Joshua Salomon
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jsalomon.bsky.social
Joshua Salomon
@jsalomon.bsky.social
4.4K followers 970 following 94 posts
Professor at Stanford. Probabilistic optimist.
#healthpolicy | #publichealth | infectious disease | decision science | simulation modeling | economic evaluation

Director http://ppml.stanford.edu
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jsalomon.bsky.social
No creature more optimistic than Mochi thinking that maybe — just maybe — tonight will finally be the night she gets that fourth serving of dinner

#dogsofbluesky
A very optimistic labradoodle wondering if more food is coming any minute now.
April 26, 2025 at 1:43 AM
jsalomon.bsky.social
Across states, 20.5–38.5% of enrollees in private insurance use free preventive services jeopardized by Kennedy v Braidwood. Thirteen states have >1 million enrollees who use free services, including >3 million in Texas where the case originated.

ja.ma/3GcUZC6
Tile map of US states captioned “How many privately insured individuals use free preventive services jeopardized by Kennedy v Braidwood?” Data are shown for each state including the proportion of enrollees receiving at least one free service, which ranges from around 20% to more than 30%, as well as counts of enrollees using services, which are higher than 1 million for several states including Texas, Florida, California, North Carolina, Georgia and others. The source for the estimates is Bronsard et al. JAMA Health Forum 2025; 6(4): e251559.
April 17, 2025 at 4:23 PM
jsalomon.bsky.social
“I am a TB survivor myself: I cannot leave people just dying." Agnes Okose and other community health workers in Kenya continue to work without pay to sustain TB care after US cuts.

www.nytimes.com/2025/03/11/h...

Photo credit: Brian Otieno for @nytimes.com
TB Champion Agnes Okose speaks with Noeline Nahone Wanjala at her house in Busia County. Credit...Brian Otieno for The New York Times
March 11, 2025 at 5:37 PM
jsalomon.bsky.social
Pardon me, but the sign clearly says no parking
A hawk perches atop a “no parking” sign, wishing I would stop taking pictures
March 9, 2025 at 7:07 PM
jsalomon.bsky.social
New banner has appeared at the top of cdc.gov home page.
Banner reading “CDC's website is being modified to comply with President Trump's Executive Orders.”
February 2, 2025 at 12:38 AM
jsalomon.bsky.social
Good day to recall some milestones in US polio history

1953 Worst recorded US outbreak kills more than 3000
1955 First polio vaccine licensed
1979 Polio considered eliminated from the United States
1994 Polio considered eliminated in North and South America

ourworldindata.org/grapher/repo...
Line graph titled "Reported paralytic polio cases and deaths, United States, 1910 to 2019." The graph displays two lines: one representing the number of reported polio cases and the other indicating reported deaths over the years. The case count peaks in the 1950s, with deaths showing a similar trend. The x-axis represents the years (1910 to 2019), while the y-axis shows the number of cases and deaths.
December 13, 2024 at 7:15 PM
jsalomon.bsky.social
New studies this week report …

US loses more life years to poor health than any other country in the world
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Older Americans more likely to skip needed healthcare due to cost vs. those in peer countries
www.commonwealthfund.org/publications...

We can do better, no?
Scatter plot of gap between lifespan and health span by country, overall and split out by sex. The US has the highest gaps. Bar graph showing percentage of older adults who do not visit a doctor for a medical problem because of cost than The US has higher proportions than other comparator countries.
December 12, 2024 at 4:50 PM
jsalomon.bsky.social
Latest Axios/Ipsos poll shows most Americans trust health information from their doctors (89%), CDC (66%), NIH (62%), and FDA (60%).

Few trust Trump (32%) or RFK Jr. (30%).

Results differ sharply by party affiliation.

www.ipsos.com/en-us/axios-...
Poll results from Axios / Ipsos showing results on trust in health information from different sources. Overall 89% trust their personal doctor, 66% trust CDC, 33% trust Trump, and 30% trust RFK Jr.
December 11, 2024 at 3:24 PM
jsalomon.bsky.social
Mochi continues to enjoy 100% favorability ratings among the 20 and under demographic in our household.

Made a couple posters for the constituents.
Two poster images, both of a slightly befuddled labradoodle. The left poster is in the style of the iconic Obama “Hope” poster and shows a dog looking wistfully into the middle distance with large block letters reading “Mochi.” The right poster shows a photo of the same dog, looking more confused than hopeful in this case, with “Mochi” inscribed in a jaunty retro script above.
December 9, 2024 at 4:06 AM
jsalomon.bsky.social
Happy Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving table set with turkey, gravy, brussel sprouts and other tasty dinner items
November 29, 2024 at 12:06 AM
jsalomon.bsky.social
Turkey is resting. I’m still busy.
Roasted turkey breast on a carving board.
November 28, 2024 at 11:05 PM
jsalomon.bsky.social
I get an unreasonable amount of happiness from turning a pile of vegetables and herbs into a pile of smaller vegetables and herbs
Bowls filled with chopped vegetables and herbs. Mise en place is the best.
November 28, 2024 at 8:34 PM
jsalomon.bsky.social
Here we go
A kitchen, tidy for the moment. Vegetables ready to be chopped, brioche getting stale for the stuffing, and a general feeling of calm before the storm. Happy Thanksgiving!
November 28, 2024 at 4:31 PM
jsalomon.bsky.social
Looking forward to trying out this recipe for my green island in the sea of brown. Haven’t made it before but … can’t miss with hot honey?

cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1026...
A plate of hot honey kale with some orange sauce
November 27, 2024 at 9:49 PM
jsalomon.bsky.social
I have a weakness for information-dense tile maps like this one showing trends in diabetes prevalence by country. They’re popular for US states but I don’t see them as often for countries.

