RFK Jr, HHs & Public Health News | Measles outbreak, etc.

[ColdBlueSteel]

Feigl-Ding's work focuses on epidemiology, health economics, and nutrition ... professional experience in nutritional epidemiology and epidemiology of chronic disease. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, his research work and expertise primarily focused on the health effects of diet and exercise.
Doesn't have expertise in infectious diseases (COVID-19, etc), but Feigl-Ding went viral on Twitter after expressing his worries about the 2019–20 Wuhan coronavirus outbreak virus' basic reproduction number

Help me distill that down into something less expansive and more practical

 

[rodoheel]

Check out Feigl-Ding’s Wikipedia page for a few hours and if you can figure out what he does, help me understand.

I find Feigl-Ding to sometimes come off as sensationalist and click-baiting like a lot of modern day social media self-promoters, but I don't really see the logic behind just destroying stockpiled COVID tests.

 

[ColdBlueSteel]

I find Feigl-Ding to sometimes come off as sensationalist and click-baiting like a lot of modern day social media self-promoters, but I don't really see the logic behind just destroying stockpiled COVID tests.

Are they expired?

 

[Bobfripp]

Help me distill that down into something less expansive and more practical

He's a wicked pissa at diet and exercise. Not so much on viruses and that sorta shit.

 

[Bobfripp]

Are they expired?

Then destroy away!

 

[SmilingJack]

Mennonite community might make it German measles? I guess rubeola or rubella it's coming for the unvaxed "rubes"!

 

[altmin]

it's good that Bird Flu going interspeices isn't a thing.

https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/02/19/nx-s1-5301216/federal-layoffs-fda-drug-safety-animals

FDA staff handling drug safety for pets and livestock lost jobs in Trump firings​

 

[ChileG]

Payback for Trump screwing up the pandemic.

 

[nycfan]

RFK Jr., Onetime Environmentalist, Kills NIH Climate Change Programs​

He pulled HHS support from projects that aim to protect Americans’ health.​

RFK Jr., onetime environmentalist, kills NIH climate change programs

He pulled HHS support from projects that aim to protect Americans' health.

www.motherjones.com

"... These NIH programs do not focus on the causes of climate change. Instead, they concentrate on research and training to protect people from the health consequences of extreme weather events.

... Callahan, the Kennedy aide who wielded the axe, served as chief of staff to the deputy HHS secretary during the first Trump administration. Prior to that he was a Republican operative, who worked several jobs in the GOP world, including director of political and field operations at the Republican Party of Wisconsin and direct marketing manager at the National Republican Congressional Committee. For the past four years, he has been a principal at the Hargan Group, a healthcare industry consulting firm.

As climate change progresses, research has increasingly pointed to the many health threats it poses. According to a 2022 study, more than half of known human pathogenic diseases can be aggravated by the crisis, including dengue and malaria.

... In the past weeks, Elon Musk’s crusade to dismantle large chunks of the federal government has targeted climate-change-related programs. The HHS decision to stop funding the NIH programs appear to be in sync with that, and it certainly jibes with Trump’s long-running and baseless denial of the climate crisis. (He has called it a hoax originating in China.) HHS did not respond for a request for comment. ..."

 

[nycfan]

 

[nycfan]

 

[nycfan]

 

[altmin]

Wish there was a CDC still operating properly

Mystery illness in Congo kills more than 50 people, including children who ate a bat

The outbreak began in January, with 419 cases recorded so far, and comes after another mystery illness killed 143 in December

www.cbsnews.com

 

[nycfan]

 

[4thgenheel]

RIP to that poor child. never stood a chance thanks to their moronic parents.

 

[nycfan]

 

[JCTarheel82]

How awful. A completely preventable death of a child because of irresponsible, propagandized adults. Sadly, it won't be the last.

 

[ChileG]

Thanks, Trumpers

I see schools are being closed in Texas for a disease that kills less than COVID. What a bunch of liberal wimps, right?

 

[nycfan]

So there is a measles outbreak in TX, covered in a separate thread, but noting here that so far the HHS Secretary hasn't commented on the outbreak ...

What RFK Jr. has said about the ongoing measles outbreak

The new Health and Human Services secretary is facing one of his first public health crises. Will he blow up the typical protocol?

www.vox.com

"...The feds usually stay in the background with an outbreak the size of the current measles occurrence. They can offer expert or laboratory support, for example. But otherwise, they are supporting players, unless the outbreak poses a unique threat to the rest of the nation or becomes a large multi-state crisis. For now, the current outbreak is limited to a small geographical region, and the states appear well aligned on how to respond.

But it is possible that further spread could demand federal officials get more involved — a development that would be worth watching closely, given its new leadership.

...Texas health officials — and their counterparts in New Mexico, now that cases have begun to spread there — have set up mobile vaccination and testing sites, encouraging unvaccinated people to get their shots now. Because local officials are among the community they serve, they may be considered more trustworthy (and in turn they can ultimately be more effective).

If those efforts are allowed to continue unencumbered, that will be a hopeful sign that the RFK Jr.-led health department will not actively sabotage public health efforts when there is an acute crisis underway. After some observers pointed out that the CDC measles tracker had not been with the new outbreak, the web page was refreshed on Friday with a pledge to continue updating it every Friday.
So far, there is no sign that local officials have requested support from the federal government and been denied it. ..."

...​

 

[nycfan]

So there is a measles outbreak in TX, covered in a separate thread, but noting here that so far the HHS Secretary hasn't commented on the outbreak ...

What RFK Jr. has said about the ongoing measles outbreak

The new Health and Human Services secretary is facing one of his first public health crises. Will he blow up the typical protocol?

www.vox.com

"...The feds usually stay in the background with an outbreak the size of the current measles occurrence. They can offer expert or laboratory support, for example. But otherwise, they are supporting players, unless the outbreak poses a unique threat to the rest of the nation or becomes a large multi-state crisis. For now, the current outbreak is limited to a small geographical region, and the states appear well aligned on how to respond.

But it is possible that further spread could demand federal officials get more involved — a development that would be worth watching closely, given its new leadership.

...Texas health officials — and their counterparts in New Mexico, now that cases have begun to spread there — have set up mobile vaccination and testing sites, encouraging unvaccinated people to get their shots now. Because local officials are among the community they serve, they may be considered more trustworthy (and in turn they can ultimately be more effective).

If those efforts are allowed to continue unencumbered, that will be a hopeful sign that the RFK Jr.-led health department will not actively sabotage public health efforts when there is an acute crisis underway. After some observers pointed out that the CDC measles tracker had not been with the new outbreak, the web page was refreshed on Friday with a pledge to continue updating it every Friday.
So far, there is no sign that local officials have requested support from the federal government and been denied it. ..."

...​

EXCEPT HE DID COMMENT earlier today and was not very honest about it