The Vaccinologist's Desk (Dr Helen Petousis-Harris)
@helenp-h.bsky.social
Vaccine Science, Associate Professor @UoA, Co-Director Global Vaccine Data Network. In pursuit of a hike, good food and wine.
Pinned
1/3 My latest offering - a summary of the last 50-years of MMR safety data: The MMR vaccine has been tested. Repeatedly. For decades (in case there was actually any doubt!). Yet, zombie myths just won’t die. 🧟♂️ 1/3
My latest blog, breaking down RFK Jr.’s tin foil hat claims about aluminium in vaccines and autism. Epidemiologists see adjusted hazard ratios. RFK Jr. sees messages from the aluminium mothership🪱🚀 diplomaticimmunity.blog/no-rfk-jr-th...
August 8, 2025 at 1:01 AM
My latest blog, breaking down RFK Jr.’s tin foil hat claims about aluminium in vaccines and autism. Epidemiologists see adjusted hazard ratios. RFK Jr. sees messages from the aluminium mothership🪱🚀 diplomaticimmunity.blog/no-rfk-jr-th...
1/ Aluminium in Vaccines — What 1.2 Million Kids Just Told Us
A huge Danish study by @andershviid.bsky.social and team just looked at aluminium in childhood vaccines and 50+ chronic diseases.
What did they find? Not harm. Not even a whisper of it.
Here’s what you need to know ⬇️
A huge Danish study by @andershviid.bsky.social and team just looked at aluminium in childhood vaccines and 50+ chronic diseases.
What did they find? Not harm. Not even a whisper of it.
Here’s what you need to know ⬇️
July 14, 2025 at 10:36 PM
1/ Aluminium in Vaccines — What 1.2 Million Kids Just Told Us
A huge Danish study by @andershviid.bsky.social and team just looked at aluminium in childhood vaccines and 50+ chronic diseases.
What did they find? Not harm. Not even a whisper of it.
Here’s what you need to know ⬇️
A huge Danish study by @andershviid.bsky.social and team just looked at aluminium in childhood vaccines and 50+ chronic diseases.
What did they find? Not harm. Not even a whisper of it.
Here’s what you need to know ⬇️
1/2 LOGIC LEAKS: In the swirling chaos of vaccine misinformation, this argument keeps bubbling up: “But injected aluminium is different!” Yes — it is. So is drinking vs. drowning. Route matters. But that doesn’t make aluminium adjuvants dangerous.
June 5, 2025 at 1:59 AM
1/2 LOGIC LEAKS: In the swirling chaos of vaccine misinformation, this argument keeps bubbling up: “But injected aluminium is different!” Yes — it is. So is drinking vs. drowning. Route matters. But that doesn’t make aluminium adjuvants dangerous.
There is no bottom to the depths that tyranny will dive. #supportscience #academicfreedom
This complete destruction of America’s research, intellectual, and academic leadership is really quite something to study in real time - a soft power decimation that will last for far longer than Trump’s tenure. Promote Otago/NZ Uni’s as much as I can, but NZ High Comm’s can/should do so much more.
May 29, 2025 at 1:56 AM
There is no bottom to the depths that tyranny will dive. #supportscience #academicfreedom
😡i made a meme
May 28, 2025 at 11:40 PM
😡i made a meme
Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is a rare neurological disorder where the body’s immune system attacks the nerves, affecting about 1 to 4 people per 100,000 each year. It is rare! You need a lot of people to be able to do a study like this one!👇
May 28, 2025 at 11:28 PM
Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is a rare neurological disorder where the body’s immune system attacks the nerves, affecting about 1 to 4 people per 100,000 each year. It is rare! You need a lot of people to be able to do a study like this one!👇
Well said.
OPINION: I’m sorry that politicians and the media spent last week focusing on my potty mouth and not the terrible injustice that is being done to care-workers, nurses, teachers and other underpaid women, Andrea Vance writes.
I said what I said. And I’m sorry... sort of
OPINION: Choreographed fragility and weaponised offence from female MPs over my use of a rude word has served as a distraction from their own actions.
www.thepress.co.nz
May 17, 2025 at 11:24 PM
Well said.
