Reframing the News

Three Things Thursday

Three Things Thursday highlights three things I am paying attention to as an epidemiologist each week. And much like last week, this week I feel like I’ve been hit (and subsequently crushed) by a tidal wave of information/news.

Over the past week, however, I have tried to take my advice — to slow down.

I tried over the course of the last few days to pause and not allow the news and social media posts to consume me. And I have asked myself what is important in this moment. What do I need to know (or do) now to create healthy communities?

In the midst of my slowing down — getting out for walks, enjoying conversations at dinner (and not rushing through the meal), and engaging in conversations with friends, family, and my yoga community — I realize that the news cycle is not designed to help you or me to create healthy communties. The news has been full of hype around a case of plague, flesh-eating bacteria in Florida, and the brain-eating amoeba.

All three are very rare and deadly diagnoses, but they should NOT keep you up at night (despite what the news and social media are telling you). And really important news — like the results of a 24-year-long study (linked below) that shows aluminum-adjuvated vaccines do NOT cause autism, and a vaccine injury hearing on Capitol Hill before the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs’ Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations has slipped under the radar this week.

Given that you are (likely) hearing too much about plague, flesh-eating bacteria, and the brain-eating amoeba and NOT enough about a new study and Senate hearings that are likely to change vaccine policies, this week’s Three Things Thursday is a reframe. I am highlighting what you really need to know and quieting the things that are sensational and not of primary importance to our shared goal of creating healthy communities for all.

Hoping this post helps to educate and empower you
to be healthy and create healthy communities.

Things You Should Be Paying Attention To…

Senate Hearing to Discuss Vaccine Injuries
On Tuesday, a Senate hearing titled “Voices of the Vaccine Injured” took place in Washington, DC. From the start, I want to be very clear — this was NOT a discussion. The hearing included a who’s who of antivaccine champions, who shared heartbreaking stories of illness and injuries that they believe were caused by vaccines. MSNBC reported —

“The hearing was punctuated by misinformation, conspiracy theories and genuine grief, as witnesses shared personal tragedies and an understandable search for causality… Tuesday’s hearing is the first (Senate hearing) to target childhood vaccines — long proven very safe — since Kennedy’s appointment as health secretary. And with Kennedy in power, Tuesday’s hearing is more than just spectacle: It could inform policy and provide cover for the Trump administration’s broader campaign to dismantle federal vaccine programs and gut public health agencies.”

Here is what you need to know:

First, bad things happen. Children do develop cancer; fatal car crashes happen. My kid, as you may already know, was hospitalized for a week because of diarrhea and nearly went into kidney failure.¹ Speaking with MSNBC, Dr. Tom Frieden emphasized this point, stating —

“Bad things happen. Sometimes they happen after vaccination. That doesn’t mean they were caused by vaccination. One thing we do know that is caused by vaccination is protection against illnesses that could harm or kill your kid.”

Second, life is a series of risk vs. benefit decisions. Nothing is 100% safe — driving your car is associated with risks; swimming in the ocean is associated with many risks; and there are risks associated with all medical procedures, treatments, and preventive measures, including vaccines.

When it comes to vaccines, the benefits far outweigh the risks. Take COVID-19. The risk of developing myocarditis is much higher if you get COVID (the disease) than if you get vaccinated. The risk associated with the vaccine is lower than the risk posed by the disease.

Vaccines are not only fully vetted for their safety and effectiveness, but we also monitor their safety and effectiveness once the vaccine is distributed throughout the country. This monitoring occurs year after year after year. When we find a vaccine is causing problems (see the story of RotaShield from 1999), it is pulled from the market and no longer administered.

The hearing on Tuesday only perpetuated misinformation and conspiracy theories about vaccines. Additionally, because we have extensive information, including a new study (that tracked children for 24 years), demonstrating the safety and benefits of vaccines, this hearing set back science, discoveries, and our understanding of what makes children sick.

The dominoes are falling into place for a reversal of vaccine policy in the US.

What can you do?

1. If you know someone worried about vaccines? Listen to them. Make sure they feel heard and that you understand their concerns. Ask questions — do you understand the risks associated with not vaccinating your child? do you understand how long your child might be in quarantine if they are exposed to a vaccine-preventable disease? have you talked to a physician (who belongs to the AMA or AAP) or public health professional about the benefits of vaccination?²

2. VOTE. Local elections are only four months away. Start making plans to vote. And attend debates and town hall meetings, and ask candidates about where they stand on vaccine policy and if they support RFK Jr’s attack on public health and preventive medicine. Ask them who they are consulting and seeking expertise from in formulating their healthy policy.³ And then vote for individuals who support public health, vaccines, and prevention.

