Science
More in L.A. County eligible for monkeypox vaccines; California outlines isolation protocols

Eligibility for monkeypox vaccines in Los Angeles County once more expanded this week, growing entry to the two-dose sequence to extra individuals assembly high-risk standards, at the same time as vaccine portions stay restricted.
Underneath the brand new parameters, the Los Angeles County Public Well being Division will proceed to primarily goal vaccine distribution to homosexual or bisexual males and transgender individuals who meet sure well being or conduct danger elements, as the vast majority of confirmed circumstances within the county throughout this outbreak have been amongst LGBTQ males, a pattern mirrored throughout California and the globe.
Specialists say the virus is spreading most simply by means of intimate skin-to-skin contact, together with intercourse. Nonetheless, monkeypox might be transmitted to anybody underneath the appropriate circumstances, no matter gender or sexuality.
Circumstances have continued to quickly rise in current weeks, growing by about 40% in L.A. County and the state prior to now week, in keeping with county and state public well being division knowledge. In L.A. County, confirmed and suspected circumstances surpassed 1,200 Monday. Statewide, the overall reached 2,660 on Thursday. The vaccine provide stays low, however has slowly elevated over the previous few months.
As of Monday, homosexual or bisexual males and transgender individuals in L.A. County might obtain the Jynneos vaccine if they’d skin-to-skin or intimate contact, like kissing or hugging, with somebody at a big venue over the past two weeks. And anyonewho has engaged in transactional intercourse within the final two weeks can be newly eligible for the vaccine.
This follows an enlargement of eligibility final week after the county acquired extra doses and federal officers licensed a brand new technique of vaccine administration that may stretch one vial of the vaccine fivefold, which has allowed public well being officers to maximise their restricted doses. Aside from these underneath 18 or with a historical past of keloid scars, all monkeypox vaccines within the county will probably be administered within the new technique, which includes a shallower shot, between layers of pores and skin, as a substitute of into underlying fats.
Barbara Ferrer, director of L.A. County’s public well being division, stated her company had anticipated to obtain extra doses from the federal authorities final week than had been shipped, however acknowledged the brand new technique of distribution has drastically elevated its skill to achieve these in danger. She stated federal officers additionally indicated extra orders for extra doses will quickly be fulfilled.
“Extra doses will probably be accessible to communities like ours which have a inhabitants that’s at larger danger that we have to attain,” Ferrer stated. “We haven’t acquired sufficient doses to achieve all of them.”
The Jynneos vaccine is a two-dose sequence, with photographs administered 4 weeks aside. It may be used preventively and inside two weeks of an publicity.
Anybody who had beforehand been eligible for the shot in L.A. County, remains to be eligible, together with individuals who have been recognized by means of contact tracing as being at excessive danger or these with sure sexually transmitted ailments or on HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis, in keeping with the county well being division. Individuals who meet the rules want solely to self-attest their eligibility and may join a vaccine appointment on-line or by cellphone with a neighborhood clinic or supplier, or contact the well being division at (833) 540-0473 from 8 a.m. to eight:30 p.m. for added help.
The state additionally not too long ago outlined isolation tips for these with a confirmed or suspected monkeypox case, recommending individuals keep at residence till an infection has been dominated out or their pores and skin lesions are totally healed, with a recent layer of pores and skin shaped and so they’ve been freed from different signs for at the least 48 hours.
The steerage recommends limiting interactions with family members, particularly skin-to-skin contact or sharing of towels or private objects, and advises sporting a tight-fitting masks and protecting any lesions when unable to keep away from others. The steerage says individuals can resume restricted, lower-risk actions in the event that they’ve been freed from fever, respiratory signs or new lesions for at the least 48 hours and any lesions that may’t be lined — like these on the face — are totally healed. These sufferers ought to bandage or cowl any unhealed lesions, put on a well-fitting masks and keep away from crowded settings.
Signs for monkeypox can last as long as 4 weeks.
Many individuals usually are not but eligible for monkeypox vaccines in L.A. County, however officers stated employees in sure occupations can take steps to guard themselves.
“The chance of monkeypox stays low for most people and that features employees,” stated Dr. Muntu Davis, the county’s well being officer. “[But] there are additionally numerous steps employees can take to usually shield themselves and their purchasers. … Our crew has recognized a number of sectors as priorities for this steerage.”
Davis stated individuals working in gyms, motels and different companies that present private care providers, like therapeutic massage or skincare salons, can take extra steps to guard themselves, like staying residence when sick, sporting gloves, disinfecting surfaces and washing their fingers.
Muntu stated that as of final week there have been no circumstances affiliated with these sectors, including that most individuals who contract monkeypox get well with out remedy.
Nonetheless, many sufferers have reported extraordinarily painful lesions, and Muntu stated at the least 26 individuals have been hospitalized in L.A. County for the sickness. Nobody within the U.S. is understood to have died of monkeypox.
Instances workers writers Rong-Gong Lin II and Luke Cash contributed to this report.

