News this week A natural experiment on the effect of herpes zoster vaccination on dementia | Nature
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Gates Foundation is going to close down in 20 years. He plans to not die rich.
In his post, Gates also cited the influence of Gilded Age steel tycoon Andrew Carnegie, whose 1889 essay “The Gospel of Wealth” is considered a model for modern philanthropy. Reading that essay decades ago, Gates said that he was struck by the line “the man who dies thus rich dies disgraced.”
latest news:
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Not vaccine related but related to the anti-vaxxer RFKjr who promotes drinking raw milk
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has publicly stated that he drinks raw milk and is a proponent of reversing federal restrictions on its sale. As part of his “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) platform, he has criticized the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for what he terms the “aggressive suppression” of raw milk.
All the delicious cheeses made with raw milk potentially contain Listeria. Specially the fresher ones, aged cheeses are a lesser worry .
One of my pregnant colleagues reminded me once during a dinner. We were thinking about ordering a plate of cheeses to share as starter, but it was to high risk for her and the baby. And,she had all the cravings to eat cheese…so another entrée.
Of course, this is no justification to drink raw milk. It’s just that there’s a more rational approach to risks. There are some delicious things expecting moms have to refrain from. At other point in life, go ahead.
That Fresno farm has been in the centre of several lawsuits and other trouble:
Human adults do not digest Bovine milk well. After adolescence we stop producing lactase, a hormone that allows us to digest it well.
Milk products are for Children. Raw milk products are dangerous for Children due to unclean production, particularly in the US.
Nobody gets between me and my cheese board…
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I’m lactose intolerant but I can eat 3+ month old cheese as much as I want. The bacteria and fungi have made the digestion for me. 12 month Gruyère, 18 month Parmiggiano 
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We eat lots of “old” cheeses–Alpkäse, Cheddar, Parmiggiano, Roquefort, etc.–but also some very young cheeses such as burrata and mozzarella (di buffala). No problems at all
That really depends on where you are.
Most Northern Europeans have no problem digesting milk products due to an evolutionary phenomenon called lactase persistence.
The further south you are the more likely you are to be lactose intolerant.
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Got me interested enough to do some googling.
"Raw milk cheeses are allowed in the EU but they must be labelled
I also found that most Swiss cheeses are made with raw milk but no information about Swiss labelling requirements"
I checked the soft cheeses in my fridge so a mixture of German, French and Swiss (Migros).
They are all labelled made with pasteurised milk.
Welcome to Guadalajara, host city for 4 matches of the FIFA WC 2025. Fine tequila, delicious pozole and fresh measles.
Local authorities have mandated the use of face masks from kindergarten to 15 YO to slow down the measles outbreak.
(05.02.2026) The Mexican state of Jalisco on Thursday issued a health alert and mandated the use of face masks in schools as a measles outbreak hit the state capital, a key host city for the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The measures come on the heels of an epidemiological alert issued by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) earlier this week over the spread of the preventable disease across the Americas, particularly in Mexico, which leads the region with 1,981 cases confirmed by authorities this year and more than 5,200 suspected cases.
Jalisco is the epicenter of the outbreak, with 1,163 cases confirmed this year and 2,092 suspected cases, according to Mexico’s government.
Mexico had 6+k measles cases and 24 deaths last year. A study from 2022 (published 2025) shows that only children 12-14 months old which were recently vaccinated have the 95+% coverage to stop a outbreak (seroprevalence). Children 6 to 12YO have 88.9% seroprevalence. But, the age cohort between 1989 to 2008 has a seroprevalence around 60+%. Seropravelence in 60+ YO reaches 90+%. WTF?
Low seroprevalence in young adults suggests possible low coverage of the second dose and/or waning immunity in absence of viral circulation in the 1989–2008 birth cohorts. In case of imported introduction of measles cases, susceptibility in young adults and adults could facilitate an outbreak.
So, who’s going to be in the stadium and bars for the matches? The 18 to 37 YO, the 1989-2008 birth cohorts.
I believe that cheese older than about 3mo has virtually no lactose
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Yes, and this is present in the vast majority of people with ethnic backgrounds from Northern and Central Europe, somewhere between 80 and 100% of such people. Which means that it’s also of that sort of level for the white population of the US who mostly descend from peoples from those areas.
There is absolutely no reason that raw milk should not be clean, no excuse for lazy farming hygiene practices. Just because they can get away with it for milk that will be processed, filtered and pasteurised doesn’t mean they shouldn’t make the required effforts.
I grew up in the north of the UK drinking raw unpasteurised milk and never had any problems, in fact I was very rarely sick at all.
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If only there was a way to remove bacteria from raw milk
At least they didn’t get bird flu.
17 US states have reported bird flu in dairy cowswhich is no risk in pasteurised milk.
They were makinh good progress in developing a mRNA bird flu vaccine but RFKjr cut the funding.
It looks as if adults who are unsure if they ever got a measles vaccination might be advised to get one.
Unvaccinated or only partially vaccinated infants remain particularly vulnerable to measles, as reflected in current data for 2025: children under five years old accounted for 40% (3 072) of the notified measles infections between January and December 2025. But measles affects all age groups: among adults and adolescents with known vaccination status, the vast majority had not received any doses of measles-containing vaccine. Adults and adolescents should therefore also check whether they are fully immunised or if they require a booster dose to protect themselves and others.
Have you been vaccinated against measles before the MMR vaccine was available?
The MMR vaccine was introduced in the UK in 1988. If you were born before that, you may have received the measles vaccine, which was introduced in the UK in 1968.
People born in the UK before 1970 are likely to have had a measles infection and are less likely to be at risk. The MMR vaccine can be given on request or if they’re at high risk of exposure.
People born in the UK between 1970 and 1979 may have been vaccinated with the measles vaccine. However, it’s recommended these people get 2 doses of the MMR vaccine, especially if they’re at high risk of exposure.
People born in the UK between 1980 and 1990 are likely to have been vaccinated against measles. They may have had only one dose of the MMR vaccine.
Phone your GP practice and they’ll check your records and advise if you need to be vaccinated.
What about people, like me, who were never vaccinated because we had the disease?
Answered my own question.
While history alone often suffices for pre-1964 births, a blood test (serology) can verify antibodies if documentation is lacking
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The US is moving away from modern medicine and back to primitive times
The US Food and Drug Administration has refused to accept an application from Moderna to review its first mRNA seasonal flu vaccine, the company said Tuesday, in another setback for the technology that’s been a target of some Trump administration health officials.
The agency told Moderna that its application didn’t contain an “adequate and well-controlled” trial because the control arm didn’t reflect the “best-available standard of care in the United States at the time of the study,” according to a letter dated February 3 that Moderna posted online. It didn’t identify any safety or efficacy concerns, the company said.
Well brink it to Europe where it will be judged on it’s merits. Yes I know the US can be a huge market but if they prove themselves in the rest of the world that can only be a good thing. If they can get the Canadians to approve it that will open a huge transborder market.
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