Posts from Those Nerdy Girls

All the posts from our Those Nerdy Girls Facebook page dating back to May 1st, 2020, are currently archived here and can be searched for by category, key words, etc. Be sure to check back often as additional posts are being added each day.

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What’s the latest on the new RSV vaccine for pregnant people?

Infectious Diseases Reproductive Health Vaccines

A: Pfizer’s clinical trial of a new RSV vaccine in pregnancy showed high vaccine efficacy against severe disease in infants. The FDA advisory committee discussed an observed difference in premature births in the placebo vs. vaccine group, but concluded that the difference was likely due to chance rather than from the vaccine itself. TL;DR: The Read more…

I heard that “the pill” might become illegal? Is it all birth control pills?

Reproductive Health

There are lots of different types of “pills” related to pregnancy. It’s most helpful to break them into two categories: Contraceptives PREVENT someone from becoming pregnant. Other types of pills are used when there is ALREADY an established pregnancy. It’s mifepristone, from this second group, whose FDA approval is currently being contested in the U.S. Read more…

Will there be an updated COVID booster this fall?

Vaccines

A: Yes. It looks like an updated formula with an XBB variant will be headed our way soon in the US. TL;DR: ✅Fall boosters will be comprised of one (a “monovalent”) XBB strain. ✅The closely related XBB strains protect well against each other, so vaccine makers will pick one (might be XBB1.5). ✅The original SARS-CoV-2 Read more…

What’s to know about the new Surgeon General report on social media and youth mental health?

Families/Kids Mental Health

A: The report indicates strong signals of social media’s harm to youth mental health, although it is still hard to know for sure if social media directly causes mental health problems. Last month, the Surgeon General released an in-depth report about the potential harms of social media to youth mental health. Amidst a crisis of Read more…

Are screening tests and diagnostic tests the same thing?

Data Literacy Reproductive Health Uncertainty and Misinformation

The Short Answer: Nope! 🙅🏾‍♀️ The goal of a screening test is to determine the likelihood of disease in a person who currently shows no signs or symptoms, while a diagnostic test detects whether (and what type of) disease might be present in someone with symptoms. While some screening tests can be self-administered at home Read more…

What is the framing effect?

Data Literacy Uncertainty and Misinformation

Tl;dr: The framing effect is a cognitive bias in which our choices are more influenced by how information is presented than the information itself. We can overcome the framing effect by purposefully rephrasing information to reflect both positive and negative aspects of the choice, separating the information from the razzle dazzle, and gathering as much Read more…