Science
Contributor: Those cuts to 'overhead' costs in research? They do real damage

As a professor at UC Santa Barbara, I research the effects of and solutions to ocean pollution, including oil seeps, spills and offshore DDT. I began my career by investigating the interaction of bacteria and hydrocarbon gases in the ocean, looking at the unusual propensity of microbes to consume gases that bubbled in from beneath the ocean floor. Needed funding came from the greatest basic scientific enterprise in the world, the National Science Foundation.
My research was esoteric, or so my in-laws (and everyone else) thought, until 2010, when the Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling rig exploded and an uncontrolled flow of hydrocarbon liquid and gas jetted into the deep ocean offshore from Louisiana. It was an unmitigated disaster in the Gulf, and suddenly my esoteric work was in demand. Additional support from the National Science Foundation allowed me to go offshore to help figure out what was happening to that petroleum in the deep ocean. I was able to help explain, contextualize and predict what would happen next for anxious residents of the Gulf states — all made possible by the foresight of Vannevar Bush, the original architect of the National Science Foundation.
Now the great scientific enterprise that has enabled my research and so much more is on the brink of its own disaster, thanks to actions and proposals from the Trump administration. Setting aside the targeted cuts to centers of discovery such as Harvard and Columbia, and rumors that California’s public universities are next, the most obvious threats to research are the draconian budget reductions proposed across virtually all areas of science and medicine, coupled with moves to prevent foreign scientists from conducting research-based study in the U.S. The president’s latest budget calls for around a 55% cut to the National Science Foundation overall, with a 75% reduction to research support in my area. A reduction so severe and sudden will reverberate for years and decimate ocean discovery and study, and much more.
But a more subtle and equally dire cut is already underway — to funding for the indirect costs that enable universities and other institutions to host research. It seems hard to rally for indirect costs, which are sometimes called “overhead” or “facilities and administration.” But at their core, these funds facilitate science.
For instance, indirect costs don’t pay my salary, but they do pay for small-ticket items like my lab coat and goggles and bigger-ticket items like use of my laboratory space. They don’t pay for the chromatograph I use in my experiments, but they do pay for the electricity to run it. They don’t pay for the sample tubes that feed into my chromatograph, but they do support the purchasing and receiving staff who helped me procure them. They don’t pay for the chemical reagents I put in those sample tubes, but they do support the safe disposal of the used reagents as well as the health and safety staff that facilitates my safe chemical use.
They don’t pay salary for my research assistants, but they do support the human resources unit through which I hire them. They don’t pay for international travel to present my research abroad, but they do cover a federally mandated compliance process to make sure I am not unduly influenced by a foreign entity.
In other words, indirect costs support the deep bench of supporting characters and services that enable me, the scientist, to focus on discovery. Without those services, my research enterprise crumbles, and new discoveries with it.
My indirect cost rate is negotiated every few years between my institution and the federal government. The negotiation is based on hard data showing the actual and acceptable research-related costs incurred by the institution, along with cost projections, often tied to federal mandates. Through this rigorous and iterative mechanism, the overhead rate at my institution — as a percentage of direct research costs — was recently adjusted to 56.5%. I wish it were less, but that is the actual cost of running a research project.
The present model for calculating indirect costs does have flaws and could be improved. But the reduction to 15% — as required by the Trump administration — will be devastating for scientists and institutions. All the functions I rely on to conduct science and train the future workforce will see staggering cuts. Three-quarters of my local research support infrastructure will crumble. The costs are indirect, but the effects will be immediate and direct.
More concerning is that we will all suffer in the long term because of the discoveries, breakthroughs and life-changing advances that we fail to make.
The scientific greatness of the United States is fragile. Before the inception of the National Science Foundation, my grandfather was required to learn German for his biochemistry PhD at Penn State because Germany was then the world’s scientific leader. Should the president’s efforts to cut direct and indirect costs come to pass, it may be China tomorrow. That’s why today we need to remind our elected officials that the U.S. scientific enterprise pays exceptional dividends and that chaotic and punitive cuts risk irreparable harm to it.
David L. Valentine is a professor of marine microbiology and geochemistry at UC Santa Barbara.
Insights
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Perspectives
The following AI-generated content is powered by Perplexity. The Los Angeles Times editorial staff does not create or edit the content.
Ideas expressed in the piece
- The article contends that indirect costs (overhead) are essential for research infrastructure, covering critical expenses like laboratory maintenance, equipment operation, safety compliance, administrative support, and regulatory processes, without which scientific discovery cannot function[1].
- It argues that the Trump administration’s policy capping indirect cost reimbursement at 15% would inflict “staggering cuts” to research support systems, collapsing three-quarters of existing infrastructure and crippling scientific progress[2][3].
- The piece warns that broader proposed NSF budget cuts—57% agency-wide and 75% in ocean research—threaten to “decimate” U.S. scientific leadership, risking a shift in global innovation dominance to nations like China[3].
- It emphasizes that these cuts ignore the actual negotiated costs of research (e.g., UC Santa Barbara’s 56.5% rate) and would undermine “discoveries, breakthroughs, and life-changing advances”[1].
Different views on the topic
- The Trump administration frames indirect costs as excessive “overhead” unrelated to core research, justifying the 15% cap as a cost-saving measure to redirect funds toward prioritized fields like AI and biotechnology[1][2].
- Officials assert that budget cuts focus resources on “national priorities” such as quantum computing, nuclear energy, and semiconductors, arguing that funding “all areas of science” is unsustainable under fiscal constraints[1][3].
- The administration defends its stance against funding research on “misinformation” or “disinformation,” citing constitutional free speech protections and rejecting studies that could “advance a preferred narrative” on public issues[1].
- Policymakers contend that reductions compel universities to streamline operations, though federal judges have blocked similar caps at other agencies (e.g., NIH, Energy Department) as “arbitrary and capricious”[2].
Science
How Bees, Beer Cans and Data Solve the Same Packing Problem

