"Weakened Public Health"

Obviously, the states learned nothing from COVID.  Florida's Joseph Ladapo has been the poster boy for weakening public health. Remember he referred to school vaccine mandates as "slavery"?

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Weakened public health powers raise outbreak risks

By Rob Stein at NPR Health, 6-4-26: 

"As Americans worry about the risks from hantavirus and Ebola, many state and local health officials now have less power to protect the public from all kinds of disease outbreaks than during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"That's because some jurisdictions weakened their public health authorities in response to criticism of lockdowns, school closures, mask mandates, vaccine requirements and other COVID-era restrictions.

"There's been such an enormous backlash from the COVID-19 pandemic right across America, particularly in red states," says Lawrence Gostin, a professor of public health law at Georgetown University. "It's become part of our national lore of overreaching government."

"The Trump administration has reined in the Centers the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with budget cuts, staff reductions and tighter oversight by political appointees.

"But most public health powers reside with the states, and more than half have made changes to their own state, city and local powers, according to the Network for Public Health Law. The changes affect their ability to respond to public health emergencies. Many watered down those authorities.

"Taken all together, we're in a much weaker position post-COVID in handling a health emergency," Gostin says.

"At least 15 laws in 11 states, including Alabama, Virginia and Louisiana, imposed new restrictions on declaring public health emergencies — declarations necessary to do things such as muster disease fighters and clear away red tape.

State lawmakers have a bigger say

"There have been examples where they have said, 'Well, if you want to do this, you now need to come to the legislature to get it.' Or the legislature has the authority now to reverse it," says Dr. Georges Benjamin, who heads the American Public Health Association. "I'm worried that many public health officials will now have their hands tied."

"Some localities, such as Kansas and Utah, have hamstrung use of traditional public health tools such as quarantining people who might have been infected with a dangerous pathogen or isolating people who are already sick.

"In some states where there has been a lot of activity around public health power, it's going to create confusion," says Elizabeth Platt, director of research and operations at the Center for Public Health Law Research at Temple University. "And so just understanding if your public health entity has these authorities is going to take time. And as we learned during the pandemic, time is of the essence."

Backlash over COVID mandates 

"Some states, such as Florida, Oklahoma and Texas, pulled back the authority to impose mask mandates. Others limited vaccination requirements. Some curtailed the power to restrict gatherings.

"If you think about what that really means, it's like telling the police department that you can't arrest people, that you can't protect people when you know there's extreme weather happening," Benjamin says.

"At the same time, some state and local health departments have lost staff and funding. And some state and local health officials have gotten more skittish about pulling the levers they have left. Some were harassed and threatened over COVID. And some who objected to the pandemic response are now in charge.

"There are a lot of public health commissioners now who are not traditional public health people and who are much more MAHA or MAGA," Gostin says. "And so I think all in all you've got weakened authority, you've got weakened political backing and you don't have traditional public health scientists at the head of public health agencies."

"Still, there is support for some of the changes as a way to build trust and as an understandable response to criticism of some COVID measures.

"You're building a level of accountability into how we utilize some of the most restrictive public health measures in the United States," says James Hodge, director of the Center for Public Health Law and Policy at Arizona State University. "I'm fine with that." 

Apparently It's "Racist" To Show Anger Over Henry Nowak's Murder

This is from the great Brendan O'Neill at Spiked, 6-4-26, regarding the murder of Henry Nowak. I have to say, though, that comparing Henry to George Floyd is unfair to Henry.  Henry wasn't a criminal or a drug addict.  His murderer was a Muslim extremist with a knife, something we have seen over and over again in the UK. He took pictures as Henry lay dying, rather than call for an ambulance. The police believed his "racism" story and didn't believe Henry was critically wounded. 

After the riots and looting over George Floyd, streets were named in his honor, and we were forcefully fed DEI at work. I doubt anything will be done to honor Henry Nowak, a true victim.

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We are right to feel rage over the death of Henry Nowak. The elites want to crush the working-class fury over this vile murder – don’t let them.

"Are you raging over the death of Henry Nowak? Has the horror of that boy’s slaying, the lynching-like savagery of it, incensed you? Did you feel molten fury as you watched the bodycam footage of those lowlife officers dragging Henry across the harsh gravel? Were you consumed by wrath seeing this dying boy be libelled as a racist by his killer? If so, then according to the chattering classes you are tantamount to a fascist. It is you and your febrile emotions that pose the truest threat to the nation, even more so than knife-wielding scum like Vickrum Digwa

 

"What has happened in Britain over the past 48 hours has been extraordinary. Even as a seasoned critic of the hubris of our rulers, I’ve been shocked by the speed with which they’ve turned this atrocity into yet another soapbox from which to harangue the little people over what we think, what we say, even what we feel. More ink is now being spilled on the ‘problematic’ emotions of the masses than on the cruel killing of young Henry. We live under a regime so morally remote, so far up the fundament of its own self-righteousness, that it frets more over the justified rage of ordinary people than the unjustified destruction of a lad’s life.

"It was comments made by Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, that tore off the smug set’s veil of concern for Henry to reveal the classist sneer beneath. He called for ‘pure, cold rage’ in response to Henry’s awful, lonely death. Cue rage – ironically – across the faux-liberal establishment. The bourgeois press fizzes with angst over Farage’s words. There are ‘fears’ that the ‘populist right’ will ‘whip up racist resentment’, says the Guardian. Farage’s words will ‘inflame tensions’, blubs the Independent. Every centrist twat’s favourite pod – The News Agents – accuses him of blowing a ‘careful dog whistle’, slyly goading the mob to ‘go and do your thing

"The commentary drips with the haughtiest dread. You can smell the panic of the establishment at the prospect that the lower orders might pour on to the streets to express an unsanctioned emotion. The ‘dog whistle’ comment captures it beautifully. They view the masses as human hounds dumbly awaiting the coded orders of their demagogic masters. The emotional wasteland that is Keir Starmer, who seems incapable of either rage or joy, called Farage’s remarks ‘unforgivable’. Now is ‘a time for serious work, not rage’, he robotically spluttered.

