Ursula Hofer
@hoferu.bsky.social
Desk-chair virologist, EiC of The Lancet Infectious Diseases, previously at different Nature journals, MD PhD. She/her/expert. Opinions my own.
Pinned
Ursula Hofer
@hoferu.bsky.social
· Feb 28
Should science be political?
At this point in time, with US President Trump's administration attacking institutions
such as the US CDC, NIH, USAID, WHO, and their people and functions, whether science
should be political seems li...
www.thelancet.com
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...
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...
Reposted by Ursula Hofer
Lifeline is coming to London from 28 March – 2 May 2026! Lifeline stars real-life scientists, healthcare workers, and other heroes working to address the #AMR crisis. If you love performing, apply to be in the show! #IDSky
🔗 Apply to be part of Lifeline: bit.ly/4pnViv7
🔗 Apply to be part of Lifeline: bit.ly/4pnViv7
November 24, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Lifeline is coming to London from 28 March – 2 May 2026! Lifeline stars real-life scientists, healthcare workers, and other heroes working to address the #AMR crisis. If you love performing, apply to be in the show! #IDSky
🔗 Apply to be part of Lifeline: bit.ly/4pnViv7
🔗 Apply to be part of Lifeline: bit.ly/4pnViv7
Reposted by Ursula Hofer
Misinformation is one of the world's biggest threats to public health. And governments are not doing enough to protect us.
Social media companies should be held accountable for spreading harmful misinformation in that same way we hold manufacturers responsible for spreading harmful chemicals.
Social media companies should be held accountable for spreading harmful misinformation in that same way we hold manufacturers responsible for spreading harmful chemicals.
November 24, 2025 at 10:28 AM
Misinformation is one of the world's biggest threats to public health. And governments are not doing enough to protect us.
Social media companies should be held accountable for spreading harmful misinformation in that same way we hold manufacturers responsible for spreading harmful chemicals.
Social media companies should be held accountable for spreading harmful misinformation in that same way we hold manufacturers responsible for spreading harmful chemicals.
Reposted by Ursula Hofer
New comment:
The genomic surveillance gap: averting the antimicrobial resistance pandemic requires global equity and action
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
The genomic surveillance gap: averting the antimicrobial resistance pandemic requires global equity and action
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
The genomic surveillance gap: averting the antimicrobial resistance pandemic requires global equity and action
The COVID-19 pandemic provided a stark, real-time demonstration of genomic surveillance's
power. By sequencing SARS-CoV-2, the global health community tracked viral evolution,
identified variants of c...
www.thelancet.com
November 24, 2025 at 8:37 AM
New comment:
The genomic surveillance gap: averting the antimicrobial resistance pandemic requires global equity and action
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
The genomic surveillance gap: averting the antimicrobial resistance pandemic requires global equity and action
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
We spend a lot of care and effort on our covers; many editors love working on covers. They have such a symbolic power and are a window into your publication. So, I would like to know who has signed off this cover?
Over many interviews, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told Michael Scherer about how he plans to remake America’s public-health system. Can he lead the scientific establishment he’s spent much of his life crusading against?
Read more in our new cover story: theatln.tc/q9hXxlbM
Read more in our new cover story: theatln.tc/q9hXxlbM
November 24, 2025 at 5:56 PM
We spend a lot of care and effort on our covers; many editors love working on covers. They have such a symbolic power and are a window into your publication. So, I would like to know who has signed off this cover?
🧐
Is this AI bias in action?
Is this AI bias in action?
Why, Adobe, would you depict #Female and #Male hearts this way?
#Its2025 #MedSky #AcademicSky #ScienceSky
#Its2025 #MedSky #AcademicSky #ScienceSky
November 24, 2025 at 11:00 AM
🧐
Is this AI bias in action?
Is this AI bias in action?
Reposted by Ursula Hofer
Read our December issue!
Featuring testing obeldesivir for COVID-19 therapy, measles transmission patterns in Italy, and single dose of HPV vaccine in Costa Rica.
www.thelancet.com/issue/S1473-...