Reposted by The Vaccinologist's Desk (Dr Helen Petousis-Harris)
The last few years have been pretty hard & I’ve largely become a bit of a hermit. But I’ve briefly emerged to talk about the thing that’s reignited my spark - menstrual cups! Thanks to NZ Women’s Weekly and Elizabeth Easther for coaxing me out of my shell. www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/si...
Dr Siouxsie Wiles' Covid curse: ‘Abuse changed my world’
Pandemic fallout turned her into a hermit, but her future’s looking brighter.
www.nzherald.co.nz
May 16, 2025 at 8:07 PM
The last few years have been pretty hard & I’ve largely become a bit of a hermit. But I’ve briefly emerged to talk about the thing that’s reignited my spark - menstrual cups! Thanks to NZ Women’s Weekly and Elizabeth Easther for coaxing me out of my shell. www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/si...
The WHO Pandemic Agreement is not a global coup. It’s a blueprint for doing pandemics less badly next time.
Yes, I support it. It strengthens cooperation, not control.
Yes, I support it. It strengthens cooperation, not control.
May 16, 2025 at 1:23 AM
The WHO Pandemic Agreement is not a global coup. It’s a blueprint for doing pandemics less badly next time.
Yes, I support it. It strengthens cooperation, not control.
Yes, I support it. It strengthens cooperation, not control.
Reposted by The Vaccinologist's Desk (Dr Helen Petousis-Harris)
New: Walmart heiress Christy Walton is backing a vaccine watchdog effort at @cidrap.bsky.social as measles surges and political pressure mounts on US health agencies. “This is a firebreak against political arson,” @helenp-h.bsky.social told me. Gift link to Bloomberg story ⬇
tinyurl.com/4nwbjefr
tinyurl.com/4nwbjefr
US Vaccine Watchdog Effort Begins as Measles Surge Draws Alarm
The Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota has quietly begun to steer a national initiative to safeguard the scientific foundations of US vaccine policy — a b...
tinyurl.com
May 1, 2025 at 8:09 AM
New: Walmart heiress Christy Walton is backing a vaccine watchdog effort at @cidrap.bsky.social as measles surges and political pressure mounts on US health agencies. “This is a firebreak against political arson,” @helenp-h.bsky.social told me. Gift link to Bloomberg story ⬇
tinyurl.com/4nwbjefr
tinyurl.com/4nwbjefr
The roads are certainly leading to Rome on the matter of shingles vaccine and reduced dementia risk. Cool aye ! 😎
New @jama.com
Another new report (natural experiment) shows the link of a vaccine vs shingles to less dementia
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
this is the 3rd natural experiment to show the effect
Another new report (natural experiment) shows the link of a vaccine vs shingles to less dementia
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
this is the 3rd natural experiment to show the effect
Herpes Zoster Vaccination and Dementia Occurrence
This study investigates whether herpes zoster vaccination affects the probability of receiving a new diagnosis of dementia.
jamanetwork.com
April 23, 2025 at 11:21 PM
The roads are certainly leading to Rome on the matter of shingles vaccine and reduced dementia risk. Cool aye ! 😎
Another victim of political whim and the delegitimization of science. 🤬Breaks my heart. 💔 www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/3606...
Groundbreaking project at Auckland Uni stopped in its tracks by US funding cut
Funding cut by Trump administration “isn’t just fiscally wasteful — it’s ethically indefensible”, says vaccinologist and professor Helen Petousis-Harris.
www.stuff.co.nz
April 23, 2025 at 11:15 PM
Another victim of political whim and the delegitimization of science. 🤬Breaks my heart. 💔 www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/3606...
🧠 Can vaccines protect your brain?
Latest blog. The evidence is growing - shingles, flu & COVID vaccines lower risk of dementia & stroke.
Better vaxxed than sorry. Hope they expanded funding
Viral villains vs vaccine heroes 👉 diplomaticimmunity.blog/dementia-and... #Vaccines #BrainHealth #Shingrix
Latest blog. The evidence is growing - shingles, flu & COVID vaccines lower risk of dementia & stroke.
