“No single raindrop…”
"No single raindrop believes it is to blame for the flood." This is a line from a poster I used to have in my office. It popped into my head this week when I was in a queue to fuel my car. We've had shortages around here—not because the country didn't have enough, but because…
...If you look at the meta-research about systematic reviews, & systematic reviews of systematic reviews, there's another level of complexity: Most systematic reviews are pretty bad & they're inconsistent — I don't think amalgamating it all would actually help.
...Covidence is a key software base now: www.covidence.org See also EPPI eppi.ioe.ac.uk/cms/Default....
The tools exist, but getting cooperation and buy-in is tough....
....It just never really took off beyond AHRQ — perhaps because it wasn't adopted by Cochrane and "marketed" as successfully as say the GRADE system. Though I asked a couple of years ago and it was still being maintained...
This is actually well-trodden ground. Firstly, I don't know anyone who uses Excel for meta-analysis — there are several major groups of software (including Cochrane's). And AHRQ developed the system for entering every trial assessment into a giant database.... @steamtraen.eu
A little hope.
The post explains where each is from. (I wouldn't try to predict the US situation over the next few years.)
😊
New feature: Which nextgen Covid vaxes are advancing the most?
I highlight 3 in mid- to late-stage trials with manufacturers—including a "universal" Covid vax & a mucosal one—and another 6 vaccines.
Plus more trial results & 10 preclinical reports:
absolutelymaybe.plos.org/2026/04/02/a...
A photo of my son Adam in a bar, looking at me with smiley eyes.
An old post from @ASmallFiction: "Do you have a magic spell to return someone to life?" she said. "No," the witch said, "I'm sorry." "Oh." "Why don't you tell me about them?" "Will that bring them back?" "For us. For a little while. Stories are a different kind of magic."
My darling son Adam would have been 43 today. Cherishing memories of hanging out with him—here in 2012. ❤️
In February 2021, a town in Brazil showed up for a groundbreaking randomized Covid vax trial, providing evidence of population effects of mass vaccination in a pandemic.
My latest @plos.org post digs into this exciting precedent & why it matters:
absolutelymaybe.plos.org/2026/03/28/a...
In February 2021, a town in Brazil showed up for a groundbreaking randomized Covid vax trial, providing evidence of population effects of mass vaccination in a pandemic.
My latest @plos.org post digs into this exciting precedent & why it matters:
absolutelymaybe.plos.org/2026/03/28/a...
The search tabs function is great, so that rarely happens. If you still can't remember how to find it again (and thus open another tab!), then you search history. You keep on doing this till your computer slows down so much, you have to tidy up! 😀
Does it have data on humans? If not, then maybe it belongs in bioRxiv?
Adjusting to the Changing Internet
When ads flooded some parts of the internet, I adjusted by avoiding those places when I recognized the signs—or hitting the back button quickly when I hadn't. When "AI" scrapers led to an explosion of sites making me wait while checking if I'm a robot, I got used…
Apricot-tinged pink tea rose in full bloom, with rain drops. Rosebud in the background.
The rose is hands down the prettiest flower in the rain today 😍
#BloomScrolling
Thanks, but they're not comms issues - it's ethical aspects (given commercial aspects of pharma) and scientific issues about minimizing biases.
Thanks! I do, but I don't like being public about that till I'm really sure - I am starting to think about a way to tackle that, though.
😪
News-packed update on nextgen Covid vaccines this month at my @plos.org blog:
- Preclinical results for an intranasal "universal" vaccine that provided some protection from coronaviruses, H1N1 flu, some bacterial infections, and an asthma allergen... 1/2
absolutelymaybe.plos.org/2026/03/01/p...
- Phase 2 results for a self-amplifying mRNA vaccine from Japan (with a phase 3 trial for the vax recently closed off)
- Opportunities to participate in intranasal vaccine trials in Finland and the US
And much more:
absolutelymaybe.plos.org/2026/03/01/p...
News-packed update on nextgen Covid vaccines this month at my @plos.org blog:
- Preclinical results for an intranasal "universal" vaccine that provided some protection from coronaviruses, H1N1 flu, some bacterial infections, and an asthma allergen... 1/2
absolutelymaybe.plos.org/2026/03/01/p...
Presumably yes, if there's enough. (At a cost.)
I think it's too hard to predict what's going to happen in the US in the near future, but it's business as usual elsewhere (including Canada). We might get a better idea of what the next vaccines to make it market could be this year, and how long it would take.
She is amazing - I'd like to read the book. But it needs someone with a lot of time on the ground in the US to go through archives. (I live in Australia now.)
@macalestercollege.bsky.social I've written a Wikipedia page for Catharine Deaver Lealtad, as well as a blog post:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathari...
absolutelymaybe.plos.org/2026/02/20/d...
Photographic portrait of Catharine Lealtad in high school.
Year book photographic portrait of Catharine Lealtad, 1915.
Photographic portrait of Catharine Lealtad in The Crisis, 1920.
Photo of Catharine Lealtad in 1979.
...Ground-breaking class valedictorian to first African-American graduate of Macalester College, Minnesota, she found her calling in medicine, graduating from the University of Paris at 38.
I've created a Wikipedia page for her, too:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathari...
#BlackHistoryMonth #BHM
For #BlackHistoryMonth, I've written about a remarkable woman who blew me away. Meet Dr Catharine Deaver Lealtad (1895-1989) in my new post @plos.org:
absolutelymaybe.plos.org/2026/02/20/d...
She was a lifelong activist and international humanitarian...1/2
#BHM
Yep - 'cept you say it devvo, not as in Devo #WhipIt
Wish we could trade some!!! Our summer has been super hot and dry. 🌞☀️🌞☀️🌞☀️🌞☀️🌞