Amy RL Rule MD MPH
@amyrebecca.bsky.social
Pediatrician | Mom | Partner | Disabled | Global Health Equity | BLM | Books | Coffee | Optimist | Emory Global Peds | Views are my own.
Reposted by Amy RL Rule MD MPH
This is why we are worried. Not because we don’t want rigorous safety standards (which already exist), but because we don’t want kids to needlessly die from preventable diseases.
Kids used to regularly die from meningitis and pneumonia, but that drastically declined thanks to PCV.
Kids used to regularly die from meningitis and pneumonia, but that drastically declined thanks to PCV.
Pneumococcal (PCV) has gone from protecting against 13 strains of strep to 20 in our routine schedule just over the last several years. We don’t compare PCV20 to placebo because we have existing safe vaccines and it would be UNETHICAL to leave kids vulnerable and without protection.
Why this is so concerning is in the immediate - flu and COVID vaccines. We do not have time to run placebo controlled trials before next flu season, esp coming off a terrifyingly deadly flu season for kids - 216 kids died. The most in 15 years.
In the future - what about updated pneumococcal shots?
In the future - what about updated pneumococcal shots?
May 3, 2025 at 1:26 PM
This is why we are worried. Not because we don’t want rigorous safety standards (which already exist), but because we don’t want kids to needlessly die from preventable diseases.
Kids used to regularly die from meningitis and pneumonia, but that drastically declined thanks to PCV.
Kids used to regularly die from meningitis and pneumonia, but that drastically declined thanks to PCV.
Reposted by Amy RL Rule MD MPH
BREAKING: A federal judge just blocked Donald Trump's executive order pausing the US Refugee Admissions Program saying it appeared to "cross the line" into "nullification of congressional will."
February 25, 2025 at 6:55 PM
BREAKING: A federal judge just blocked Donald Trump's executive order pausing the US Refugee Admissions Program saying it appeared to "cross the line" into "nullification of congressional will."
I’m a physician because of the IDEA and 504 made possible by the Dept of Education. And NO it won't work if we put it back to the states, it is the universal, federal protection and accountability that makes special education work and FUNDS special education. It funds kids like me. 1/
February 12, 2025 at 6:14 PM
I’m a physician because of the IDEA and 504 made possible by the Dept of Education. And NO it won't work if we put it back to the states, it is the universal, federal protection and accountability that makes special education work and FUNDS special education. It funds kids like me. 1/
Reposted by Amy RL Rule MD MPH
What was a suspected outbreak of #marburg in Tanzania has now been confirmed by laboratory diagnostic testing. We saw #Rwanda respond promptly and crush its own outbreak just weeks ago. I'm rooting for responders in Tanzania to do the same.
www.reuters.com/business/hea...
www.reuters.com/business/hea...
Tanzania confirms outbreak of Marburg virus
Tanzania's President Samia Suluhu Hassan on Monday confirmed an outbreak of the deadly Marburg virus in the northwest of the country, with one confirmed case so far.
www.reuters.com
January 20, 2025 at 4:04 PM
What was a suspected outbreak of #marburg in Tanzania has now been confirmed by laboratory diagnostic testing. We saw #Rwanda respond promptly and crush its own outbreak just weeks ago. I'm rooting for responders in Tanzania to do the same.
www.reuters.com/business/hea...
www.reuters.com/business/hea...
Reposted by Amy RL Rule MD MPH
To overcome vaccine hesistancy, we must do a better job of explaining the risks of illness vs vaccine side effects
Really important & timely @plosglobalpublichealth.org
commentary by Dr Peter Hotez
journals.plos.org/globalpublic...
Really important & timely @plosglobalpublichealth.org
commentary by Dr Peter Hotez
journals.plos.org/globalpublic...
January 8, 2025 at 9:35 PM
To overcome vaccine hesistancy, we must do a better job of explaining the risks of illness vs vaccine side effects
Really important & timely @plosglobalpublichealth.org
commentary by Dr Peter Hotez
journals.plos.org/globalpublic...
Really important & timely @plosglobalpublichealth.org
commentary by Dr Peter Hotez
journals.plos.org/globalpublic...
Reposted by Amy RL Rule MD MPH
Happy Holidays Blue Sky !
