Delthia Ricks
@dricks.bsky.social
Science writer, author, essayist & avid gardener.
Happy Thanksgiving!
November 27, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Happy Thanksgiving!
Whooping cough outbreaks are surging. They're fueled by waning immunity & falling vaccination rates. Whooping cough—pertussis—is surging in Texas, Florida, California, Oregon & other states. Delays in public health tracking & reporting to the public add to the problem www.cbsnews.com/news/whoopin...
November 20, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Whooping cough outbreaks are surging. They're fueled by waning immunity & falling vaccination rates. Whooping cough—pertussis—is surging in Texas, Florida, California, Oregon & other states. Delays in public health tracking & reporting to the public add to the problem www.cbsnews.com/news/whoopin...
23 infants in 13 states hospitalized in a growing botulism outbreak tied to ByHeart baby formula. Affected babies initially had poor feeding, loss of head control & difficulty swallowing but it can lead to breathing difficulty & respiratory arrest. Parents now suing www.usatoday.com/story/news/h...
November 17, 2025 at 3:59 PM
23 infants in 13 states hospitalized in a growing botulism outbreak tied to ByHeart baby formula. Affected babies initially had poor feeding, loss of head control & difficulty swallowing but it can lead to breathing difficulty & respiratory arrest. Parents now suing www.usatoday.com/story/news/h...
#Birdflu: Washington state health officials have identified the nation's 1st human case of bird flu in 9 months, pending confirmatory testing. Patient is an older adult w/ underlying health conditions. Source of the potential infection is still under investigation apnews.com/article/bird...
November 14, 2025 at 9:11 PM
#Birdflu: Washington state health officials have identified the nation's 1st human case of bird flu in 9 months, pending confirmatory testing. Patient is an older adult w/ underlying health conditions. Source of the potential infection is still under investigation apnews.com/article/bird...
Silent pandemic: The World health Organization's new tuberculosis report is out. TB is currently on the rise, both globally and in the US. Global case counts & deaths have increased www.who.int/publications...
November 13, 2025 at 12:37 AM
Silent pandemic: The World health Organization's new tuberculosis report is out. TB is currently on the rise, both globally and in the US. Global case counts & deaths have increased www.who.int/publications...
Biotech leaders, social media influencers & Trump regime officials including JD Vance & RFKjr are scheduled to speak at an all-day "Make America Healthy Again" summit that is CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC AND MEDIA. Sounds fishy thehill.com/homenews/adm...
November 13, 2025 at 12:26 AM
Biotech leaders, social media influencers & Trump regime officials including JD Vance & RFKjr are scheduled to speak at an all-day "Make America Healthy Again" summit that is CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC AND MEDIA. Sounds fishy thehill.com/homenews/adm...
Outbreak investigation of infant botulism: Now 15 babies have been hospitalized because of botulism after consuming ByHeart Whole Nutrition Formula. Botulism triggers severe illness in babies & can be deadly. It's caused by a toxin from the bacterium Clostridium botulinum www.fda.gov/food/outbrea...
November 11, 2025 at 10:10 PM
Outbreak investigation of infant botulism: Now 15 babies have been hospitalized because of botulism after consuming ByHeart Whole Nutrition Formula. Botulism triggers severe illness in babies & can be deadly. It's caused by a toxin from the bacterium Clostridium botulinum www.fda.gov/food/outbrea...
A common antibiotic may reduce schizophrenia risk, a new study has found. Patients in teen mental health programs treated w/ the antibiotic doxycycline were significantly less likely to go on to develop schizophrenia in adulthood, highlighting the possibility of repurposing doxy as a preventive👇
November 5, 2025 at 4:14 PM
A common antibiotic may reduce schizophrenia risk, a new study has found. Patients in teen mental health programs treated w/ the antibiotic doxycycline were significantly less likely to go on to develop schizophrenia in adulthood, highlighting the possibility of repurposing doxy as a preventive👇
Proteins & genetic material from H5N1 flu viruses have been found in pasteurized milk in the US, but a study from St Jude Children’s Hospital shows that those inactive viral particles represent little to no risk. But they also indicate ongoing H5N1 transmission #H5N1 www.stjude.org/media-resour...