"Pick up a broadsheet or switch on the news and you’d be forgiven for thinking Farage had wielded that knife in Southampton. His ‘violent’ words are triggering the woke classes even more than the violence visited on Henry. The press is awash with handwringing over the barbarous ‘atmosphere’ his comments might conjure up, the ‘lynch mobs’ they might draw on to the streets, the innocents who might get hurt on the back of his ‘stoked anger’. The liberal elites’ fleeting grief for Henry has given way to fabulist fever dreams about the zombie masses that might swarm the streets at the behest of their monstrous controller, Farage.

"And now we have Wes Streeting, the former health secretary, accusing Farage of whipping up a 1930s-style vibe. ‘[To] stoke rage… is really dangerous’, he said. ‘It’s not too dramatic to say this has echoes of the 1930s.’ Every time ordinary people push back against the state – every single time – these cowards and snobs play the 1930s card. The vote for Brexit, concerns over mass immigration, rage over the state’s denigration of a dying boy – all of it reminds them of Nazism. It is such rank elitism. That they sniff the spectre of Hitler every time Brits get angry about something says so much more about them than us. Not only do they not trust us – they even see us as brownshirts-in-waiting, easily activated by the dog whistling of some demagogue.

"They have no idea of how hateful they sound. Or how hopelessly cloistered. Rage is precisely what millions felt upon viewing that bodycam footage. Fury rippled through my WhatsApp groups on Monday night when it was released. ‘Made me vomit.’ ‘FUCKING HELL.’ ‘A million times worse than I was expecting.’ What is truly inhuman is to not feel rage when reading about this boy being taunted by his killer for 10 minutes before being disbelieved, dragged and arrested as he begged for his life. It isn’t the fury of ordinary people that is scary – it’s the absence of it among our supposed betters. Instead of keeping a check on our emotions they should check themselves for a pulse.

"Then there’s the hypocrisy. It is off the charts. The Guardian slams us for feeling rage over Henry, yet it published pieces in the wake of George Floyd’s death saying: ‘We need… rage.’ Cathy Newman of Sky News badgered Reform UK’s Zia Yusuf over Farage’s ‘rage’, yet back then she was delighted that ‘the fury over Floyd’s death’ had been transported ‘to all four corners of the globe’. Owen Jones condemned Farage’s ‘rage’ remarks and implied they had stirred up the idiots who threw bins at cops in Southampton on Tuesday night – yet in 2020 he gushed over the ‘righteous rage’ in response to Floyd’s death.

"Rage over a man who died 4,000 miles from Britain? Go for it. Rage over a boy who died right here in England? Don’t even think about it. The reason for this brazen double standard is clear. It’s because the Brits who ‘raged’ over Floyd were primarily bourgeois leftists who obsequiously bent the knee to the ruling-class ideology of identitarianism. Meanwhile, the Brits raging over Nowak’s death include huge numbers of working-class non-Londoners who want to dismantle identitarianism, with its hyper-racialism, anti-whiteness and two-tier policing.

"The establishment can handle the sight of Oxbridge keffiyeh-wearers partaking in orgies of performative virtue, whether over ‘racist America’ or ‘evil Israel’. But oiks? Gammon-coloured men draped in the England flag? Those people with their angry criticisms of the neo-racialism of the elites? Absolutely not. They must be demonised, driven from the streets. Only the righteous graduate classes are permitted to vent their moral fury in public places.

"The instinct of the elites, always, is to curb populist fury. We saw it after the Manchester Arena bombing of 2017, when we were encouraged to say ‘Don’t look back in anger’ and discouraged from talking about the Islamist menace. We saw it in relation to the rape-gang scandal, when we were sternly told that any use of ‘inflammatory language’ about those mostly Muslim gangs might ‘incite mass violence’. And now we see it after the death of Henry Nowak – that familiar imperious instruction to watch what you say, police how you feel, and, above all else, don’t get angry

"Some are accusing Farage of using the Nowak horror as a weapon in the culture war. In truth, Starmer and the rest of them are using it as a shield. They’re hiding behind the spectre of lynch mobs, and the phantom of the 1930s and even the deep pain of the Nowak family in a desperate bid to avoid the criticism and dissent of ordinary people. It’s not going to work. They are too weak and the populist surge is too strong. Working-class anger won’t be tamed this time."

Brendan O’Neill is spiked’s chief political writer and host of the spiked podcast, The Brendan O’Neill Show. Subscribe to the podcast here. His latest book – After the Pogrom: 7 October, Israel and the Crisis of Civilisation – is available to order on Amazon UK and Amazon US now. And find Brendan on Instagram: @burntoakboy.

Let's Bomb Iran And Destroy Hamas & Hezbolleh - The Sooner The Better

This column is by Khaled Abu Toameh at The Gatestone Institute 6-4-26, and he's right. Also, I'm a Trump supporter, but he should stop interfering with Netanyahu and let him fight and destroy Hezbolleh and Hamas, instead of restraining him the way Biden and Blinken always did.

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What Happens When Jihadists Smell Weakness

"Nearly three years after the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led massacre in Israel, led by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, that Iran-backed terror group remains as defiant as ever. Far from showing any willingness to disarm, abandon terrorism, or relinquish control of the Gaza Strip, Hamas leaders are once again issuing threats, glorifying jihad (holy war) and promising more violence.

"Their statements should serve as a wake-up call not only for Israel, but also for Washington and the wider West.