3. Stay up-to-date on your vaccines. And make sure your children, grandchildren, and friends are up-to-date, too.

RFK Jr is dangerous. And holding hearings on vaccine injuries without including public health and medical professionals is unethical and dangerous. We need to be aware that these types of events are happening and speak out against them. We need to fact-check those who testify, showcase their conflicts of interest, and demand that the other side — the voices of health, prevention, risk vs. benefit, and science — be heard.

This is where our attention is needed.

We Do NOT Need To Obsessively Worry About…

(1) Plague
Yes, an individual in Arizona died of the plague last Friday. Specifically, the patient died from pneumonic plague, described as “a severe lung infection caused by the Yersinia pestis bacterium.” Each year, there are approximately seven cases of plague in the US; this is the first plague death since 2007.

Plague can be treated with antibiotics. And individuals who become sick AND have traveled to an area where plague is endemic, been bitten by a flea, or had direct contact with a sick mammal (prairie dog), should seek out medical care immediately.

Plague is a rare but serious infection.

(2) Flesh-eating bacteria
In Florida, there have been four deaths tied to a flesh-eating bacteria this year.

Most people are exposed to the flesh-eating bacteria after eating raw or undercooked shellfish — particularly oysters — because the bacteria will “concentrate” inside the shellfish, the CDC explains. Additionally, swimmers can be exposed through an open wound, or a recent tattoo or piercing. Each year, there are between 700-1200 cases in the US. Again, most of these people (upwards of 80%) are exposed through the consumption of raw or undercooked shellfish (not swimming).

Symptoms of flesh-eating bacteria (aka necrotizing fasciitis) come on quickly. If you have recently eaten oysters or gone swimming and think you might be exposed (because you have a fever or infected wound that is getting worse by the minute), go to the nearest emergency room.

(3) The brain-eating amoeba
There have been a handful of stories recently about individuals who have died from the brain-eating amoeba. Just to be clear, this is another rare but deadly infection. The amoeba — a single-celled organism — lives in fresh, warm water (ponds, lakes, wells, dirty/unchlorinated outdoor pools), and it enters the body through the nose. One of the recent deaths occurred in a woman who used well water to rinse her sinuses (with a neti pot). According to PBS —

“Tap water in the U.S. is treated to meet safe drinking standards, but low levels of microscopic organisms can still be found in it.”

Again, nothing is risk-free; our drinking water (municipal and well) meets safe drinking water standards, but it is not safe to use to clean your sinuses.

Exposure to the brain-eating amoeba is rare. Between 1962 and 2023, there were 164 reported cases in the US. Only four have survived. To prevent exposure, one should hold their nose while jumping/diving into warm, fresh water; keep their head above water in natural hot springs; avoid digging and then putting their face in shallow water (the amoeba lives along the shoreline); and use distilled or boiled water when rinsing their sinuses.

Each of these rare diseases — plague, flesh-eating bacteria, and the brain-eating amoeba — is serious and deadly. It is good to be aware of them, but obsessively worrying about them is unnecessary. There are clear steps you can take to prevent exposure.

I understand why stories about these rare and deadly diseases steal the headlines and make for a great story on the evening news. Really, I do.

But in this moment — when we are facing cuts to healthcare, the erasure of public health, and policy changes rooted in politics and misinformation, not aiming to secure health communities for all — we need to look past the headlines for the news that matters.

We need to pay attention to what is happening on Capitol Hill.

We need to know who is on the ballot in November.

We need to be talking to our friends, families, and neighbors.

Tonight, I leave you with the words of Dr. Bill Foege (who conquered smallpox and led the public health community through the early days of HIV, among other things), who has always instructed us to —

“Be futurists. Be good ancestors. Remember — the children of the future have given
you their proxy and they are asking desperately for you to make good decisions…”

What else can you do?

1. Click the “Like” button on the posts you enjoy. It’s a small thing, but it helps.

2. Share posts, either on social media or with your friends and family.

3. Comment on the posts. Hearing from you is a form of encouragement & it helps move Epi(demiology) Matters up in the Substack algorithm.

4. Send me your ideas & questions (drbeckydawson@gmail.com).

1. Hanging out at Washington Children’s Hospital in isolation (Jan 2013). It took a week of IV fluids for my sick kiddo to be healthy enough to return home.

2. I will be leading a public discussion/presentation about vaccines at the Meadville Community Library on August 6 at 6pm. Please plan to attend.

3. I will be leading a conversation about vaccine policy & preventive medicine in Erie, PA on Saturday, August 9th. The event will take place at the Golden Corral on Peach Street at 8:30 am. Please join me!