Better vaxxed than sorry. Hope they expanded funding
Viral villains vs vaccine heroes 👉 diplomaticimmunity.blog/dementia-and... #Vaccines #BrainHealth #Shingrix
Can Vaccines Help Combat Dementia and Stroke Effectively? Yep!
Viral infections increase dementia and stroke risk. Discover how vaccines—especially Shingles vaccines—may protect brain health and delay cognitive decline.
diplomaticimmunity.blog
April 14, 2025 at 2:29 AM
🧠 Can vaccines protect your brain?
Latest blog. The evidence is growing - shingles, flu & COVID vaccines lower risk of dementia & stroke.
Better vaxxed than sorry. Hope they expanded funding
Viral villains vs vaccine heroes 👉 diplomaticimmunity.blog/dementia-and... #Vaccines #BrainHealth #Shingrix
Latest blog. The evidence is growing - shingles, flu & COVID vaccines lower risk of dementia & stroke.
Better vaxxed than sorry. Hope they expanded funding
Viral villains vs vaccine heroes 👉 diplomaticimmunity.blog/dementia-and... #Vaccines #BrainHealth #Shingrix
Reposted by The Vaccinologist's Desk (Dr Helen Petousis-Harris)
An excellent long read about how conspiracist attacked one of the worlds leading scientific journals. Both extraordinary and also horribly unsurprising. www.computerweekly.com/news/3665534...
Top science journal faced secret attacks from Covid conspiracy theory group | Computer Weekly
One of the world’s most prestigious general science journals, was the target of a two-year long sustained and virulent secret attack by a conspiratorial group of extreme Brexit lobbyists with high-lev...
www.computerweekly.com
March 21, 2025 at 8:51 PM
An excellent long read about how conspiracist attacked one of the worlds leading scientific journals. Both extraordinary and also horribly unsurprising. www.computerweekly.com/news/3665534...
Reposted by The Vaccinologist's Desk (Dr Helen Petousis-Harris)
Nice explainer on why letting H5N1 rip (yes, it was proposed by RFK Jr.) is a terrible, ignorant, and flat-out dangerous idea for many reasons...
Kudos to @drjenndowd.bsky.social 🛟📉🧪 policy
Kudos to @drjenndowd.bsky.social 🛟📉🧪 policy
"Let it rip" for chickens? Don't put your eggs in that basket.
The Great Birdington Declaration
jenndowd.substack.com
March 21, 2025 at 1:33 AM
Nice explainer on why letting H5N1 rip (yes, it was proposed by RFK Jr.) is a terrible, ignorant, and flat-out dangerous idea for many reasons...
Kudos to @drjenndowd.bsky.social 🛟📉🧪 policy
Kudos to @drjenndowd.bsky.social 🛟📉🧪 policy
Highest rates of measles in the world since 1997 www.bmj.com/content/388/...
WHO warns “measles is back” as virus spreads across Europe, America, and Afghanistan
Measles cases are at a 25 year high in Europe, while North America and Afghanistan are also dealing with major outbreaks and children dying from the preventable disease.
Over 127 000 cases were repor...
www.bmj.com
March 15, 2025 at 9:07 PM
Reposted by The Vaccinologist's Desk (Dr Helen Petousis-Harris)
Holy shit. This is *the* gold-standard measurement of atmospheric CO2 -- the one in all the charts.
The Trump administration is planning to cancel its lease at a government laboratory in Hawaii, a site where scientists support key observations of surging greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere, according to a list obtained by Democratic members of Congress and shared with The Post.
Trump moves to close facility that helps track planet-warming pollution
The lab is connected to the Mauna Loa Observatory, where scientists gather data to produce the Keeling Curve, a chart on the daily status of atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations.
www.washingtonpost.com
March 14, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Holy shit. This is *the* gold-standard measurement of atmospheric CO2 -- the one in all the charts.
One of the safest and most effective vaccines ever developed, and also one struggling against tsunami of disinformation.
Data shows it can prevent six types of cancer. But anti-vaccine activists, including U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., have helped dampen its usage.
