Mack Guthrie
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mackgu3.bsky.social
Mack Guthrie
@mackgu3.bsky.social
MPH student at @busph.bsky.social | Former CDC | (He/him)

Interests: Epidemiology, health law, policy, and emergency/pandemic preparedness
Great op-ed from a friend of mine! I hope one day we will have clean, safe, public bathrooms in all cities!

Where's the restroom? Minneapolis needs more answers www.minnpost.com/community-vo...
Where are the restrooms? Minneapolis needs more answers - MinnPost
Businesses can't take on the entire burden. The city must invest in a network of free, accessible and well-maintained public restrooms.
www.minnpost.com
November 12, 2025 at 2:56 AM
Reposted by Mack Guthrie
Some recognition is due for whomever at @nymag.com thought to put this essay on pages 6 and 7
November 3, 2025 at 2:08 PM
One of my neighbors is playing Christmas music … it’s Nov 1, that’s still Halloween!
November 1, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Check out the free Northeast Epidemiology Conference, happening online next month! Seems like a great opportunity to hear about what's going on in different health departments and areas of the field. #Episky #publichealth

www.dhhs.nh.gov/programs-ser...
www.dhhs.nh.gov
October 27, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Really loved this week’s episode of TWiV, covering more research on the risk of dementia and varicella-zoster vaccination.

Having had shingles as a teenager, I hope researchers will continue to pursue this question and explore new vaccine dosing strategies —maybe shingrix should start before 50!
TWiV reviews continuing US measles outbreak, host and genetic variations that regulate antibody responses to hepatitis C virus, and varicella-zoster reactivation and the risk of dementia.
TWiV 1263: Dementia vaccine?
YouTube video by MicrobeTV
youtu.be
October 20, 2025 at 10:43 PM
Good signal for the Northern flu season. Happy to have just gotten my flu shot this last weekend!
Protection from flu vaccine around 50% for Southern Hemisphere, data reveal

Study shows vaccine effectiveness around 50% for both clinic visits and hospital stays for influenza in the 2025 Southern Hemisphere flu season

www.cidrap.umn.edu/i...

Photo: Direct Relief / Flickr cc
October 20, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Reposted by Mack Guthrie
Incredible stuff from the Purdue student paper in solidarity with IU. We love to see it.
October 19, 2025 at 11:33 AM
Sadly missing the No Kings rally to study for midterms, but it occurred to me that I could just hold up my Epi textbook and it would work fine as a denouncement of this administration.
October 18, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Reposted by Mack Guthrie
I’m surprised Minnesota isn’t part of this tbh
15 US states and territories have formed a new Public Health Alliance, which will counter the absence of federal leadership by tracking outbreaks, issuing guidance, buying vaccines and more.

Members of the new alliance include CA, CO, CT, DE, GU, HI, IL, MD, MA, NJ, NY, NC, OR, RI, WA.
October 16, 2025 at 11:22 AM
Reposted by Mack Guthrie
NHANES runs mobile clinics that travel the country measuring height, weight, & blood pressure while collecting blood and urine samples. These samples are our only national source for tracking everything from blood sugar to hormones, heavy metals, and more.

The entire operation has been eliminated.
Everyone across biomedicine should be very loud about this so this team's RIF status gets reversed. Nhanes has been key for tracking obesity & diabetes rates, identifying high blood lead levels in kids in the 70s, tracking progress on cholesterol lowering, guiding nutrient fortification programs etc
October 14, 2025 at 9:20 PM
Crazy working on my problem set for class and using NHANES data, knowing that we might not have this resource moving forward :(
October 15, 2025 at 3:41 AM
Reposted by Mack Guthrie
Americans collectively have forgotten that yellow fever and malaria were once endemic in our country. To be fair, it’s not something we’re ever taught in school; I had no idea until I started studying public health!