Featuring testing obeldesivir for COVID-19 therapy, measles transmission patterns in Italy, and single dose of HPV vaccine in Costa Rica.
www.thelancet.com/issue/S1473-...
November 20, 2025 at 5:51 AM
Read our December issue!
Featuring testing obeldesivir for COVID-19 therapy, measles transmission patterns in Italy, and single dose of HPV vaccine in Costa Rica.
www.thelancet.com/issue/S1473-...
Featuring testing obeldesivir for COVID-19 therapy, measles transmission patterns in Italy, and single dose of HPV vaccine in Costa Rica.
www.thelancet.com/issue/S1473-...
Reposted by Ursula Hofer
holy crap... @nickhunebrown.bsky.social with some great, important work
Investigating a Possible Scammer in Journalism’s AI Era | The Local
A suspicious pitch from a freelancer led editor Nicholas Hune-Brown to dig into their past work. By the end, four publications, including The Guardian and Dwell, had removed articles from their sites.
thelocal.to
November 19, 2025 at 4:43 PM
holy crap... @nickhunebrown.bsky.social with some great, important work
Reposted by Ursula Hofer
#AMR #Klebsiella cause >100,000 neonatal deaths globally each year.
Our new preprint shows more than half of #Klebsiella pneumoniae neonatal sepsis cases in African and South Asian are nosocomial, acquired through transmission in neonatal units. #WAAW
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Our new preprint shows more than half of #Klebsiella pneumoniae neonatal sepsis cases in African and South Asian are nosocomial, acquired through transmission in neonatal units. #WAAW
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
![figure showing estimated proportion of cases in clusters, for each site. range from 0.04 to 0.93, mean estimate in random effects model is 0.57 [0.46,0.68]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:q5nky4heg5sfix4get4zh2pw/bafkreibshmuvkuafxwd2uk3r42ss6ma2dhmaidbysgvufnbkbv5cn4guai@jpeg)
November 19, 2025 at 3:43 PM
#AMR #Klebsiella cause >100,000 neonatal deaths globally each year.
Our new preprint shows more than half of #Klebsiella pneumoniae neonatal sepsis cases in African and South Asian are nosocomial, acquired through transmission in neonatal units. #WAAW
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Our new preprint shows more than half of #Klebsiella pneumoniae neonatal sepsis cases in African and South Asian are nosocomial, acquired through transmission in neonatal units. #WAAW
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
This also applies to crazy letters to the editor... Superficially these can look like legitimate letters with references, sometimes even data and stats. Only on close reading you see it's all made up and incoherent. We have a duty to check each of these. Waste of time.
The bigger change is presentation, historically, these emails were visually chaotic: sudden colour changes, ALL CAPS, screenshots pasted at random. Classic signs of disordered thinking. Now they’re neat, structured, and grammatically consistent. The delusion hasn't changed, but the formatting has.
November 19, 2025 at 4:18 PM
This also applies to crazy letters to the editor... Superficially these can look like legitimate letters with references, sometimes even data and stats. Only on close reading you see it's all made up and incoherent. We have a duty to check each of these. Waste of time.
Reposted by Ursula Hofer
🌱 New opportunity: We are recruiting a new associate editor for our journal with expertise in viral infections & antiviral therapy. Read our call and apply if you're a good fit! www.cmi-comms.org/article/S295...
⏰ Deadline: 15 Dec 2025
#IDSky #clinmicro #virology #virosky
⏰ Deadline: 15 Dec 2025
#IDSky #clinmicro #virology #virosky
An open call to join the CMI Communications editorial team: editor in viral infections and antiviral therapy
CMI Communications, the official open-access journal of the European Society of Clinical
Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID), is looking for an editor with strong
clinical and research exper...
www.cmi-comms.org
November 18, 2025 at 3:38 PM
🌱 New opportunity: We are recruiting a new associate editor for our journal with expertise in viral infections & antiviral therapy. Read our call and apply if you're a good fit! www.cmi-comms.org/article/S295...