"The message emerging from Hamas -- and Iran -- is unambiguous: Hamas and Iran believe they are winning.

"Iran has been dictating to Washington when and with whom it will negotiate. Washington apparently never insisted upon face-to-face negotiations with Iran. Why not? By discontinuing talks with the US, Iran also succeeded in maneuvering the Trump Administration into two huge victories for the current regime. First, as the Wall Street Journal pointed out in "Iran Gets Trump to Rescue Hezbollah," US President Donald J. Trump demanded that Israel stop defending itself against attacks from another proxy of Iran: Hezbollah in Lebanon. Second, Iran -- as a result of a much-publicized shouting -- match between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu -- masterfully created "daylight" between its two main adversaries: Israel and the United States.

"Even though Iran's weapons have been decimated, the current regime, run by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), has reportedly been using its leisurely, ever-extending ceasefire to rebuild them. The IRGC has been calling the shots and has stood up to the "Great Satan," the US. No wonder the regime thinks it is winning.

"As for Hamas, in a video statement this week, Abu Obeida, spokesman for Hamas's military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, declared that despite the deaths of many senior commanders, Hamas remains strong and determined to continue the fight against Israel.

"The bill will remain open until the [Israeli] enemy pays it," Abu Obeida vowed. He boasted that Israel "has not achieved anything by assassinating [Hamas] leaders and insisted that Hamas has produced "a generation of leaders who will continue the path of those who came before them."

"These are not the words of a defeated terror organization. These are the words of a group that believes time is on its side.

"Abu Obeida's remarks are particularly alarming because they come after nearly three years of war, the elimination of many top Hamas leaders, and countless declarations by international mediators that Hamas would eventually be removed from power.

"Instead, Hamas is still standing. Hamas, like Iran, appears increasingly confident.

"Another senior Hamas figure, Osama Hamdan, recently insisted that Israeli assassinations of top Hamas commanders "will not break the steadfastness and determination of the Palestinian people" and stressed that his terror group would continue its "resistance" campaign against Israel.

"Meanwhile, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem has openly attacked members of the so-called "Board of Peace" and accused them of spreading "misleading lies." He also complained that the Board had failed to pressure Israel and force implementation of its plans for the Gaza Strip.

"The irony is striking. The "Board of Peace" was supposedly created to bring stability to the Gaza Strip, end Hamas rule, and establish a new political reality after the war. Yet Hamas leaders now seem to feel comfortable enough not only to reject its demands but also to publicly mock its efforts.

"The truth is that the "Board of Peace" has failed in its central mission. Six months after Trump's ceasefire initiative and almost three years after the October 7 atrocities, Hamas remains in power. It continues to control large parts of the Gaza Strip, maintains its military infrastructure, and openly refuses to disarm.

"Hamas's confidence is not emerging in a vacuum.

"Hamas leaders are carefully watching developments throughout the region. They see the US conducting endless negotiations with Iran's regime. They see repeated diplomatic initiatives that produce few tangible results. They see Iran continuing to arm and finance its terrorist proxies across the Middle East.

"Most importantly, they see Hezbollah in Lebanon continuing its attacks on Israel. Recent reports that the Trump Administration pressured Israel to cancel a planned strike against Hezbollah targets in Beirut's Dahiya district sent a troubling message throughout the region. The reported decision to restrain Israel, even as Hezbollah continues launching drone attacks and other provocations, is undoubtedly being studied carefully in Hamas and Iranian headquarters.

"To Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran's regime, such developments can easily be interpreted as signs of hesitation and weakness.

"The same skewed outlook also applies to persistent reports of disagreements between Trump and Netanyahu.

"Whether these reports are exaggerated or not is almost irrelevant. What matters is how America's and Israel's enemies perceive them.

"For Hamas and Hezbollah, any indication of friction between the US and Israel is good news. Terrorist organizations thrive on the perception that their adversaries are divided.

"A united American-Israeli front creates deterrence. Public disputes create opportunities.

"Hamas leaders appear convinced that the regional balance is shifting in their favor. That conviction helps explain why they have renewed their threats and escalated their rhetoric.

"The problem extends beyond Hamas. Hezbollah is also carefully monitoring Washington's actions. If the Iranian-backed Lebanese terrorist group concludes that Israel's freedom of action has been restricted, it may become even more aggressive.

"The Iranian regime is undoubtedly drawing similar conclusions.

"Across the Middle East, jihadist organizations are constantly searching for signs of weakness among their enemies. They interpret restraint differently from the way Western policymakers do. What many Western leaders describe as diplomacy, patience, or de-escalation is frequently interpreted by Islamists as surrender, fear, or exhaustion.

"This misunderstanding has repeatedly produced disastrous results.

"The October 7 massacre was partly the result of Hamas's belief that Israel had become weak, divided, and vulnerable. Today, Hamas appears once again to be reaching similar conclusions. This expectation should deeply concern policymakers in Washington.

"There are no magical formulas that can transform jihadist organizations into peaceful political actors.

"Western policymakers, especially Americans, tend to seek quick solutions and rapid successes.

"Defeating radical Islamist movements requires strategic patience, consistency, and a willingness to sustain pressure.

"Groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and their patrons in Iran view conflict not in terms of election cycles or news cycles, but in terms of generations.

"A united American-Israeli front creates deterrence. Public disputes create opportunities."

"Weakness, hesitation, and public divisions send exactly the wrong message to Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran. Every appearance of indecision only encourages further aggression, and convinces terrorist leaders that persistence will eventually bring victory. Discord puts smiles on the faces of those who still openly dream of destroying Israel and expanding Iran's influence throughout the Middle East.

"The latest Iranian and Hamas statements are not merely propaganda. They are a warning. The question is whether decision-makers in Washington are listening."