And now, especially w/ climate change, there’s little stopping it from coming back.
October 14, 2025 at 11:24 PM
Reposted by Mack Guthrie
October 14, 2025 at 11:11 PM
Really love this plain language breakdown on the reality behind House of Dynamite (no jargon, minimal acronyms).

I enjoyed this film, and it's a great reminder of the need for nuclear de-escalation and disarmament. I'd say it's worth seeing on the big screen, if you can.
October 12, 2025 at 11:46 PM
The administration is trying to finish the job from this spring
BREAKING: Friday night massacre underway at CDC. Doznes of "disease detectives," high-level scientists, entire Washington staff and editors of the MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) have all been RIFed and received the following notice:
October 11, 2025 at 2:19 AM
I fear my health law & policy class is a psyop to make me go to law school
October 2, 2025 at 6:24 PM
This was the morsel of hope for the future that I needed today ❤️
After this high school in Kentucky banned cellphones, they saw a 67% increase in students checking out library books.

Kentucky joins a growing number of states, schools and districts that have been implementing new phone bans.
A school in Kentucky banned phones. Remarkable things started happening.
After Ballard High School banned phones, they saw a 67% increase in students checking out library books.
www.washingtonpost.com
September 29, 2025 at 7:19 PM
The finding that the shingles vax decreased risk of dementia was widely reported last year, but we’ve heard less about similar findings for others (Flu, RSV, TDaP)

I imagine we’ll keep seeing this as we study more vaccines, with how much inflammation is averted with a prevented/attenuated disease.
Gift 🎁 article. The summary: Flu, Shingles, RSV, and Tdap. Likely mechanism is by reducing severe infections that can accelerate brain atrophy, a cause of dementia.
wapo.st/4gKIPhK
4 vaccines linked to a lower risk of dementia
Some vaccine-preventable diseases are linked to accelerated brain atrophy and increased dementia risk years down the line.
wapo.st
September 29, 2025 at 3:14 AM
“Playing the long game” is an interesting framing of the reality that protecting other’s speech means protecting your own as well.

www.politico.com/news/magazin...
Ted Cruz Plays the Long Game by Defending Jimmy Kimmel
By calling out Trump’s FCC for intimidation, the Texas senator broke with his party’s silence and made a rare stand for free speech.
www.politico.com
September 23, 2025 at 6:00 PM
When I little, I thought the military was organized as the Department of War in times of conflict, and the Department of Defense during peacetime.

The president’s latest theatrics are really bringing me back to that memory, though it’s interesting rhetoric from an self-proclaimed peacemaker.
September 5, 2025 at 5:31 AM
Reposted by Mack Guthrie
New statement: IDSA, APHA and partners call for RFK Jr. to resign: "Our country needs leadership that will promote open, honest dialogue — not disregard decades of lifesaving science, spread misinformation, reverse medical progress and decimate programs that keep us safe." bit.ly/3JOgDya
September 3, 2025 at 11:10 PM
Taking a health law and policy course in 2025 is wild because genuinely every item needs an asterisks.
September 4, 2025 at 5:15 PM
It seems that many Americans will, likely for the first time, learn who their State’s Secretary of Health is.

State’s will need to majorly step up to fill in the gaps left by federal health agencies —both in leadership and in funding.
New Mexico is overriding the federal government on the topic of COVID19 vaccines to ensure their residents can access them.

States hold a tremendous amount of public health power. They should use it.
State steps in to ensure access to COVID-19 vaccine
Public health order counters potential limitations set by the USFDA
www.koat.com
September 1, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Reposted by Mack Guthrie
This is a real photograph of Washington, DC this week, where the United States president has ordered military occupation in peacetime, and ordered the display of colossal portraits of himself.

www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
August 28, 2025 at 10:24 AM
I wonder if Secretary Kennedy knew he lacked the authority to fire Dr. Monarez, or if he didn’t care and thought he could get away with it.

Genuinely can’t decide which version is worse.
August 29, 2025 at 4:07 AM