Delthia Ricks
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dricks.bsky.social
Delthia Ricks
@dricks.bsky.social
Science writer, author, essayist & avid gardener.
Pinned
The stark contrast between Rwanda’s handling of a deadly Marburg virus outbreak this year & the rest of the world’s chaotic response to #Covid provides textbook lessons in how to properly respond to a threat and how to make a threat worse www.telegraph.co.uk/global-healt...
The contrast between Rwanda’s handling of Marburg and the chaotic response to Covid-19 is stark
The country’s response prevented a crisis – and provided the world with a valuable blueprint for effective outbreak control
www.telegraph.co.uk
Reposted by Delthia Ricks
Vaccine maker Sanofi, a multinational company based in Paris, said it will no longer develop an mRNA vaccine for the flu. Word of the cancellation comes as flu cases continue to soar & pediatric flu deaths so far have reached 52. The vast majority of those children hadn't been vaccinated👇
Unvaccinated kids hit hard with flu as pediatric deaths rise to 52
The vast majority of children who have died of flu so far this season did not get the flu shot, the CDC reported Friday.
www.nbcnews.com
February 2, 2026 at 9:08 PM
Extortion👇
“U.S. President Donald Trump demanded Harvard pay $1 billion in a settlement in a Truth Social post Monday night, pushing back against reports that the White House would no longer demand a cash payment from the University.”
Trump Calls for $1 Billion Settlement From Harvard | News | The Harvard Crimson
U.S. President Donald Trump demanded Harvard pay $1 billion in a settlement in a Truth Social post Monday night, pushing back against reports that the White House would no longer demand a cash payment...
www.thecrimson.com
February 3, 2026 at 12:42 PM
Reposted by Delthia Ricks
Even if you don't have time to read all 83 pages of Judge Reyes's opinion barring the Trump administration from rescinding Temporary Protected Status for 350,000+ Haitians, please at least check out the four-page introduction.

It's a tour de force:

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
February 3, 2026 at 1:06 AM
Reposted by Delthia Ricks
Anyone with a heart and soul should agree that children and babies do not belong behind bars. Thousands of kids will carry a lifetime of trauma and PTSD, done in our name, funded by our tax dollars.
February 3, 2026 at 4:47 AM
Reposted by Delthia Ricks
as someone who worked in rural health policy, this is not a real thing. this is actually called giving up on rural america after your party broke everything and can’t put it back together. perfect time to exploit people with scams
Dr Oz on rural healthcare: "There's no question about it, whether you want it or not -- the best way to help some of these communities is gonna be AI-based avatars"
February 3, 2026 at 5:22 AM
Vaccine maker Sanofi, a multinational company based in Paris, said it will no longer develop an mRNA vaccine for the flu. Word of the cancellation comes as flu cases continue to soar & pediatric flu deaths so far have reached 52. The vast majority of those children hadn't been vaccinated👇
Unvaccinated kids hit hard with flu as pediatric deaths rise to 52
The vast majority of children who have died of flu so far this season did not get the flu shot, the CDC reported Friday.
www.nbcnews.com
February 2, 2026 at 9:08 PM
Reposted by Delthia Ricks
In the lab: An intranasal #birdflu vax currently being studied in animal models apparently guards against highly pathogenic strains. Known as H5N1 avian flu, the virus jumped from wild birds to farm animals in the US, then to people. It has caused >70 human cases since 2024, including 2 fatalities👇
Intranasal Bird Flu Vaccine Protects Against Highly Pathogenic Strains in Rodents
Prior seasonal influenza virus immunity did not impair antibody responses or protection conferred by the intranasal H5N1 vaccine.
www.genengnews.com
February 2, 2026 at 2:29 PM
Reposted by Delthia Ricks
February is #NationalGrapefruitMonth – did you know that grapefruit and grapefruit juice can affect some medications? This graphic explains why: www.compoundchem.com/2014/03/07/w...