An urgent argument for the HPV vaccine
Data shows it can prevent six types of cancer. But anti-vaccine activists, including U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., have helped dampen its usage.
www.npr.org
March 14, 2025 at 6:00 AM
One of the safest and most effective vaccines ever developed, and also one struggling against tsunami of disinformation.
Reposted by The Vaccinologist's Desk (Dr Helen Petousis-Harris)
💉 As many warned (me too), RFK Jr’s words at his confirmation hearings were just to get him where he wanted to be. He was never not going to be anti-vax.
Note these are terminations – cutting work currently underway short.
(The article is pay-walled; more below.)
🧵⬇️ 1/n
Note these are terminations – cutting work currently underway short.
(The article is pay-walled; more below.)
🧵⬇️ 1/n
In case RFK Jr convinced you that he is not anti-vax, but merely "skeptical" & concerned about vaccine safety...look here
NIH is terminating awards to obtain reliable data on vaccine hesitancy & ways to improve uptake. This is an explicitly anti-vax policy.
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...
NIH is terminating awards to obtain reliable data on vaccine hesitancy & ways to improve uptake. This is an explicitly anti-vax policy.
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...
NIH to terminate or limit grants related to vaccine hesitancy and uptake
The order covers more than 40 awards to researchers around the country seeking to understand why vaccine acceptance has declined.
www.washingtonpost.com
March 11, 2025 at 1:14 AM
💉 As many warned (me too), RFK Jr’s words at his confirmation hearings were just to get him where he wanted to be. He was never not going to be anti-vax.
Note these are terminations – cutting work currently underway short.
(The article is pay-walled; more below.)
🧵⬇️ 1/n
Note these are terminations – cutting work currently underway short.
(The article is pay-walled; more below.)
🧵⬇️ 1/n
1/3 My latest offering - a summary of the last 50-years of MMR safety data: The MMR vaccine has been tested. Repeatedly. For decades (in case there was actually any doubt!). Yet, zombie myths just won’t die. 🧟♂️ 1/3
March 13, 2025 at 3:19 AM
1/3 My latest offering - a summary of the last 50-years of MMR safety data: The MMR vaccine has been tested. Repeatedly. For decades (in case there was actually any doubt!). Yet, zombie myths just won’t die. 🧟♂️ 1/3
Reposted by The Vaccinologist's Desk (Dr Helen Petousis-Harris)
March 11, 2025 at 1:32 AM
Not surprising but awful none the less 😬😢
NIH is abruptly terminating at least 33 research grants for projects studying why some people are hesitant to receive vaccines or evaluating strategies that could encourage vaccine uptake. scim.ag/4how23i
NIH to ax grants on vaccine hesitancy, mRNA vaccines
Move reflects vaccine skepticism of health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
scim.ag
March 11, 2025 at 1:00 AM
Not surprising but awful none the less 😬😢
🚀 Cool New Study: Impact of Vaccination Site on Immune Response—In 🐁 Vaccines kickstart immune responses in nearby lymph nodes,. A new study in The Jnl of Immunology tested COVID-19 vaccine doses in mice, comparing same-arm (ipsilateral) vs. different-arm (contralateral) vaccination. 1/4
March 11, 2025 at 12:40 AM
🚀 Cool New Study: Impact of Vaccination Site on Immune Response—In 🐁 Vaccines kickstart immune responses in nearby lymph nodes,. A new study in The Jnl of Immunology tested COVID-19 vaccine doses in mice, comparing same-arm (ipsilateral) vs. different-arm (contralateral) vaccination. 1/4
While we are enroute to 1933 there will be a visit to 1998 😬🙄
GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY?
Dozens of studies involving hundreds of thousands of people have already confirmed that there is no causative link between vaccines and autism.
abcnews.go.com/Health/cdc-s...
Dozens of studies involving hundreds of thousands of people have already confirmed that there is no causative link between vaccines and autism.
abcnews.go.com/Health/cdc-s...
CDC to study vaccines and autism, despite several studies already finding no link
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will study whether vaccines cause autism, despite numerous existing studies already showing there is no link.
abcnews.go.com
March 9, 2025 at 7:42 AM
While we are enroute to 1933 there will be a visit to 1998 😬🙄