⏰ Deadline: 15 Dec 2025
#IDSky #clinmicro #virology #virosky
⏰ Deadline: 15 Dec 2025
#IDSky #clinmicro #virology #virosky
Reposted by Ursula Hofer
Dr. Griffin and Vincent Racaniello record from the ASTMH meeting in Toronto for his weekly clinical update! 👇🔗
@danielgriffinmdphd.bsky.social
@danielgriffinmdphd.bsky.social
TWiV 1270: Clinical update with Dr. Daniel Griffin
YouTube video by MicrobeTV
youtu.be
November 17, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Dr. Griffin and Vincent Racaniello record from the ASTMH meeting in Toronto for his weekly clinical update! 👇🔗
@danielgriffinmdphd.bsky.social
@danielgriffinmdphd.bsky.social
Reposted by Ursula Hofer
Epidemiological and virological update on the emerging SARS-CoV-2 variant BA.3.2 - The Lancet Infectious Diseases www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Epidemiological and virological update on the emerging SARS-CoV-2 variant BA.3.2
The constant emergence of novel SARS-CoV-2 variants has driven the COVID-19 pandemic
and sustains the current endemic. Saltation variants, such as BA.2.86,1 encode highly
mutated spike (S) proteins th...
www.thelancet.com
November 17, 2025 at 10:55 AM
Epidemiological and virological update on the emerging SARS-CoV-2 variant BA.3.2 - The Lancet Infectious Diseases www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Reposted by Ursula Hofer
Important new analysis identifying the scope of clinical trials disrupted because of NIH shenanigans.
> 74 thousand trial participants affected
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
1/4
> 74 thousand trial participants affected
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
1/4
Clinical Trials Affected by Research Grant Terminations at the National Institutes of Health
This cross-sectional study summarizes the number of trials with terminated grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and calculates the proportion of affected trials among those with previou...
jamanetwork.com
November 17, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Important new analysis identifying the scope of clinical trials disrupted because of NIH shenanigans.
> 74 thousand trial participants affected
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
1/4
> 74 thousand trial participants affected
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
1/4
London can be beautiful.
November 17, 2025 at 9:56 AM
London can be beautiful.
Reposted by Ursula Hofer
Post-TB lung disease - the impact of TB on patients does not end with the course of antibiotics, characterised by substantial long-term pulmonary impairment.
Proposed case definition to support assessments and interventions in research studies 👇
#TBSky #IDSky @thelancetinfdis.bsky.social
Proposed case definition to support assessments and interventions in research studies 👇
#TBSky #IDSky @thelancetinfdis.bsky.social
Post-tuberculosis lung disease: a case definition for use in research studies
Despite growing awareness of the substantial burden of long-term pulmonary impairment
among tuberculosis survivors, marked variability in how post-tuberculosis lung disease
is defined across research ...
www.thelancet.com
November 17, 2025 at 8:47 AM
Post-TB lung disease - the impact of TB on patients does not end with the course of antibiotics, characterised by substantial long-term pulmonary impairment.
Proposed case definition to support assessments and interventions in research studies 👇
#TBSky #IDSky @thelancetinfdis.bsky.social
Proposed case definition to support assessments and interventions in research studies 👇
#TBSky #IDSky @thelancetinfdis.bsky.social
Reposted by Ursula Hofer
🎙️ Just published: Communicable E40: AMR in conflict and crisis zones
Hosted by Nav Narayanan & Thomas Tängdén
w/ invited guests Aula Abbara (UK), Guido Granata (Italy), Tuomas Aro (Finland)
Listen on #Communicable:
#IDSky #Clinmicro #WAAW2025 #AMR @taescmid.bsky.social
Hosted by Nav Narayanan & Thomas Tängdén
w/ invited guests Aula Abbara (UK), Guido Granata (Italy), Tuomas Aro (Finland)
Listen on #Communicable:
#IDSky #Clinmicro #WAAW2025 #AMR @taescmid.bsky.social
Communicable E40: AMR in conflict and crisis zones
It’s World AMR Awareness Week (WAAW) and we have prepared a special...