Khaled Abu Toameh is an award-winning journalist based in Jerusalem.

Liberals Despising America 250

At Larwyn's Links yesterday,  I read this Conservative Treehouse post titled "Sunday Talks – CNN Dana Bash Advances Partisan Narrative That 250th American Anniversary Should Not be a Joyful Event."

This section is so true: 

"Armed with a host of narratives against the Trump administration, CNN host Dana Bash confronts Interior Secretary Doug Burgum about his audacity to support Freedom 250 events in Washington DC this year.  Apparently, it is not in alignment with the interests of CNN for Americans to celebrate the anniversary of our independence.

"Complaining about DC fountains being cleaned; complaining about people not being consulted for their viewpoints to permit the graffiti and filth to remain in place prior to cleaning; complaining that years of environmental studies and municipal hearings did not take place prior to the decision to repair the reflection pool; complaining about saving hundreds of millions by not opening up each restoration process to consultancy fees, studies, public hearings and various bureaucratic indulgency opportunities; a very unhappy Dana Bash confronts Interior Secretary Doug Burgum about his support for President Trump to clean and restore the nation’s capital without consideration for those who prefer things to be a mess."

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I remember the 1976 Bicentennial celebrations under President Jimmy Carter, and I sure don't remember anyone complaining then. (Of course, we didn't have political correctness and wokeness back then, either) 

It's not only CNN.  I have never seen so many liberals and Democrats so angry and bitter about having to celebrate America's 250th anniversary while Trump happens to be the president. Also, the constant lectures about how "evil" and "racist" America are not appreciated.  Let them complain; the rest of us will enjoy ourselves to spite them.

Defective Democrats

As if Graham Platner isn't bad enough,  New Jersey is sending to Congress Adam Hamawy, an associate of the "Blind Sheikh", Omar Abdel-Rahman, who plotted the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. Hamawy actually testified on his behalf.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, and here we have an Al Qaeda sympathizer in Congress.  

Sometimes I don't know who's worse -- the Democrats themselves, or the morons who actually vote for these deplorable candidates.

The headline in this 6-3-26 David Marcus column is tactfully worded.

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The age of the Democratic Party blocking fringe outsiders is officially over

"There were two events on Tuesday that offered more proof of a national Democratic Party establishment that has lost control: One was a meeting, one an election, and both are harbingers of real danger on the American left.

"The meeting took place in Washington, D.C., between the presumptive Maine Democratic Senate nominee, the Nazi tattoed, serial sexter Graham Platner, and members of his party in that body.

"Some, mostly through wishcasting, thought this would be the end of the alleged oysters farmer’s run. Instead, it was a coronation, as was predicted in this column last week.

"A decade ago, one phone call from a party leader could have ended Platner’s run, but those days are gone. Today, the Democratic Socialists of America will no longer allow it.

"Here is what brave Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., had to say about the scandal-ridden candidate: "I met with Graham Platner today. We’re going to beat Susan Collins and take back the Senate."

"No, if, ands or buts.

"This was echoed by almost every smiling Democrat leaving the meeting. There will be no last-minute coup to oust the socialist. Instead, the party is pretending to be one big happy family.

"That, as they say, is that, and the reason for it is clear. Schumer and the grand poobahs of the party simply no longer have any leverage over the socialist candidates storming their keep

"Platner doesn’t need establishment endorsements. He has Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and commie podcaster Hasan Pike. He doesn’t need establishment money, as there are progressive billionaires more than happy to donate. Even the left-leaning media, always in lockstep with the establishment, have little influence over voters these days.

"As in Maine, in New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District, the Democratic Party elites were unable to fend off the radical Muslim (and socialist) candidate Adam Hamawy, who not only testified on behalf of the terrorist behind the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, but also volunteered for an al Qaeda-linked group in Eastern Europe.

"At best here, the Democratic primary voters in the Garden State are trying to send a terrorist sympathizer to the halls of Congress. At worst, he is just a flat-out terrorist.

"At this point, Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., who has been sounding the alarm about the craziness overtaking his party, isn’t just on an island. He’s on a whole different planet.

"Put bluntly, the far-left socialist extremists, with their Nazi and radical Islamic ties, are outflanking, often outspending, and absolutely outperforming the terrified geriatric leadership of the party.

"It’s become such a party of lunatics that, among the only partial wins the establishment notched Tuesday, in the primary to replace former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in California’s 11th District, was a weak first-place finish for Scott Wiener, himself a leftist lunatic, now headed to a runoff.

"Wiener thinks that putting people on sex offender lists after sexual crimes is somehow anti-gay and would trans your toddler at the drop of a hat. But among his opponents was the former chief of staff for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Democratic Socialists of America star Saikat Chakrabarti, who finished in third, failing to make the runoff.

"Even this seeming victory is hollow, though. Pelosi endorsed Wiener just two years after she wielded the power to tell then-President Joe Biden that his career was over. Today, she can’t get the candidate she endorsed in her own district over 50%.

"This realignment of Democratic Party power, away from the old-school, Ivy League establishment, into the hands of the socialists, the radical Muslims and the guys with Nazi tats, will have profound implications for the 2028 presidential race.

"In the last two competitive Democratic Party primary cycles, 2016 and 2020, Bernie Sanders was iced out by party leadership. Remember how, in 2020, after Biden’s surprise win in South Carolina, all the non-socialist candidates suddenly dropped out? That is how it used to work.

"A decade ago, the Republican Party was overtaken by Donald Trump, and the GOP establishment was left like Wile E. Coyote frantically running in the air, unaware it was already over the cliff.

"But Trump was part of something much bigger. In fact, he had been a member of the Reform Party, founded by H. Ross Perot in his historic 1992 third-party run and later championed by Pat Buchanan. This was a long-running populist ascendency.

