Dan Epstein

Communication consultant on global health issues, immunization, disease prevention & control. Ex-PAHO & WHO comms officer.

[Dan Epstein @epstein_dan]

Good points on #Ebola 👇

[Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 @HelenBranswell]

In #Ebola outbreaks, communities can distrust treatment centers, because loved ones go in & often don't come out alive. Hopefully word of survivals will encourage people to seek care rather than staying home. Improves their survival chances & lowers risk to family members.

[Dan Epstein @epstein_dan]

Joint statement by the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and WHO concerning the outbreak of Ebola disease caused by the Bundibugyo virus https://t.co/CvogxTXoZP

[Dan Epstein @epstein_dan]

@BogochIsaac Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest cancers, even for patients whose tumors can be removed. Treatments such as chemotherapy, radiation, targeted therapy, and current immunotherapies have been largely ineffective against the disease, so new approaches are urgently needed.

[Dan Epstein @epstein_dan]

@CIDRAP “These findings highlight the clinical and economic benefits of seasonal COVID-19 vaccination"; “The results underscore the importance of improving uptake and support continued implementation of national vaccination recommendations.”

[Dan Epstein @epstein_dan]

Measles vaccination averted nearly 59 million deaths between 2000 and 2024.
Even though a safe and cost-effective vaccine is available, in 2024, there were an estimated 95 000 #Measles deaths globally, mostly among unvaccinated or under vaccinated children under the age of 5.

[World Health Organization (WHO) @WHO]

Measles can be fatal.

Do you know its symptoms?
🔴 Rash that starts on the face and spreads over the body
🔴 Fever
🔴 Cough
🔴 Red and watery eyes
🔴 Small white spots inside the cheeks

Seek health care if you suspect you or your child has measles.

https://t.co/XG6xSanERK

[Dan Epstein @epstein_dan]

"In August, HHS announced the “wind-down” of $500 million in mRNA projects supported by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), the government’s biodefense agency. Last May, the agency pulled funds for Moderna to develop a vaccine against bird flu."👇

[LenaSun @bylenasun]

FDA won’t review Moderna application for 1st mRNA-based flu vaccine. Part of stricter approach for vaccine approvals that former FDA leaders who have said risks undermining US ability to fight diseases. ⁦@rachel_roubein⁩ ⁦@Carolynyjohnson⁩ https://t.co/B615E7gWXb

[Dan Epstein @epstein_dan]

“Dozens of routinely updated CDC databases have gone quiet. Here’s what states and medical societies are doing to preserve U.S. public health”: A “shadow CDC” is scrambling to fill gaps in public-health data - Scientific American https://t.co/zuLEZmZW9U

[Dan Epstein @epstein_dan]

“One of the biggest challenges is that NTDs mostly affect people living in remote, rural, or underserved areas, where health services and trained personnel are limited. Simply reaching these communities can be logistically complex and expensive.”👇

[PAHO/WHO @pahowho]

On World Neglected Tropical Diseases, learn with PAHO expert Ana Lucianez Perez how data, early diagnosis, and equity are helping countries across the Americas move closer to eliminating diseases like trachoma and leprosy.

🔗: https://t.co/RUDir5t25Z

#WorldNTDDay

[Dan Epstein @epstein_dan]

The U.N. chief has told member states that the organisation is at risk of "imminent financial collapse", citing unpaid fees and a budget rule that forces the global body to return unspent money : Guterres warns of UN's 'imminent financial collapse' - https://t.co/1Ushl9qXGY

[Dan Epstein @epstein_dan]

PAHO study: drug use disorders are primarily underpinned by opioid use and disproportionately affect young men.

Opioid use disorders accounted for more than 75% of all drug use disorder–related deaths. https://t.co/Y1Hzfr4XPu

[Dan Epstein @epstein_dan]

Of the 111 #measles cases recorded in that area, 105 involved people who were unvaccinated while three were partially vaccinated, state epidemiologist Linda Bell said. One dose of the vaccine is 93% effective against measles. 2 doses are 97% effective 👇 https://t.co/yQwdI0b0Ia

[Dan Epstein @epstein_dan]

@HelenBranswell @KrutikaKuppalli Good op-ed: “If this continues, outbreaks will worsen, preventable deaths will rise, and clinicians will continue to burn out under the weight of trying to protect patients who have been taught to distrust them”

[Dan Epstein @epstein_dan]

@TheWHN @yaneerbaryam “Flu and colds don’t breach your blood-brain barrier. SARS-CoV-2 does.
Flu and colds don’t shred your endothelial lining and increase your risk of blood clots. SARS-CoV-2 does.
Flu and colds don’t persist in your tissues. SARS-CoV-2 can.”

[Dan Epstein @epstein_dan]

@CIDRAP #Measles: Eighty-eight percent of cases in the United States this year are outbreak-associated, and there have been 47 outbreaks recorded. Last year, 16 outbreaks were reported during 2024 and 69% of cases (198 of 285) were outbreak-associated.

[WHO Polio @WHO_Polio]

We’re so close to a polio-free world – let’s finish the race together. 🏁 #TheLastSquare #EndPolio
Thank you @F1MikaHakkinen for your support!
https://t.co/Nu1l5j5sZt

[Dan Epstein @epstein_dan]

@YMerbl Interesting; The team had uncovered what seemed to be a new immune defence mechanism.
“This was literally where you have the goosebumps, because you realize that you may have found something fundamental,” Merbl says

[Dan Epstein @epstein_dan]

@GlobalVirusNews @UWImona @univmiami Good news for #dengue surveillance in Jamaica; “These awards support innovative, investigator-led projects designed to enhance viral surveillance, early detection, and scientific preparedness, particularly in regions vulnerable to emerging and re-emerging viral threats.”

[Dan Epstein @epstein_dan]

@GillesCollette Nice! Congratulations, Gilles.

[Dan Epstein @epstein_dan]

CDC panel recommends delaying birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine, overturning 30-year-old policy - STAT https://t.co/xlB3WVfZDm