October 28, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Proteins & genetic material from H5N1 flu viruses have been found in pasteurized milk in the US, but a study from St Jude Children’s Hospital shows that those inactive viral particles represent little to no risk. But they also indicate ongoing H5N1 transmission #H5N1 www.stjude.org/media-resour...
A person living in New York has tested positive for mosquito-borne chikungunya virus in what state health officials say is the first reported transmission of the infection in the U.S. in 6 years apnews.com/article/chik...
October 15, 2025 at 6:14 PM
A person living in New York has tested positive for mosquito-borne chikungunya virus in what state health officials say is the first reported transmission of the infection in the U.S. in 6 years apnews.com/article/chik...
4 people are dead & 19 are hospitalized in a Listeria outbreak linked to pasta meals sold at Trader Joe's, Walmart & other supermarkets. Listeria is one of the food-borne pathogens no longer tracked in RFK jr's revamped CDC. Here are the others: Campylobacter, Cyclospora, Shigella, Vibrio & Yersinia
October 4, 2025 at 11:52 PM
4 people are dead & 19 are hospitalized in a Listeria outbreak linked to pasta meals sold at Trader Joe's, Walmart & other supermarkets. Listeria is one of the food-borne pathogens no longer tracked in RFK jr's revamped CDC. Here are the others: Campylobacter, Cyclospora, Shigella, Vibrio & Yersinia
It's not just autism groups & US doctors who are critical of Trump tying autism to acetaminophen—Tylenol—use in pregnancy. Anti-vaxxers are in meltdown. In an unhinged FB post, Georgia anti-vaxxers wanted indictments of MMR, HepB vax & passé vax additive thimerosal arstechnica.com/health/2025/...
September 24, 2025 at 4:12 PM
It's not just autism groups & US doctors who are critical of Trump tying autism to acetaminophen—Tylenol—use in pregnancy. Anti-vaxxers are in meltdown. In an unhinged FB post, Georgia anti-vaxxers wanted indictments of MMR, HepB vax & passé vax additive thimerosal arstechnica.com/health/2025/...
RFK jr's handpicked CDC vaccine advisory panel delayed a vote on the hepatitis B vax, avoiding a public health shake-up that would have changed the agency's recommendation. Since 1991, the CDC has recommended the 1st dose of hepatitis B vax be given within 24 hours of birth👇
September 19, 2025 at 3:36 PM
RFK jr's handpicked CDC vaccine advisory panel delayed a vote on the hepatitis B vax, avoiding a public health shake-up that would have changed the agency's recommendation. Since 1991, the CDC has recommended the 1st dose of hepatitis B vax be given within 24 hours of birth👇
Moms are losing options to protect newborns from #Covid. America’s vaccine chaos is a nightmare for pregnant women, and it's caused by a former heroin addict who has been given a platform to force others to abide by his conspiracy theories www.theatlantic.com/health/2025/...
September 17, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Moms are losing options to protect newborns from #Covid. America’s vaccine chaos is a nightmare for pregnant women, and it's caused by a former heroin addict who has been given a platform to force others to abide by his conspiracy theories www.theatlantic.com/health/2025/...
Bill Cassidy, the Republican Senator who voted to approve RFK jr as Secretary of Health & Human Services, is calling on him to publicly support whooping cough vaccine. Cassidy, a physician, is making the appeal amid a pertussis outbreak in his home state of Louisiana thehill.com/policy/healt...
September 15, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Bill Cassidy, the Republican Senator who voted to approve RFK jr as Secretary of Health & Human Services, is calling on him to publicly support whooping cough vaccine. Cassidy, a physician, is making the appeal amid a pertussis outbreak in his home state of Louisiana thehill.com/policy/healt...
The entire federal leadership in public health & in science now lacks expertise—and that's an enormous problem, says Dr. Wendy Armstrong, vice president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, referring to the number of political appointees at the CDC www.medpagetoday.com/special-repo...