#ChemSky 🧪
February 2, 2026 at 4:02 PM
Reposted by Delthia Ricks
How are energy #metabolism pathways distributed across the #cortex? @alaindagher.bsky.social &co map five pathways in the human #brain, linking metabolic organization with brain structural & functional properties, as well as developmental dynamics @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4c1JVp8
February 2, 2026 at 5:25 PM
Reposted by Delthia Ricks
Impressive advance in Huntington's Disease Research via supplementation with a glycolytic regulator biomolecule: F2,6BP restores mitochondrial genome integrity in Huntington’s Disease 🧪
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
F2,6BP restores mitochondrial genome integrity in Huntington’s Disease
Several reports have indicated that impaired mitochondrial function contributes to the development and progression of Huntington’s disease (HD). Mitoc…
www.sciencedirect.com
February 2, 2026 at 7:20 PM
Reposted by Delthia Ricks
The time of day for cancer immunotherapy is associated with major outcomes. Early is better. Results from a randomized trial of lung cancer, backs up the importance of our circadian rhythm and immune system
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
February 2, 2026 at 4:10 PM
Reposted by Delthia Ricks
"The solution is simple: allow Palestinians their freedom and their rights. ... [T]hat solution is beyond the imagination of [US and Israeli leadership]."
February 2, 2026 at 12:28 AM
Reposted by Delthia Ricks
“This isn’t just a policy change. It’s a betrayal of more than a century of hard-won victories by public health heroes who fought, often at great personal and professional sacrifice, to establish a principle that should be beyond debate: American lives have value.”
The EPA just erased a century of public health progress
Former Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Dean Michelle A. Williams on the EPA’s incorrect and morally wrong decision.
www.statnews.com
February 2, 2026 at 12:14 PM
Reposted by Delthia Ricks
February 1, 2026 at 8:17 PM
In the lab: An intranasal #birdflu vax currently being studied in animal models apparently guards against highly pathogenic strains. Known as H5N1 avian flu, the virus jumped from wild birds to farm animals in the US, then to people. It has caused >70 human cases since 2024, including 2 fatalities👇
Intranasal Bird Flu Vaccine Protects Against Highly Pathogenic Strains in Rodents
Prior seasonal influenza virus immunity did not impair antibody responses or protection conferred by the intranasal H5N1 vaccine.
www.genengnews.com
February 2, 2026 at 2:29 PM
Reposted by Delthia Ricks
Evidence has been rising in recent yrs suggesting the gut microbiome influences how well cancer treatments work. An underlying mechanism remained elusive. Now, scientists have revealed how gut microbes help the amino acid asparagine increase tumor growth or activate immune cells against it👇
Gut Microbes Shape Cancer Growth and Immunity Through Asparagine Metabolism
Gut bacteria control how dietary asparagine is used, determining whether it fuels tumor growth or enhances CD8⁺ T-cell–mediated immunity.
www.genengnews.com
February 1, 2026 at 2:09 PM
Reposted by Delthia Ricks
Black History Month: Ernest Everett Just, 20th century biologist, earned a zoology PhD from U. of Chicago (1916) & was a pioneering biologist at Howard Univ; the Marine Biological Lab at Woods Hole & Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Biology, Berlin. He's renowned for fertilization & cell surface studies
February 1, 2026 at 4:01 PM
A measles outbreak at a Texas concentration camp👇
ICE now confirming that there is a measles outbreak at the Texas concentration camp where young Liam was held.
February 2, 2026 at 2:34 AM
Reposted by Delthia Ricks
Italians protest ICE's presence at the upcoming 2026 Winter Olympics, CNN's Antonia Mortensen reports from Milan, where around 8,000 people showed up to protest.
February 1, 2026 at 2:49 AM
Reposted by Delthia Ricks
Spot on 🎯
February 1, 2026 at 2:58 PM
Reposted by Delthia Ricks
America is a police state.
February 1, 2026 at 10:08 PM
Reposted by Delthia Ricks
The Trump administration intends to appeal a judge’s order that released a 5-year-old child from ICE detention. This appeal could potentially lead to the child’s return to ICE custody.
February 1, 2026 at 11:52 PM
Reposted by Delthia Ricks
When a president talks about skipping elections and floating an unconstitutional 3rd term, it’s not hard to see what this is and what it isn’t.

Seizing election material in a state that already counted the 2020 results three separate times isn’t about election integrity.

It’s about preparation.
February 1, 2026 at 8:34 PM
Reposted by Delthia Ricks
Can you imagine if I sold supplements on my podcast? DO YOU HAVE LOW E? BOOST YOUR ESTROGEN WITH MY CLINICALLY ADJACENT YAM CREAM!
"Among the hires at CBS News announced by Weiss is a doctor who claims he reduced his biological age by 20 years with cold plunges; that cod liver oil treats autism; and that Alzheimer’s and dementia can be reversed with supplements he sells on his online store."

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Bari Weiss’s new CBS hires include ‘germ theory denialist’ doctor
Dr Mark Hyman, who claimed he reduced his biological age by 20 years, brought on as a contributor
www.theguardian.com
February 1, 2026 at 8:42 PM