December 26, 2024 at 2:31 AM
Happy Holidays Blue Sky !
Reposted by Amy RL Rule MD MPH
Reposted by Amy RL Rule MD MPH
I’ve cared for infants who stopped breathing w/ pertussis.
School aged kids who died of flu or COVID.
And many of my patients can’t be vaccinated because they’re on chemotherapy or are immune compromised.
Vaccinations save lives of those who get them & those who cannot.
It’s that simple.
School aged kids who died of flu or COVID.
And many of my patients can’t be vaccinated because they’re on chemotherapy or are immune compromised.
Vaccinations save lives of those who get them & those who cannot.
It’s that simple.
December 14, 2024 at 2:50 AM
I’ve cared for infants who stopped breathing w/ pertussis.
School aged kids who died of flu or COVID.
And many of my patients can’t be vaccinated because they’re on chemotherapy or are immune compromised.
Vaccinations save lives of those who get them & those who cannot.
It’s that simple.
School aged kids who died of flu or COVID.
And many of my patients can’t be vaccinated because they’re on chemotherapy or are immune compromised.
Vaccinations save lives of those who get them & those who cannot.
It’s that simple.
Reposted by Amy RL Rule MD MPH
Pretty sure the next four years is going to be a lot of feeling really awful for being right and hoping beyond hope that we were wrong about literally any of it.
A few weeks before the election I posted about my concerns about RFK Jr getting rid of vaccines and was yelled at by a ton of accounts on Twitter saying he’d never do that, he was against vaccine mandates, not vaccines.
Oh how I wish they’d been right.
Oh how I wish they’d been right.
December 14, 2024 at 1:00 AM
Pretty sure the next four years is going to be a lot of feeling really awful for being right and hoping beyond hope that we were wrong about literally any of it.
Reposted by Amy RL Rule MD MPH
Vaccination significantly reduced #LongCovid in children and adolescents among ~300,000 kids and teens
www.thelancet.com/journals/ecl...
www.thelancet.com/journals/ecl...
December 7, 2024 at 2:39 PM
Vaccination significantly reduced #LongCovid in children and adolescents among ~300,000 kids and teens
www.thelancet.com/journals/ecl...
www.thelancet.com/journals/ecl...
Reposted by Amy RL Rule MD MPH
I don’t always have good news to share first thing in the morning BUT…
IT’S BOOKS WE LOVE DAY!!!!!
apps.npr.org/best-books/#...
IT’S BOOKS WE LOVE DAY!!!!!
apps.npr.org/best-books/#...
Books We Love
Here are 350+ great reads from 2024 hand-picked just for you by NPR staff and trusted critics.
apps.npr.org
November 25, 2024 at 12:25 PM
I don’t always have good news to share first thing in the morning BUT…
IT’S BOOKS WE LOVE DAY!!!!!
apps.npr.org/best-books/#...
IT’S BOOKS WE LOVE DAY!!!!!
apps.npr.org/best-books/#...
Reposted by Amy RL Rule MD MPH
This is what can happen when infants are not vaccinated against Tetanus.
The bacteria that causes it is everywhere, you cannot avoid it.
Without treatment, it's virtually 100% fatal, even with treatment 10-60% will die...
youtu.be/2Us-dzkUM28?...
The bacteria that causes it is everywhere, you cannot avoid it.
Without treatment, it's virtually 100% fatal, even with treatment 10-60% will die...
youtu.be/2Us-dzkUM28?...
Tetanus spasms in a newborn
YouTube video by NFoundations
youtu.be
November 24, 2024 at 9:25 PM
This is what can happen when infants are not vaccinated against Tetanus.
The bacteria that causes it is everywhere, you cannot avoid it.
Without treatment, it's virtually 100% fatal, even with treatment 10-60% will die...
youtu.be/2Us-dzkUM28?...
The bacteria that causes it is everywhere, you cannot avoid it.
Without treatment, it's virtually 100% fatal, even with treatment 10-60% will die...
youtu.be/2Us-dzkUM28?...
I’ve sent babies with pertussis to the ICU. They develop episodes of apnea (stop breathing).Babies are too young to be vaccinated or fully vaccinated. Herd immunity protects babies, when others don’t vaccinate, babies get sick. Vaccines are a group project, lives depend on your participation.