"Today, it is the Democratic Party establishment losing touch and losing power, seeing their neoliberalism fade next to leftist populism, a populism of wealth redistribution, antisemitism and, to quote Trump, "Trans for everybody."

"Biden was fond of saying that today’s GOP is not "the Republican Party of your grandfather." Well, I have some news for you, Grandpa Joe: The socialist Democratic Party you left behind and the socialist barbarians you have left at the gates don’t look a whole lot like the party that made Bill Clinton president, either.

"And likely, it never will again."

Your Local Epidemiologist - The Dose 6-2-26

Here's another jam-packed edition of The Dose!

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Covid-19 update, common cold, ticks, and lotssss of good news

The Dose (June 2)

Katelyn Jetelina, Jun 02, 2026

Happy June! This week felt notably lighter to write about (knock on wood). The Ebola outbreak continues overseas, but domestically, the common cold and ticks are commanding most of the attention. We’ll also check in on Covid-19 and the vaccine rollout, where the dominoes of the federal process are starting to wobble.

This left plenty of room today for good news and a time to celebrate (quite literally, as you will see below) scientific advancements, which have become my favorite section of the newsletter.

Let’s dive in.

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Disease weather report

Ticks are… increasing again

After a few unusually eventful weeks, ticks are still keeping us on a rollercoaster. Emergency room visits for tick bites dipped briefly, then rose significantly again. We haven’t hit a record-breaking peak, but the season is running earlier than usual, so the cumulative burden is mounting. If this pace continues, it’s shaping up to be a rough tick season overall.

Those in the Northeast are feeling the brunt of it, followed by the Midwest. Although ticks are really everywhere.

Data: CDC; Annotated by Your Local Epidemiologist.

What this means for you: Enjoy the outdoors! But if you’re in a tick-prone area, take that extra minute to do a tick check. The most important thing is removing the tick properly (use fine-tipped tweezers, grab close to the skin, pull upward, no twisting, no Vaseline, no matches). Then watch for symptoms: fever, rash, fatigue, joint aches. If you find an attached tick and are in a high-risk area for Lyme disease, it’s worth calling your doctor if it was attached for more than 36 hours. Here is a YLE deep dive on ticks.

Common colds peaked

We are finally reaching a point where almost all respiratory viruses are on the decline. Common cold viruses appear to have peaked after a higher season than last year.

PIV (parainfluenza virus) is also nearing its peak, which is worth noting for a slightly different reason. Unlike the common cold, PIV is particularly significant for babies, as it is a leading cause of croup and bronchiolitis. As you can see in the graph below, it is less common, though.

Data: CDC; Annotated by Hannah at Your Local Epidemiologist.

What this means for you: If you’re sick, it’s likely the common cold. Rest and fluids really do help boost your immune system.

Measles keeps on ticking along

I haven’t given an update in a while. While the acceleration has slowed down, measles is still spreading. It’s basically endemic at this point: jumping from unvaccinated pocket to unvaccinated pocket.

In the U.S., there are three active outbreaks public health officials are paying attention to:

1. Utah is in its eleventh month with active community transmission.

2. Virginia is where my eyes are right now. The outbreak is still small (64 cases) but growing quickly, with 21 cases in the past week. The vaccination rate in the community (Buckingham County) is low (84.9%).

3. Pennsylvania outbreak with 38 cases (six new cases in the past week).

Source: PopHIVE; Annotated by Your Local Epidemiologist.

What this means for you: If you’re up to date on vaccines, you remain very well protected. If you have a child under 12 months old and are in/around these areas, they can get vaccinated early. Here are the top 10 questions on measles protection answered.

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Spotlight: Covid-19 virus and vaccines

Every summer since Covid-19 arrived, we have had a wave. And lately, summer waves are larger than winter ones (but continue to decline in severity due to immunity). Here’s where things stand.

What’s the current Covid situation? Levels remain very, very low. There may be a slight increase in some areas if you squint closely at the data (like in Texas and Florida, and maybe the Midwest), but it’s not showing up across all metrics. In other words, we’re not in a wave yet.

The Cicada variant (BA.3.2) received some attention a few weeks ago but has been circulating for some time without making much of an impact. The growing variant is XFG, which is still a descendant of Omicron.

Should I get a spring vaccine? The recommendation stands: vulnerable individuals, particularly those over 65, should still get both a fall and spring vaccine. Year over year, vaccination continues to provide 50–60% additional protection for high-risk individuals compared to those who skip it. If you’ve been trying to time a shot before the next wave, that window may be approaching.

Will we have a Covid-19 vaccine this fall? Yes, I think so, but the path to get there will be bumpy.

Think of our annual respiratory vaccine rollout as a giant domino setup. When the first domino falls—usually in February—the rest follow in a smooth, synchronized sequence, ending with shots in arms by early fall.

Last week, external advisors to FDA met to recommend an updated strain for this fall’s vaccine and voted to use the XFG strain. This differs from the WHO’s recommendation (LP.8.1). Strain differences between the U.S. and WHO aren’t entirely unusual—the U.S. typically targets the closest-matching strain for precision, while the WHO prioritizes broader coverage to accommodate countries with less flexibility to update quickly. Immunologically, the U.S. approach makes more sense.

But now the subsequent dominoes in the process of getting a vaccine may start wobbling.

The next step would normally be an ACIP meeting, but there is currently no ACIP, which is unprecedented. Two possible pathways are now in play, and both may end up being used:

1. The standard federal pathway (blue below). Either an ACIP is chartered (a long shot), or the ACIP step is bypassed entirely, and the CDC director signs off on the vaccine independently.