Animation of the same plastic spheres disappearing one at a time.
A holy grail in pure mathematics is sphere packing in higher dimensions. Almost nothing has been rigorously proven about it, except in dimensions 1, 2 and 3.
That’s why it was such a breakthrough when, in 2016, a young Ukrainian mathematician named Maryna Viazovska solved the sphere-packing problem in eight dimensions, and later, with collaborators, in 24 dimensions.
Science
Union presses California’s key bird flu testing lab for records

The union representing workers at a UC Davis lab that tests and tracks bird flu infections in livestock has sued the university, demanding that records showing staffing levels and other information about the lab’s operations be released to the public.
Workers in the lab’s small biotechnology department had raised concerns late last year about short staffing and potentially bungled testing procedures as cases of avian flu spread through millions of birds in turkey farms and chicken and egg-laying facilities, as well as through the state’s cattle herds.
The University Professional and Technical Employees-CWA Local 9119 said that it requested records in December 2024 in an attempt to understand whether the lab was able to properly service the state’s agribusiness.
But UC Davis has refused to release records, in violation of California’s public records laws, the union alleged in a lawsuit recently filed in Alameda County Superior Court.
UC Davis spokesperson Bill Kisliuk declined to comment on the lawsuit’s specific allegations.
“The university looks forward to filing our response in court. We are grateful for the outstanding work of the CAHFS lab staff, including UPTE-represented workers, during the 2024 surge in avian flu testing,” Kisliuk said in an email.
UC Davis has previously denied that workplace issues have left the lab ill-equipped to handle bird flu testing. Kisliuk had said the facility “maintained the supervision, staffing and resources necessary to provide timely and vital health and safety information to those asking us to perform tests.”
According to copies of email correspondence cited in the lawsuit, UC Davis in January denied the union’s request for records regarding short staffing or testing errors, calling the request “unduly burdensome.” It also denied its request for information about farms and other businesses that had samples tested at the lab, citing an exemption to protect from an “invasion of personal privacy.”
Workers at the lab had previously told The Times that they observed lapses in quality assurance procedures, as well as other mistakes in the testing process.
Amy Fletcher, a UC Davis employee and president of the union’s Davis chapter, said the records would provide a necessary window into how staffing levels could be hurting farms and other businesses that rely on the lab for testing. Fletcher said workers have become afraid to speak about problems at the lab, having been warned by management that the some information related to testing is confidential.
The Davis lab is the only entity in the state with the authority to confirm bird flu cases.
The union, known as UPTE, represents about 20,000 researchers and other technical workers across the University of California system’s 10 campuses.
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