Antivaxers want to see what life is like without vaccines. I got you.
Whooping Cough in an infant.
96% of all whooping cough deaths occur in infants.
But no, do you...
youtu.be/S3oZrMGDMMw?...
Whooping Cough in an infant.
96% of all whooping cough deaths occur in infants.
But no, do you...
youtu.be/S3oZrMGDMMw?...
Infant girl with whooping cough
YouTube video by Mayo Clinic
youtu.be
November 25, 2024 at 12:23 PM
I’ve sent babies with pertussis to the ICU. They develop episodes of apnea (stop breathing).Babies are too young to be vaccinated or fully vaccinated. Herd immunity protects babies, when others don’t vaccinate, babies get sick. Vaccines are a group project, lives depend on your participation.
Reposted by Amy RL Rule MD MPH
Anyone who is anti-vax is pro-death. Period. The science and data do not lie. And they don’t care about your podcast.
November 24, 2024 at 10:52 PM
Anyone who is anti-vax is pro-death. Period. The science and data do not lie. And they don’t care about your podcast.
Reposted by Amy RL Rule MD MPH
"Children are viewed as vulnerable, precious, in need of protection, yet ultimately—even in democracies—we continue to raise and educate children in ways that normalise oppressive power dynamics and keep them in positions of vulnerability"
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
The world in 2024 was not all right for children
The guiding principles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
(UNCRC) include non-discrimination, the primary consideration of the best interests
of the child in all actions conce...
www.thelancet.com
November 20, 2024 at 1:08 PM
"Children are viewed as vulnerable, precious, in need of protection, yet ultimately—even in democracies—we continue to raise and educate children in ways that normalise oppressive power dynamics and keep them in positions of vulnerability"
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Reposted by Amy RL Rule MD MPH
Last year, when I was at MSNBC, I did a 10-minute deep-dive into RFK Jr's anti-vaxxer role in the measles outbreak that killed dozens and dozens of kids in Samoa.
I hope every Senator voting in his confirmation process for HHS knows about this crucial and awful story:
I hope every Senator voting in his confirmation process for HHS knows about this crucial and awful story:
RFK Jr., anti-vaxxers, and a measles outbreak: Mehdi’s deep dive
YouTube video by MSNBC
www.youtube.com
November 20, 2024 at 1:33 PM
Last year, when I was at MSNBC, I did a 10-minute deep-dive into RFK Jr's anti-vaxxer role in the measles outbreak that killed dozens and dozens of kids in Samoa.
I hope every Senator voting in his confirmation process for HHS knows about this crucial and awful story:
I hope every Senator voting in his confirmation process for HHS knows about this crucial and awful story:
Reposted by Amy RL Rule MD MPH
Humanity’s history is a battle against infectious diseases. And for most of our history we were losing very decisively.
From my article about vaccines:
ourworldindata.org/microbes-bat...
From my article about vaccines:
ourworldindata.org/microbes-bat...
November 19, 2024 at 4:34 PM
Humanity’s history is a battle against infectious diseases. And for most of our history we were losing very decisively.
From my article about vaccines:
ourworldindata.org/microbes-bat...
From my article about vaccines:
ourworldindata.org/microbes-bat...
Reposted by Amy RL Rule MD MPH
Very bad news late last week from CDC about maternal mortality in the USA - it continues to go up. The leading cause of death for #pregnant people in 2020 and 2021 was infectious diseases, especially #COVID.
#MedSky + #ObGynSky
www.cdc.gov/maternal-mor....
#MedSky + #ObGynSky
www.cdc.gov/maternal-mor....
Pregnancy Mortality Surveillance System
Surveillance to learn more on the causes and risk factors associated with pregnancy-related deaths.
www.cdc.gov
November 19, 2024 at 3:24 PM
Very bad news late last week from CDC about maternal mortality in the USA - it continues to go up. The leading cause of death for #pregnant people in 2020 and 2021 was infectious diseases, especially #COVID.
#MedSky + #ObGynSky
www.cdc.gov/maternal-mor....
#MedSky + #ObGynSky
www.cdc.gov/maternal-mor....
Reposted by Amy RL Rule MD MPH
Excited to have migrated over to Bluesky
November 19, 2024 at 2:03 AM
Excited to have migrated over to Bluesky