2. An alternative pathway (purple below) was developed last year by external organizations in response to federal disarray. Many states have already decoupled from ACIP and are instead following guidance from professional bodies like the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Vaccine Integrity Project (VIP). VIP will be meeting soon to review the evidence, enabling professional organizations to issue their own recommendations, which will then prompt health systems and physicians to begin ordering vaccines.

   
   Key limitation: This pathway doesn’t resolve the issue of ordering and distributing vaccines purchased through federal programs, most notably Vaccines for Children.

Vaccine approval process with possible alternative pathways. Figure by Your Local Epidemiologist.

What this means for you: If you’ve been trying to time your Covid-19 spring vaccine before a wave, that moment may be getting close, though it’s still unclear. As for fall, I’m confident vaccines will be available, but expect some confusion and uncertainty in the run-up. But they will be there.

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Good news, and lots of it

1. Standing ovation for pancreatic cancer survival study. During a national cancer convention (ASCO) over the weekend, results from a Phase III clinical trial of a pancreatic cancer drug were announced, and the room erupted in applause. This is really rare, but it also signals the beauty of the discovery. What did scientists find? Patients taking a new, experimental drug lived nearly twice as long as patients offered standard chemotherapy. Daraxonrasib reduced the risk of death by 60% compared with chemotherapy. Pancreatic cancer is a devastating disease, with a low survival rate, and is really hard to target with drugs. While this isn’t on the market yet, there seems to be major hope on the horizon.

Source: Scott Morgan/ASCO; STAT news

2. Major health insurers announced they will cover all vaccines at no cost through 2027, regardless of what ACIP, federal disarray, and ideological preferences say. This is incredibly abnormal, as they usually wait for federal guidance, but great news and, quite frankly, just the right thing to do.

3. Americans are increasingly treating mental health like physical health. This news is a little older, but worth celebrating as we close out mental health awareness month: More than one in three Americans said they planned to make a mental health-related resolution this year, with younger adults ages 18–34 leading the trend at 58%. Growing cultural normalization of mental health care is itself a public health win, as stigma has historically been a major barrier to treatment.

4. An obesity drug may not just “melt fat,” but also decrease inflammation that drives heart disease, joint pain, and diabetes. Lilly is testing a new drug called retatrutide, a weekly injection that targets three hormones for weight loss. In its latest clinical trial results, released this month, participants lost an average of 71 pounds over about a year and a half and also made significant improvements in markers of heart disease and overall inflammation. The addition of glucagon targeting helps the body to burn fuel, enabling greater weight loss and likely accounting for the additional benefits over earlier GLP-1 drugs. The drug isn’t approved yet, and more safety and effectiveness data are coming, but the early results are strong. If future trials hold up, this could become a single-shot treatment for obesity, diabetes, inflammation, and their related health problems all at once.

5. Global teamwork (without the U.S.) towards health. The 79th World Health Assembly—whose theme was “Reshaping global health: a shared responsibility”—ended with 193 member states (notably the U.S. is no longer a member) agreeing on 20 decisions and passing 13 resolutions on a variety of health issues, including stroke, liver disease, tuberculosis, antimicrobial resistance, diagnostic imaging, emergency care, precision medicine, and radiation.

6. Ebola patients were discharged from the hospital. Five patients were cured of the Bundibugyo Ebola virus: four left the treatment center today, and another had already returned home. As Helen Branswell, from STAT, noted, “communities can distrust treatment centers, because loved ones go in & often don't come out alive. Hopefully, word of survivals will encourage people to seek care rather than staying home. Improves their survival chances & lowers risk to family members.” Ebola can be defeated.

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Bottom line

While ticks and common colds are brewing, the quieter week allows us to recognize the quiet science marching forward. This week brought results targeting the two leading killers of Americans, heart disease and cancer. That is always worth celebrating.

Love, YLE

New Democratic Talking Point: Uncomfortable Celebrating America's 250th

I  heard this on the news and then had to look it up to make sure I had heard it right. I've been hearing the same talking points lately.  I don't care how Ali Velshi or other hateful liberals feel. We are celebrating the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, after America fought the British and won our independence, and we feel happy about that. The 250th anniversary doesn't come along every day.

Would these angry, spiteful people be talking this way if Obama or Biden or Bill Clinton was still the President? I doubt it. It's sheer pettiness mixed with a whopping case of Trump Derangement Syndrome.

This has nothing to do with race or slavery, even though some people are unable to deal with life without making everything about race and slavery.

If they don't want to celebrate America, fine!  Go visit North Korea.  But don't stop the rest of us from celebrating the country that we love. 

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MS NOW Anchor Feels ‘Deep Unease’ About Celebrating America’s 250th Birthday: US Has Never ‘Fully Reckoned With Its Racist Past’ 

"MS NOW anchor Ali Velshi told his viewers on Sunday he feels a “deep unease” about celebrating the USA’s 250th birthday — in large part due to the country’s “unresolved racial politics.” He also slammed America as a “so-called democracy” during a rant on his program.

“Anniversaries are imperfect records of the thing which is being celebrated. In America’s case, anniversaries often gloss over the racial dynamics underlying much of America’s history and politics, issues that remain unsolved, because America has never actually fully reckoned with its racist past and its original founding sin of slavery,” Velshi said.

"He continued, “In one month, America will mark the 250th anniversary of its founding. Like previous anniversaries, there is a deep unease about this. I feel a deep unease about the celebrations to which I am invited to mark the 250th anniversary of our so-called democracy.”

Dr Ruth Report, 5-31-26

Here is the latest informative medical newsletter from Dr Ruth Ann Crystal:

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Dr. Ruth Report, 5/31/26
Ruth Ann Crystal MD, Jun 01, 2026 

Weekly Virus Summary

COVID, RSV, Flu A and Flu B in wastewater are all low or very low across the United States.

