Ursula Hofer

This month's editorial: Should science be political? In my mind, there's only one response to this question... And the more pressing question is, how can politics be more scientific? www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

The Ebola outbreak in the DRC has now crossed 10,000 cases and is getting close to 5,000 deaths. It is a staggeringly large outbreak and it continues to grow rapidly, with 96 new cases in the last 24 hours alone. #IDsky 🧪 insp.cd/sitrep-n164-...

Seriously?! This is asking for it. Big brouhaha about lab research and stuff like this that is very risky just being swept under the carpet.

Great overview of the changing RSV prevention landscape 👇

Absolutely love this month's cover 💖

Oh no, the worst of times for cat owners.

New Research Oropouche virus infection in pregnant women in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: a prospective cohort study www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

“On ChatGPT, rating a response with a thumbs up or down can make the entire associated conversation eligible for training even if you’ve opted out” Most importantly: “If it’s really sensitive, consider not using AI” www.science.org/content/arti...

UK Covid inquiry released the part about care homes today. Devastating of course. But there is no accountability for the people responsible, several different UK governments since. Current one for sure not perfect, but they're not the ones who made the terrible decisions.

Same for medical literature. I'm increasingly seeing meta-analyses that use AI tools for data extraction. I understand why people do that but it makes me worried. Although humans not perfect either, and quality of underlying literature often a problem. Garbage in, garbage out, remixed by AI.

Exceptional comedy on BBC news; reporter showing bus passengers videos (full volume) on his phone of people watching stuff on public transport without headphones to get the passengers' reaction.

👀

Alas, we have another 3 days of strike, this Monday to Wednesday 📢🪧. [Already dreading my inbox Thursday...] Open letter to Elsevier arguing for fair pay👇

North Kivu, #DRC, is facing a surge in #Ebola cases while response capacity is limited. New hotspots are emerging every week. Latest update: https://www.doctorswithoutborders.ca/democratic-republic-of-congo-north-kivus-ebola-outbreak-spreads-like-a-megafire/

Our members at The Lancet, one of the world’s leading medical journals, will go on strike again from Monday to Wednesday to demand fair pay for their work. Messages of support can be sent to: campaigns@nuj.org.uk #SolidarityForScience

"Open science has been building standards and norms...AI has ignored this...just sucked everything in..we need to reclaim ownership" Some of us have said for years we need more nuance to openness given the potential for extractive commercial re-use 1/n scedmunds.substack.com/p/sage-advic...

Damn, what a loss.

If you previously published a handful of papers only and now suddenly publish ~100 papers a year, editors will be suspicious 🤨

Very interesting although disappointing trial

US Executive Order on child vaccines deemed unscientific - The Lancet Microbe www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Massive outbreaks and death aren't the only fallout from anti-vaxxers' rhetoric. Now they're going after the doctors who treat measles patients, reporting them to the state medical board. Thrilled to team up with @walkerbragman.bsky.social on this one! www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Can't decide whether I should laugh or cry about this...

It has happened! Someone offered me money to publish their stuff 😱

Cold season activated 🍩🐑

📣 We’re looking for the next director of the AMR Action Subcommittee! Member positions are also open for applications. Help shape ESCMID’s activities addressing #AMR and take an active role in this critical area. 👉 Learn more & apply: https://www.escmid.org/about-us/jobs-talents/

Happily sitting in my little corner, ignoring everything related to the plague.

Study: No evidence RSV is mutating in response to infant immunizations Drugs to prevent RSV in infants remain effective and do not appear to spur the growth of resistant viral variants. Read more: https://bit.ly/4ytySxx

The #Ebola outbreak in DRC isn't getting much attention these days. It should be. www.statnews.com/2026/10/02/e...

I'm increasingly receiving AI-generated complaints about papers we've published, some many years ago. Such a drain of my time. I'm indeed checking each and every one diligently. Although I'm tempted to just use AI to tell the complainant why they're wrong... 😭

arXiv rate limiting submissions in face of AI deluge blog.arxiv.org/2026/10/01/u...

Job alert: STAT is hiring a National Pharma Correspondent www.statnews.com/careers/nati...

From isolation to burial: dignity in the Bundibugyo virus disease response - The Lancet www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Shorter is also better in ICU patients Timsit, Roberts, @angelahuttner.bsky.social, Daneman &c State-of-the-Art in AJRCCM @atsblueeditor.bsky.social For most ICU patients with (suspected) infections, abx can be 🛑 at 5-7d w clinical improvement academic.oup.com/ajrccm/advan... #IDSky #CritCareSky

📣 More evidence that less is probably more: During a global shortage of #bloodculture bottles, Japanese hospitals reduced the number of sets drawn per patient. Contamination rates went down, while detection rates of real pathogens did not. #IDSky #clinmicro www.cmi-comms.org/article/S295...

New research article Epidemiology and phylogenomic characterisation of the 2025 #Ebola virus disease outbreak in Bulape, Kasaï province, Democratic Republic of the Congo: a retrospective observational study www.thelancet.com/journals/lan... #IDSky #ClinMicro #MicroSky #ViroSky #OpenAccess #OA

“The continuously high CFR, and especially the continuous high rate of deaths occurring in communities, highlights the seriousness of the disease and the persistent challenges in timely case detection and access to early and adequate patient care,” www.cidrap.umn.edu/ebola/dr-con...

🧪 #HIVemergency #Fiji #InjectionDrugUse „UNAids is also concerned about the spread of the virus to the Pacific, with rising cases seen in Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea.“ www.theguardian.com/world/2026/s...

We’ve written about predatory publishers, fake papers, fake peer review and imposter researchers…. Now suspect ‘learned societies’ 🧪 #academicSky Exclusive: Sham scientific societies are misleading star researchers www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Mink farming is a massive pandemic risk. It's insane that they are allowed to exist. Now we have an active H5N1 outbreak on a mink farm, & "state officials have no clear plan to rein it in." Imagine if uncontrolled H5N1 transmission in mink were allowed in a research lab...

Is it too early to put Halloween lights up?

Four days ago, a scientist was surprised by the news that Anthropic discovered new virus genes for making DNA. He says he’s been studying them for years—and feeding his data to Anthropic’s AI as part of his own research. Coincidence? Here’s my story. nyti.ms/3VSWayc

Gift link, and some reactions herein. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/25/o...

Apparently my Outlook hasn't been connected to the server for the last couple hours. It was so peaceful, should have realised it can't be real... 😭

New issue has dropped 👇