share.transistor.fm
November 16, 2025 at 11:00 PM
🎙️ Just published: Communicable E40: AMR in conflict and crisis zones
Hosted by Nav Narayanan & Thomas Tängdén
w/ invited guests Aula Abbara (UK), Guido Granata (Italy), Tuomas Aro (Finland)
Listen on #Communicable:
#IDSky #Clinmicro #WAAW2025 #AMR @taescmid.bsky.social
Hosted by Nav Narayanan & Thomas Tängdén
w/ invited guests Aula Abbara (UK), Guido Granata (Italy), Tuomas Aro (Finland)
Listen on #Communicable:
#IDSky #Clinmicro #WAAW2025 #AMR @taescmid.bsky.social
Reposted by Ursula Hofer
News just published in @lancetobgyn-wh.bsky.social on misinformation surrounding #paracetamol use in #pregnancy.
Read it here: www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
#obgynsky #womenshealth #medsky
Read it here: www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
#obgynsky #womenshealth #medsky
Misinformation around paracetamol use in pregnancy
When US President Donald Trump cautioned pregnant women against taking paracetamol
(acetaminophen in the USA) during a September 2025 press briefing, claiming the drug
increases the risk of autism in ...
www.thelancet.com
November 16, 2025 at 2:46 PM
News just published in @lancetobgyn-wh.bsky.social on misinformation surrounding #paracetamol use in #pregnancy.
Read it here: www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
#obgynsky #womenshealth #medsky
Read it here: www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
#obgynsky #womenshealth #medsky
Reposted by Ursula Hofer
Gender differences in audience participation at infectious disease & microbiology conferences: a prospective observational study
@sarah-delliere.bsky.social #IDSky
Men overrepresented among audience participants during ID /micro meetings
www.clinicalmicrobiologyandinfection.org/article/S119...
@sarah-delliere.bsky.social #IDSky
Men overrepresented among audience participants during ID /micro meetings
www.clinicalmicrobiologyandinfection.org/article/S119...
November 14, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Gender differences in audience participation at infectious disease & microbiology conferences: a prospective observational study
@sarah-delliere.bsky.social #IDSky
Men overrepresented among audience participants during ID /micro meetings
www.clinicalmicrobiologyandinfection.org/article/S119...
@sarah-delliere.bsky.social #IDSky
Men overrepresented among audience participants during ID /micro meetings
www.clinicalmicrobiologyandinfection.org/article/S119...
Reposted by Ursula Hofer
📣 How many healthy people in a high-income, low-resistance country will be #ESBL carriers? In this prospective cohort of >700 adults with no at-risk travel history, whole genome sequencing showed 5% prevalence. It was all #Ecoli.
#IDSky #clinmicro #MedSky #OA
www.cmi-comms.org/article/S295...
#IDSky #clinmicro #MedSky #OA
www.cmi-comms.org/article/S295...
Carriage of extended-spectrum β-lactamase–producing Enterobacterales among healthy adults: a cohort study in Finland
Despite increasing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in clinical samples in high-income
countries, data on healthy community dwellers remains limited. We explored the prevalence
and types of extended-spe...
www.cmi-comms.org
November 13, 2025 at 9:33 AM
📣 How many healthy people in a high-income, low-resistance country will be #ESBL carriers? In this prospective cohort of >700 adults with no at-risk travel history, whole genome sequencing showed 5% prevalence. It was all #Ecoli.
#IDSky #clinmicro #MedSky #OA
www.cmi-comms.org/article/S295...
#IDSky #clinmicro #MedSky #OA
www.cmi-comms.org/article/S295...
Reposted by Ursula Hofer
Still some way to go for mpox RAT; sensitivity not quite there yet, in particular in children and early in the disease course.
New Research
Field evaluation of a rapid antigen test for mpox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda: a multicentre, prospective, diagnostic accuracy study
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Field evaluation of a rapid antigen test for mpox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda: a multicentre, prospective, diagnostic accuracy study
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Field evaluation of a rapid antigen test for mpox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda: a multicentre, prospective, diagnostic accuracy study
Although performance of the NG-Test Monkeypox antigen RDT did not fully meet WHO Target
Product Profile benchmarks, driven mainly by lower sensitivity in DR Congo, results
in Uganda were more encourag...
www.thelancet.com
November 13, 2025 at 10:50 AM
Still some way to go for mpox RAT; sensitivity not quite there yet, in particular in children and early in the disease course.