September 14, 2025 at 10:08 PM
The entire federal leadership in public health & in science now lacks expertise—and that's an enormous problem, says Dr. Wendy Armstrong, vice president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, referring to the number of political appointees at the CDC www.medpagetoday.com/special-repo...
Under the Trump regime, the FDA is seeking to abandon expert reviews of new drugs. Critics argue the proposal would *shield the agency's actions from public oversight* www.medpagetoday.com/publichealth...
September 13, 2025 at 1:24 PM
Under the Trump regime, the FDA is seeking to abandon expert reviews of new drugs. Critics argue the proposal would *shield the agency's actions from public oversight* www.medpagetoday.com/publichealth...
Chagas disease—a deadly infection spread by triatomine insects—may be endemic in the US, a new report in Emerging Infectious Diseases says. The bugs transmit Trypanosoma cruzi parasites. Evidence shows triatomine bugs are spreading in the US. They bite victims' faces wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/...
September 9, 2025 at 7:08 PM
Chagas disease—a deadly infection spread by triatomine insects—may be endemic in the US, a new report in Emerging Infectious Diseases says. The bugs transmit Trypanosoma cruzi parasites. Evidence shows triatomine bugs are spreading in the US. They bite victims' faces wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/...
CDC standoff: Kennedy’s push to fire director devolves into chaos www.nytimes.com/2025/08/28/h...
August 28, 2025 at 5:47 PM
CDC standoff: Kennedy’s push to fire director devolves into chaos www.nytimes.com/2025/08/28/h...
The FDA is advising the public not to eat, sell, or serve certain Great Value raw frozen shrimp products sold at Walmart due to possible contamination w/ Cesium-137, a radioactive isotope. The shrimp were imported from Indonesia www.fda.gov/food/alerts-...
August 20, 2025 at 8:16 AM
The FDA is advising the public not to eat, sell, or serve certain Great Value raw frozen shrimp products sold at Walmart due to possible contamination w/ Cesium-137, a radioactive isotope. The shrimp were imported from Indonesia www.fda.gov/food/alerts-...
It’s now possible to vaccinate against the flu at home. Those who want to protect themselves can immunize themselves. AstraZeneca’s FluMist, nasal spray vax, is available for ages 2-50 under brand name FluMist at Home. Orders are reviewed by a licensed healthcare provider www.cnn.com/2025/08/15/h...
August 15, 2025 at 10:55 PM
It’s now possible to vaccinate against the flu at home. Those who want to protect themselves can immunize themselves. AstraZeneca’s FluMist, nasal spray vax, is available for ages 2-50 under brand name FluMist at Home. Orders are reviewed by a licensed healthcare provider www.cnn.com/2025/08/15/h...
Childhood cancer survivors face increased risk of severe #Covid. A new study analyzed a Nordic population & found increased vulnerability among cancer survivors, even years after cancer resolution 👇
August 12, 2025 at 11:33 AM
Childhood cancer survivors face increased risk of severe #Covid. A new study analyzed a Nordic population & found increased vulnerability among cancer survivors, even years after cancer resolution 👇
Brainwashed by RFK Jr: The shooter at the CDC believed the #Covid vaccine made him suicidal, his father told police. The 30-year-old, Patrick White, was armed w/ 5 guns. White killed a police officer. He blamed vaccines for his problems & the problems of others www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdi...
August 11, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Brainwashed by RFK Jr: The shooter at the CDC believed the #Covid vaccine made him suicidal, his father told police. The 30-year-old, Patrick White, was armed w/ 5 guns. White killed a police officer. He blamed vaccines for his problems & the problems of others www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdi...
Tuberculosis: The world's deadliest disease is once again on the rise. It kills >3400 people worldwide every day—nearly 1.3 million in 2023 alone. In the US, we tend to think of TB as a tragic relic of the past. But now it's drug resistant & regaining momentum medicalxpress.com/news/2025-08...
August 11, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Tuberculosis: The world's deadliest disease is once again on the rise. It kills >3400 people worldwide every day—nearly 1.3 million in 2023 alone. In the US, we tend to think of TB as a tragic relic of the past. But now it's drug resistant & regaining momentum medicalxpress.com/news/2025-08...