Anyone else like these? (Or hate them?)

Source:
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Tile map of age standardized diabetes prevalence by country from 1990 to 2020. the figure shows an array of small country specific line graphs, and this panel is for women ages 18 or older.
November 26, 2024 at 9:54 PM
jsalomon.bsky.social
Today is Public Health Thank You Day #PHTYD

Grateful to all the #publichealth professionals who work tirelessly to promote and protect the health of our communities.

@researchamerica.bsky.social #PublicHealthIsALifesaver #PublicHealthHeroes
Banner that reads "Public Health Thank You Day, November 25, 2024. Public Health is a Lifesaver." #PHTYD
November 25, 2024 at 5:26 PM
jsalomon.bsky.social
Grateful for calm
Horses in foreground, rolling hills and East Bay in background. Sky is blue with some wispy clouds
November 24, 2024 at 5:30 PM
jsalomon.bsky.social
1. Decision makers unclear on how they weigh avoiding false + (crying wolf) v. false - (“this is fine”)

2. Surveillance metrics should be (but aren’t) treated like diagnostic tests, clear on what “condition” they’re detecting, test characteristics (sens/spec), and what actions follow +/- signals
An image depicting the concepts of "False Negative" and "False Positive." A wooden mannequin is centered, holding two scales. On the left scale labeled "False Negative," there is the famous meme of the dog sitting calmly in front of a burning building with the caption "THIS IS FINE." On the right scale labeled "False Positive," a boy stands beside sheep and yells “WOLF.”
November 21, 2024 at 10:24 PM
jsalomon.bsky.social
I think this observation from Josh Sharfstein gets to the heart of the dilemma.

www.nytimes.com/2024/11/21/o...
Dr. Sharfstein, who teaches a course on the intricacies of public health crisis response, agrees that drumming urgency without offering real solutions is fairly pointless.But the overuse of “crisis” is only half the problem, he says. For every official who cries crisis too much, there are several who do their best to avoid using the term even when it’s clearly warranted. “There’s a lot of risk to owning a crisis, including that you will be blamed if it isn’t resolved,” he says.
November 21, 2024 at 2:23 PM
jsalomon.bsky.social
Don’t tell Mochi that’s not a real unicorn behind her
A dog, looking slightly confused, sits in front of another dog wearing a unicorn disguise. Seriously.
November 21, 2024 at 4:45 AM
jsalomon.bsky.social
Decline in HCV-related liver cancer mortality after introduction of direct acting antivirals has been pretty remarkable.

New study by Qui et al. in JAMA Network Open on HCC mortality trends.

@jamacurrent.bsky.social @eliowa.bsky.social
#medsky #idsky

jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
A series of four bar graphs and line charts depicting Age-Standardized Mortality Rates (ASMR) per 10,000 persons from 2006 to 2022, with a legend indicating different etiologies (HCV, ALD, HBV, MASLD). The top left graph shows fluctuating ASMR values with bars representing different years. The top right graph indicates a gradual increase over time. The bottom left graph maintains low, stable ASMR rates, while the bottom right exhibits minimal fluctuations. The x-axis represents the years, and the y-axis represents ASMR values. The legend at the top right details the proportions of deaths by etiology color-coded for clarity.
November 20, 2024 at 8:50 PM
jsalomon.bsky.social
HPV vaccination in Canada and US

Canada:
Publicly funded school based vaccination
Coverage ~86%
Making moves to improve uptake
www.canada.ca/en/public-he...

US:
Delivery mostly via adolescent well visits
Coverage ~50%
Making moves to undermine uptake
www.statnews.com/2024/11/08/t...

🛟 #IDSky
A line graph comparing the share of adolescent girls vaccinated against the human papillomavirus (HPV) from 2010 to 2022 in four countries: the United Kingdom, Spain, Canada, and the United States. Each country's vaccination rate is plotted over the years, with the data showing various trends, including slight fluctuations in the UK and Canada, while Spain shows a gradual increase and the US displays a steady upward trend. The US has much lower overall vaccination uptake than the other three countries. Graph source is OurWorldInData, and data source is WHO and UNICEF.
November 19, 2024 at 10:26 PM
jsalomon.bsky.social
My daughter and I prepped the kitchen herb garden this morning for our next crop. Thinking about dill, chives, cilantro, and Thai basil based on what I like to cook with, but open to suggestions…
November 18, 2024 at 3:46 PM
jsalomon.bsky.social
Hang in there, Mochi. It’s Friday.
#dogsofbluesky
November 16, 2024 at 5:23 AM
jsalomon.bsky.social
New Lancet study estimates three out of four US adults (ages 25 or older) have overweight or obesity. If current trends continue, the study forecasts 250 million Americans with overweight or obesity in 2050.

#publichealth 🛟

www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Estimated age-standardized prevalence of overweight and obesity in US state in 2021, by sex and age group
November 15, 2024 at 3:08 PM