Reposted by Ursula Hofer
Heading to @astmh.bsky.social tomorrow?
Join us at 11:30 am for our symposium, “Mpox Without Borders: Global Trends, Breakthroughs & Preparedness.”
Honored to co-chair with my colleague & friend Dr. Placide Mbala, with an all-star panel of experts.
You don’t want to miss this!
#ASTMH2025
Join us at 11:30 am for our symposium, “Mpox Without Borders: Global Trends, Breakthroughs & Preparedness.”
Honored to co-chair with my colleague & friend Dr. Placide Mbala, with an all-star panel of experts.
You don’t want to miss this!
#ASTMH2025
November 13, 2025 at 2:19 AM
Heading to @astmh.bsky.social tomorrow?
Join us at 11:30 am for our symposium, “Mpox Without Borders: Global Trends, Breakthroughs & Preparedness.”
Honored to co-chair with my colleague & friend Dr. Placide Mbala, with an all-star panel of experts.
You don’t want to miss this!
#ASTMH2025
Join us at 11:30 am for our symposium, “Mpox Without Borders: Global Trends, Breakthroughs & Preparedness.”
Honored to co-chair with my colleague & friend Dr. Placide Mbala, with an all-star panel of experts.
You don’t want to miss this!
#ASTMH2025
Reposted by Ursula Hofer
Partner notification is a key part of STI care but uptake in many LMIC settings is low.
Our RCT in Zimbabwe tried to improve uptake via financial incentives.
Results out in Lancet Global Health.
tl;dr Answer was no. Possibly as incentive only averted indirect costs of care & that wasn't enough.
Our RCT in Zimbabwe tried to improve uptake via financial incentives.
Results out in Lancet Global Health.
tl;dr Answer was no. Possibly as incentive only averted indirect costs of care & that wasn't enough.
Financial incentives to improve uptake of partner treatment for sexually transmitted infections in antenatal care: a cluster randomised trial in Zimbabwe
Financial incentives did not address barriers to index participants informing partners,
and ultimately did not improve partner attendance for STI treatment. Multifaceted
packages addressing barriers f...
www.thelancet.com
November 13, 2025 at 8:03 AM
Partner notification is a key part of STI care but uptake in many LMIC settings is low.
Our RCT in Zimbabwe tried to improve uptake via financial incentives.
Results out in Lancet Global Health.
tl;dr Answer was no. Possibly as incentive only averted indirect costs of care & that wasn't enough.
Our RCT in Zimbabwe tried to improve uptake via financial incentives.
Results out in Lancet Global Health.
tl;dr Answer was no. Possibly as incentive only averted indirect costs of care & that wasn't enough.
"The time has come to close the floodgates and require that authors demonstrate their commitment to quality science before we let them in the door."
Interesting discussion.
Interesting discussion.
Manuscript Submissions Are Up! That’s Good, Right? - The Scholarly Kitchen
Publishers have led themselves into a mess by focusing on rising submissions as a positive indicator of journal performance.
scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org
November 12, 2025 at 4:09 PM
"The time has come to close the floodgates and require that authors demonstrate their commitment to quality science before we let them in the door."
Interesting discussion.
Interesting discussion.
Reposted by Ursula Hofer
The creators of an influential list of highly cited researchers have shaken up their methodology this year, taking a swipe at scientists who associate with those linked to possible ethical breaches
go.nature.com/3LAThwX
go.nature.com/3LAThwX
Influential list of highly cited researchers now shuts out more scientists: here’s why
Rule change weeds out many who co-author papers with others linked to suspicious practices.
go.nature.com
November 12, 2025 at 10:05 AM
The creators of an influential list of highly cited researchers have shaken up their methodology this year, taking a swipe at scientists who associate with those linked to possible ethical breaches
go.nature.com/3LAThwX
go.nature.com/3LAThwX