Professor Sonja Rasmussen, from Johns Hopkins, provided a 5 minute infomercial for the vaccine industry, along with the NEJM managing editor, who threw her the softballs.

https://www.nejm.org/cms/asset/8f8428fb-64c7-427e-b733-e890b42b2b46/media/NEJMdo008411.mp3

Since there were not more deaths or serious illness from flu this year, she created a new way of assessing flu severity, one I never heard before: Intensity. There was more flu intensity this year. Whatever that means.

She claimed there were more outpatient visits for flu, but the CDC data do not support her claim. During the 2025-2026 season, there have been the lowest number of pediatric deaths of any year I can remember, but she certainly did not mention that.

Who is this Rasmussen professor? Oh, she worked at the CDC for 20 years, and in a leadership role during flu outbreaks.

About Sonja A. Rasmussen

Primary Academic Title

Professor of Genetic Medicine

Johns Hopkins Physician

Background

Sonja Rasmussen, MD, MS is Professor in the Department of Genetic Medicine at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She joined Johns Hopkins after 4 years at the University of Florida (UF) College of Medicine and College of Public Health and Health Professions where she served as a Professor in the Departments of Pediatrics, Epidemiology, and Obstetrics and Gynecology and as the Director of UF’s Precision Health Program. Before joining University of Florida in 2018, she served for 20 years at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, where she held several scientific leadership roles. She served in leadership roles during several CDC responses to public health emergencies, including 2009 H1N1 influenza, H7N9 influenza, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), and Zika virus. Dr. Rasmussen is an author on >300 peer-reviewed publications and is the lead editor of The CDC Field Epidemiology Manual, released by Oxford University Press in 2019. Her research interests focus on understanding the effects of infections and medications during pregnancy, genetic and environmental risk factors for birth defects, and morbidity and mortality associated with genetic conditions.