Episode 188: Finding the Light

Osterholm Update

CIDRAP

Science

4.8 • 3K Ratings

🗓️ 24 July 2025

⏱️ 47 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In "Finding the Light," Dr. Osterholm and Chris Dall discuss a recent study on aluminum in childhood vaccines, the latest COVID variant data, and the recent approval of the Moderna COVID vaccine for children at risk of severe disease. Dr. Osterholm also provides an update on CIDRAP's Vaccine Integrity Project and shares the latest "This Week in Public History" segment. <a href="https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/childhood-vaccines/report-no-link-between-aluminum-adjuvanted-childhood-vaccines-conditions-such">Report: No link between aluminum-adjuvanted childhood vaccines, conditions such as autism</a> (Van Beusekom, CIDRAP News) <a href="https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/public-health/state-local-public-health-officials-grapple-fallout-funding-job-cuts">State, local public health officials grapple with fallout from funding, job cuts</a> (Dall, CIDRAP News) Resources for vaccine and public health advocacy: <a href="https://www.voicesforvaccines.org/get-involved/">Voices for Vaccines</a> <a href="https://familiesfightingflu.org/take-action/">Families Fighting Flu</a> <a href="https://vaccinateyourfamily.org/get-involved/">Vaccinate Your Family</a> <a href="https://shotatlife.org/take-action/">Shot@Life</a> <a href="https://aspr.hhs.gov/MRC/Pages/index.aspx">Medical Reserve Corps</a> Learn more about the <a href="https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/vaccine-integrity-project">Vaccine Integrity Project</a> <a href="https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/osterholm-update-covid-19">MORE EPISODES</a>       <a href="https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/support-cidrap">SUPPORT THIS PODCAST</a>

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to the Osterholm Update, a podcast on COVID-19 and other infectious diseases with Dr. Michael Osterholm.
0:15.4	Dr. Ostrome is an internationally recognized medical detective and director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, or CIDRAP, at the University of Minnesota. In this podcast, Dr. O. Strom
0:26.9	draws on nearly 50 years of experience investigating infectious disease outbreaks to provide
0:31.8	straight talk on the latest infectious disease and public health threats. I'm Chris Dahl,
0:37.1	reporter for Sidrap News, and I'm your host for these conversations.
0:44.3	Welcome back, everyone, to another episode of the Ostrome Update podcast.
0:48.4	Over the last six months, we've focused on a lot of bad news on this podcast.
0:53.2	We've done so not because we enjoy it,
0:55.2	but because we know it's important to keep our listeners informed about what is happening
0:59.1	in the world of public health and infectious diseases and how it might affect you. But it's also
1:03.9	important to highlight the good news where we can. So on that note, we want to mention that $400
1:08.9	million in plan cuts to the president's emergency plan on AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, were spared from a recitions package signed into law last week by President Trump.
1:19.4	This is the best news ever, the former president of the International Aid Society, said in response to the news.
1:25.9	I've said this before, and I'm going to say it again.
1:28.4	PEPFAR is the most important and consequential contribution to public health, certainly in my
1:32.8	lifetime, and probably ever. That it is not going away in its entirety. It's a victory for
1:38.0	all who've advocated for it. On another positive note, a large study conducted in Denmark found
1:43.9	no association between
1:45.3	exposure to aluminum adjuvanted childhood vaccines and autoimmune, atopic, or allergic,
1:51.0	or neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism.
1:54.3	That study could provide critical in efforts to push back on the anti-vaccine messaging
1:59.0	being promoted by Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and his allies.
	...

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