I took care of kids and families with HIV/AIDS before there was treatment. I diagnosed newborns and had to tell new parents the whole family was likely to die from the disease. I attended 25 funerals in 1995 alone. Maybe the Twitterverse can understand why another pandemic virus

How is this possible in America, in 2023? The needless and entirely preventable deaths of hundreds of mothers and infants each year is at the same time heartbreaking and infuriating. Turning a blind eye to the carnage is the very definition of immorality.

Child advocacy is an essential element of pediatric practice. Children don’t speak up for themselves, can’t vote, and don’t pay taxes or contribute to political campaigns. As a result, it’s less often ‘children first’ and more often ‘children last.’ It’s up to us. #ThisIsOurLane

COVID-19 vaccination was and is the sensible thing to do.

So good to see childhood immunization rates improving. Globally, the number of children who missed their routine immunizations fell from 18M in 2021 to just over 14M last year, close to to the pre-pandemic number of 12.9M. Real progress!

Intentional dissemination of vaccine disinformation is the antithesis of child advocacy, intended to score political points, at the cost of children’s lives. It isn’t so much ignorant as callous and irresponsible.

Good news from New Orleans about COVID and kids. Just 9 children have been hospitalized for COVID @CHNOLA in the past 3 months, the lowest rolling 3-month case total of the pandemic. No deaths in 2023 so far. Next couple of months will be key, but good reasons to feel optimistic.

The collateral mental and emotional impacts of gun violence are a major challenge facing American children and youth today. @JulieKaplow is an authoritative and consistently sensible voice on this important topic. ⁦@MeadowsInst⁩ ⁦@CHNOLA⁩

Constructive solutions from @sophierosenblum for addressing an important issue impacting children’s health.

In science and medicine, as in life, perspectives and opinions will differ. Debate is healthy. Evidence, truth and open-mindedness matter. So do grace and the benefit of the doubt. Easy to forget in the warped world of Twitter.

Childhood vaccination is one of the greatest medical advances of the last 100 yrs. If you have concerns, please listen to your pediatrician, not some Twitter goofball whose expertise is probably limited to a barely passing grade in high school biology.

Courage is someone like @PeterHotez enduring daily taunts, insults and slurs to promote scientifically proven truths about vaccines. Courage is not using one’s wealth and notoriety to undermine faith and confidence in the lifesaving work of 1000s of health professionals.

Inviting an eminent vaccine scientist to a so-called ‘debate’ with a conspiracy theorist unconstrained by truth or scientific fact is like inviting a professional boxer in gloves to a knife fight. Knowledge and skill will be trumped by a lack of rules of engagement.

There are about 80 million U.S. children aged 0-18 yrs. A crude death rate of 1/333,333 accounts for just 240 COVID deaths, only 13% of the 1828 deaths in that age group reported by CDC. Memories are short, especially for those who didn’t care for children seriously ill or dying

Attending medical school was a humbling experience for many of us. For others, not so much. Citing demonstrably false numbers and ridiculous, meaningless claims that “many children still cannot speak or socialize properly,” demonstrates a lack of both knowledge and humility.

“For too many Americans, Memorial Day has just become just another day off,” Andy Rooney said in 2005. “But the men, boys really, who died in our wars deserve at least a few moments of reflection during which we consider what they did for us: They died.” https://t.co/pb7SSc3VuC

Today is New Orleans’ annual city-wide day of giving-GiveNOLA Day. Please support @CHNOLA with a gift of $10 or more and help us transform pediatric health care across Louisiana and the Gulf South. Thank you for giving now at https://t.co/ygsoXyR0O0

The impact of humans on all living creatures is sobering and alarming. The U.S. could be leading the way in addressing climate change, environmental degradation and pollution, and epizootic viruses, but instead we are mired in culture wars. Time is short.

Blissful ignorance has never been a successful strategy. Patients can have fever whether or not we take their temperature. Pretending the threat has passed won’t make us safer or speed our response to new and possibly more dangerous virus variants.

We monitor respiratory virus test positivity @CHNOLA on a weekly basis. For two consecutive weeks, COVID-19, Flu A, Flu B, and RSV all have been <2.5%, first time in more than two years. The Big Easy is in a good place heading into summer breaks. Stay safe, NOLA!

Loss of confidence in routine childhood vaccines has resulted in part from a rampant, relentless disinformation campaign against COVID-19 vaccination. Those responsible will largely avoid the inevitable consequences: more childhood illness and deaths.