Acute COVID infections

5/27/26 Nature: Autoantibodies to IL-1Ra and PGRN in severe COVID-19 are associated with inflammation-induced hyperphosphorylated antigen isoforms https://buff.ly/AuIMMGT

• Germany’s NAPKON network analyzed blood from 280 COVID patients and found that severe COVID disease was associated with autoantibodies that neutralized two key regulators of inflammation, IL-1Ra and PGRN, effectively removing the natural brakes on the immune response. Although these autoantibodies declined over 12 months, affected cells retained abnormal sensitivity to inflammatory signals, suggesting lasting biological consequences beyond antibody clearance.

5/27/26 Nature Biotechnology: Scoring gene importance by interpreting single-cell foundation models - https://buff.ly/xYz6GJY

• Genentech researchers developed an AI tool called SIGnature that analyzed 22 million cells across 412 studies to identify gene activity patterns. The tool uncovered a shared immune cell program operating across Kawasaki disease, sepsis, and severe COVID infection. Serum from Kawasaki disease patients was also able to activate that same program in laboratory cells.

5/25/26 BMC Pulmonary Medicine: CT-adipose measures identify severe SARS-CoV-2 risk beyond traditional obesity metrics: a C4R cohort study https://buff.ly/StJJOX8

• A study of 8,412 American adults who had CT scans taken before the pandemic found that excess fat deposited around the heart and abdominal organs predicted higher odds of COVID hospitalization or death independently of BMI. These imaging based fat measurements captured risks that standard body weight classifications alone failed to detect.

5/23/26 Cell Discovery: Exosomal ORF3a mediates lung-liver axis to dysregulate hepatic lipid metabolism in mild COVID-19 https://buff.ly/6QU32Fz

• Researchers found that 53% of 196 patients with mild COVID infection had abnormal liver function tests. Follow-up mouse and laboratory studies identified the viral protein ORF3a as a likely cause, showing it can travel from the lungs to the liver inside exosomes, where it triggers fat accumulation and inflammation. These findings suggest that ORF3a can damage the liver even when the virus remains confined to the respiratory tract, making it a potential target for therapies aimed at preventing COVID-related liver injury.

Pediatrics

5/18/26 Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: Circulating Extracellular Vesicles Drive Innate Immune Dysregulation in MIS-C https://buff.ly/Xmkz207

• Scientists from Turkey examined 98 pediatric patients and determined that small particles (extracellular vesicles) circulating in the blood, carrying remnants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, triggered abnormal innate immune responses in children diagnosed with multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C). These extracellular vesicles activated specific inflammatory signaling pathways that researchers connected to potential vascular damage in affected children.

5/25/26 Brain, Behavior, and Immunity: Exposure to SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein during development induces astrogliosis, synapse loss and long-term cognitive dysfunction in mice https://buff.ly/94nQtYC

• “We found that a single neonatal injection of the Spike protein in mice [on day 1 after birth] increases seizure susceptibility, induces astrogliosis, and triggers a significant loss of excitatory and inhibitory synapses in the cortex and hippocampus within 10 days. Remarkably, 60 days post-Spike protein exposure, male mice exhibited persistent, sex-specific cognitive impairments” and memory deficits. The affected males also showed persistent neuroinflammation in the brain, suggesting that timing of viral protein exposure during development may have sex specific consequences for cognitive health.

From: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0889159126005477

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Long COVID

5/27/26 JAMA: Long COVID Persistence and Surveillance Gaps Across 58 US Hospitals https://buff.ly/zGt4uMR

• A cohort study of 457,950 hospitalized COVID patients across 58 US hospitals using AI found that 1 in 6 patients (16.3%) had Long COVID, with 89% of those cases progressing to chronic conditions. Standard diagnostic billing codes missed more than half of actual Long COVID cases, “obscuring a substantial chronic disease burden”. Long COVID prevalence continued to rise through 2024, showing an increasing and accumulating burden on the health care system.

5/28/26 Cell: Autoantibodies in long COVID: A mechanistic foothold in a heterogeneous disease https://buff.ly/GCwqjae

• English researchers Wall and Richter reviewed data from two independent groups- one from the Netherlands and the other from the United States- showing that giving purified IgG antibodies from people with Long COVID to mice causes similar Long COVID-like symptoms in the mice. They reviewed a paper from Chen et al. from the Netherlands that showed that transferring IgG antibodies from people with Long COVID (pwLC) and high GFAP levels caused pain-associated behaviors in recipient mice.

• They also discussed a new paper from the Iwasaki lab at Yale showing that people with Long COVID who had predominant neurocognitive symptoms had IgG autoantibodies targeting neural and endocrine tissues seen on immunofluorescence in mice and in human tissues. Transfer of IgG from these people to mice caused fatigue, pain sensitivity, and small fiber damage in the mice and immunofluorescence lit up in intraepidermal nerve fibers in murine tissue.

• They summarized: “Together, these studies provide compelling evidence that autoantibodies directly contribute to symptom generation in a subset of pwLC [people with Long COVID], particularly those with neurological symptoms, including pain and temperature sensitivity.”

4/21/26 Chen et al., Cell (Netherlands): Transfer of IgG from long COVID patients induces symptomology in mice https://buff.ly/Xqt2nUp

5//28/26 Cell (Iwasaki Lab): A causal link between autoantibodies and neurological symptoms in long COVID https://buff.ly/1nPeqLu

Graphical Abstract

From: https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(26)00509-X

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5/27/26 Nature: Long-term cognitive outcomes after mild COVID-19, critical COVID-19, and non-COVID critical illness: a prospective cohort comparison https://buff.ly/MxGCS53

• Researchers from Germany evaluated 51 patients at a minimum of 12 weeks following illness and found that cognitive test performance was comparable between those who had mild COVID and those who had required intensive care. However, participants who developed Long COVID following a mild infection reported significantly greater burdens of fatigue, anxiety, and depression than their ICU counterparts despite that cognitive equivalence.

