the intricacies of the material than I was able to do (in my defense, I was also working full-time in a field outside epidemiology and public health and wasn't sleeping a lot).
Hi, First of all, I am a retired executive that tries to keep my synapses firing by consuming all kinds of credible, scientific information although I have no formal science training other than what it took to get a BS. What I want to share is an experience that surprised me but confirmed how much misinformation is out there.
Yesterday I was soliciting help for a young friend whose husband had a 'brain bleed.' That was the language used. In my conversation with about 6-7 others, I deferred to one who had identified herself as a nurse who treated these conditions. Her response was essentially to blame the co-vid vaccine for this cerebral accident of my friend's husband, saying they are treating so many more patients with this diagnosis.
A nurse blaming the vaccine after I deferred to her as an authority flummoxed me.
I did not try to debate her at all....but, what a crazy deal. No wonder we will never get this or any other virus under control.
Opioids are interesting because they are not just the drug use - they are accompanied by side effects like clusters of hepatitis-C and, occasionally HIV. There are complications most people are not aware of - like endocarditis. I think most of the autopsies I’ve done over the past 10 years with mitral or tricuspid disease have been drug users. And syphilis is making a comeback, with a significant number of drug users among those cases.
This long COVID sufferer started reading YLE early on, before she got COVID and before long COVID was even a topic of interest of concern. Thank you so much for starting this and, now, keeping it going.
Thank you for all the years of science-driven content, hard work, and your engaging voice to keep this information topical and interesting! Still regularly opening your emails and learning what's going on in the public health arena which helps me professionally and personally! Greatly appreciate you!
I’m a high school biology teacher in rural western NY. In addition to general bio and AP Bio, I also teach an infectious diseases elective (prior to teaching, I was a clinical/research tech working in an ACTG/AVEG lab). Your work has been a great source of info for me and my students!
While you diversify, please do continue to give us updates on COVID-19. It is a daily struggle to figure out my risk budget. So far my caution and good luck have allowed me to stay Covid-free.
Happy Birthday! Excellent post; I especially like the graphics' clarity and elegance.
I worked in the contracts and grants office of TAMU Ag program for 8 years many years ago. Part of my job was to read, edit for grammar, and submit research findings to the THECB. I know good science when I read it. I have trusted you implicitly since I read your first posting. You write science based truths in a way that I can share with my non-science loving friends. Thank you. And congratulations on turning 4!
I'm a covid writer in Knoxville, Tn. Covid turned into a political football and as a result we had one of the worst responses in the world. Our emergency care infrastructure has still not recovered. The effects of covid will stay with this town for years. We are also the last metropolitan area to not test our wastewater for pathogens. We are completely unprepared for the next pathogen that moves in. We won't see it coming until it's too late to do anything about it. As of this last covid wave I've started referencing your work more and more frequently. I thought I would be done with the topic of covid by this time. Four years ago, I was a guy on a safety committee at UPS who decided to take this seriously. I'm still taking it seriously.
I guess I missed the survey but I would love to see info on the impact of families foregoing children’s vaccines to others in the community. I am just past 60 so sometimes wondering in I should get my childhood vaccines again because of this. I have gotten tdap numerous times because first I worked at a clinic with elderly patients and later worked labor and delivery and postpartum.
Thanks Katelyn for all your good work and informative posts. Be well.
PLEASE don’t forget us seniors who are still dying of COVID!! Can’t get PCR tests, no
one masking. Hate to allow anti-science
ideas to take root.
I suspect very few subscribers know about the ongoing shortage of legal prescribed opioids in the U.S. as this has rarely been reported. A person undergoing surgery or in need of a strong pain medication - an opioid- may find that their pharmacy is out of stock almost all of the time. This leads them to searching for opioids on the street, or buying heroin.
The reaction to opioid addiction has gone overboard, and now people who have a legitimate need for them have a very hard time finding them. The reason for the shortage: the DEA has imposed quotas on the manufacturing companies. They are not allowed to make enough to fill the demand. The DEA has lowered the quotas for 2024.
https://www.painnewsnetwork.org/stories/2023/11/3/dea-plans-further-cuts-in-rx-opioid-supply-in-2024
I am interested in any research on childcare providers and infectious disease cases brought in by unvaccinated/unboosted families.
Keep doing what you do as long as you enjoy it and believe it's making a difference. Your writings are well received!
BOTTOM LINE UP FRONT (BLUF):
Thanks for all you've done in providing clear, concise, research and fact-based public health information for the last 4 years.
Thanks for all the work you do, and have done. I have found your work very useful, especially during the height of the pandemic, as a reference to someone else, recognized more broadly than I, who was saying either the same things I was, or providing supporting science and data-driven information. Your ability to communicate clearly while sticking to the science has been a real help.
We learned several lessons in this Pandemic.
1. It's not enough to provide the the data and references to the science when someone else is misinterpreting the same science with an interpretation that sounds good but is actually fact-free because, if it fits the preconceptions of the readers... or if the readers of the misinformation trust the messenger, whose claim to fame is not science but opinion, data and references are too hard to follow, and they'll go with the explanation that they like, not the one that may be uncomfortable.
2. Clear, factual messaging is hard to write. In clinical work, in slower times, I was pretty good at communicating with patients, families and even community groups about topics (and cases) I was expert on. In the height of the Pandemic, the material was coming fast and furious, and distilling it was time-consuming. And worse, we could see data supporting a premise one day, only to have another study (or several) provide more convincing data of a different conclusion the next. I suffered from data and information overload, and my near-daily updates to my organization meant I was often accused of not being consistent with the "facts" (a moveable feast!) or that I was lying.
3. Distilling solid conclusions from research studies and journal articles can be tedious, and especially when someone's reading preprints, you have to essentially read the article as if you're one of their journal reviewers. I might read, at the Pandemic's height, 10 or more articles per day, but for preprints, I was often reduced to one or two, because I was doing my own data analysis, looking up citations and sometimes, providing feedback to the authors of errors or questions.
You did a lot of the same work, and provided me a cross-check on my work and more important, my conclusions.
And you were better at communicating the intricacies of the material than I was able to do (in my defense, I was also working full-time in a field outside epidemiology and public health and wasn't sleeping a lot).
Hi, First of all, I am a retired executive that tries to keep my synapses firing by consuming all kinds of credible, scientific information although I have no formal science training other than what it took to get a BS. What I want to share is an experience that surprised me but confirmed how much misinformation is out there.
Yesterday I was soliciting help for a young friend whose husband had a 'brain bleed.' That was the language used. In my conversation with about 6-7 others, I deferred to one who had identified herself as a nurse who treated these conditions. Her response was essentially to blame the co-vid vaccine for this cerebral accident of my friend's husband, saying they are treating so many more patients with this diagnosis.
A nurse blaming the vaccine after I deferred to her as an authority flummoxed me.
I did not try to debate her at all....but, what a crazy deal. No wonder we will never get this or any other virus under control.
Opioids are interesting because they are not just the drug use - they are accompanied by side effects like clusters of hepatitis-C and, occasionally HIV. There are complications most people are not aware of - like endocarditis. I think most of the autopsies I’ve done over the past 10 years with mitral or tricuspid disease have been drug users. And syphilis is making a comeback, with a significant number of drug users among those cases.
This long COVID sufferer started reading YLE early on, before she got COVID and before long COVID was even a topic of interest of concern. Thank you so much for starting this and, now, keeping it going.
Thank you for all the years of science-driven content, hard work, and your engaging voice to keep this information topical and interesting! Still regularly opening your emails and learning what's going on in the public health arena which helps me professionally and personally! Greatly appreciate you!