Made with ChatGPT and Canva

5/25/26 BMC Cardiovascular Disorders: Association of long-COVID with major adverse cardiovascular events and mortality: a real-world data cohort study https://buff.ly/ioBDTVL

• A matched cohort study of 86,122 patient pairs found that individuals with Long COVID have a 4.48 times greater risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), a 6.48x greater risk of coronary artery disease, and 3.46x greater risk of stroke. In addition, people with Long COVID also showed a 1.53x higher rate of death from any cause.

Made with Canva and ChatGPT

5/25/26 Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology: Post-COVID-19 Onset of Allergic Conditions in a Propensity-Matched Cohort of Children and Adults https://buff.ly/reKTAFe

• In a propensity matched cohort of nearly 800,000 US military TRICARE beneficiaries ages 1 to 64, COVID infection was significantly associated with new onset allergic conditions across all six categories studied, with asthma showing the greatest risk increase (54% higher in the full cohort, 82% higher in children) in the 18 months after COVID infection. The findings suggest COVID drives persistent immune dysregulation toward type 2 inflammation.

5/13/26 Brain Communications (NIH): Central noradrenergic deficiency in post-infectious chronic fatigue: neurobehavioral correlates https://buff.ly/CLk76Gh

• Researchers at the NIH Clinical Center studied 122 individuals and found that both ME/CFS and Long COVID patients exhibit reduced activity in the brain’s norepinephrine signaling pathway. This neurochemical deficit was associated with greater fatigue severity, diminished grip endurance, post exertional malaise, and overall poorer health outcomes across the group.

5/17/26 Vascular Pharmacology: The role of the endothelium in long COVID https://buff.ly/hfs6bRS

• University of Miami investigators found that SARS-CoV-2 infection can impair the endothelial cells lining of blood vessels, compromising circulation and tissue oxygenation in Long COVID patients. Two small clinical trials observed that supplementation with vitamin C and L-arginine restored measurable improvements in vascular function, though researchers caution that large scale trials are needed before any conclusions can be drawn.

6/2026 (online 5/25/26) iScience: SARS-CoV-2 infects olfactory neurons and basal stem cells and induces axonal degeneration through TRPV1 activation https://buff.ly/s33iwpZ

• Scientists from the University of Hong Kong and Western University demonstrated in both human sensory cells and hamster models that SARS-CoV-2 directly infects the neurons responsible for smell as well as the basal stem cells that normally regenerate them, and also trigger axonal degeneration via the TRPV1 pathway. When TRPV1 was pharmacologically blocked with Capsazepine, this cellular damage was significantly reduced, pointing toward a concrete therapeutic target for the persistent smell loss seen in some Long COVID patients.

From: https://www.cell.com/iscience/fulltext/S2589-0042(26)01473-2

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Measles

CDC Measles Update

• As of May 28, 2026, 1,983 confirmed measles cases were reported in the United States in 2026.

John Hopkins US Measles Tracker

Vaccine Preventable Disease Tracker

10/29/25 Vaccine-Preventable Disease: A Global Tracker from Think Global Health https://buff.ly/6qBMq0w

Ebola in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

5/29/26 NBC: Tracking the 2026 Ebola outbreak https://buff.ly/aQo5ggu

Other news

5/31/26 NEJM: Daraxonrasib or Chemotherapy in Previously Treated Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer https://buff.ly/kw22hZ2

• In a randomized trial of 500 patients with previously treated metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (91.8% with RAS G12 mutations), the oral RAS(ON) multiselective inhibitor Daraxonrasib nearly doubled median overall survival compared to chemotherapy (13.2 vs. 6.7 months). Daraxonrasib also improved progression-free survival, marking a significant advance for a cancer with historically poor outcomes.

5/21/26 Nature Medicine: Resetting autoimmune disease with CAR cell therapies https://buff.ly/U6TAVT1

• Researchers from Germany and China reviewed the use of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) cell therapies, originally developed to treat certain cancers, as a way to selectively eliminate B cells and “reset” the immune system in autoimmune diseases. They found that CAR therapies can achieve profound depletion of disease causing B cells throughout the body, potentially leading to long lasting remission from autoimmune diseases without the need for ongoing medication.

Fig. 1: Contribution of B cells in AutoImmune Diseases (AID)

From: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-026-04430-6/figures/1

5/27/26 Nature: Human haematopoietic stem cells remember inflammatory stress https://buff.ly/7DjnDT4

• A Canadian group shows that blood forming stem cells called Haematopoietic Stem Cells with inflammatory Memory (HSC-iM) retain a molecular memory of past inflammation. This phenomenon was confirmed in mouse xenograft models and in single cell genomic analysis of human samples. Inflammatory imprinting in HSC-iMs was observed in patients who experienced severe COVID infection, in aged individuals, and in those living with sickle cell disease.

5/30/26 CNN: After more than 66 years in the air, the industry’s longest-serving flight attendant prepares to retire https://buff.ly/D7LggrP

• Joan Prince Crandall, a Delta Air Lines flight attendant based in Seattle, retired May 30 after a record 66-year career. Crandall began working in 1959 at Pacific Airlines on a 24-passenger Douglas DC-3 plane. “There have been rapid advances in aviation during her career; the moon landing and the Boeing 747 came a decade after she started working as a stewardess.”

Joan Prince Crandall, center, with other Delta Air Lines flight attendants, pilots and crew members. (Delta Air Lines)

Have a great week,

Ruth Ann Crystal MD