Shot of Prevention RSS Feed
05/18/2012
Medical Community Response to Irresponsible Media
It’s encouraging to see what can be accomplished when we insist on accurate vaccination messages. Earlier this week, a concerned parent who frequently comments on our Vaccinate Your Baby Facebook page, alerted us to an article on The Discovery Channel’s TLC site entitled “5 Things to Consider When Deciding to Vaccinate Your Child”. Unfortunately, the article contained numerous inaccuracies and [...]
05/16/2012
Concerned Parents Call Out Irresponsible Media
Modern culture is often reflected in everything from the skewed view of popular reality shows and viral YouTube videos, to the personal discussions friends have on Facebook and in online chat rooms. Since we are bombarded by such a wide variety of media, today’s parents must constantly navigate the popular messages and decipher between that which serves to entertain, versus that which is intended as news and information. The challenge is that this is becoming increasingly [...]
05/10/2012
Moms Who Vax Are Speaking Out
Last week I heard about a woman, opposed to vaccines, that presents business cards to random strangers, like the pregnant teller at the bank. The card directs people to information that is intended to deter them from immunizing their children. While this woman is a prime example of the vocal minority, the truth is that the majority of parents vaccinate their children as recommended. They just don’t feel the need [...]
05/08/2012
Evaluating Vaccines Requires Critical Thinking
Most of the topics I post about on this blog are intended to encourage conversation about solutions to immunization challenges. However, more often than not, the comment section on each post is inevitably derailed by those who wish to discredit the value of vaccines. These visitors often make repeated claims about the thoroughly debunked vaccine/autism link, or they suggest that the [...]
05/04/2012
The Cost of Containing An Epidemic
We already know that there is a pertussis epidemic in Washington State. But here’s the update today. The Governor is tapping into an emergency fund to help contain the epidemic and encourage residents to get vaccinated. Perhaps this is a prime example of how it can be more costly to address an epidemic of a vaccine preventable disease [...]
05/03/2012
Pertussis Problems Persist
Not enough can be done to ensure people are educated about the dangers of pertussis (also known as whooping cough). That’s why I wanted to highlight a few of this week’s articles that focus on issues related to pertussis. Brady’s Battle Proves Pertussis Can Present in Unexpected Ways CommonHealth writer, Rachel Zimmerman, was familiar with Brady’s story that we highlighted on [...]
05/01/2012
Every Child By Two Partners With Shot@Life
Last week’s Shot@Life campaign launch was not only impressive, but extremely inspirational. Several months ago, I learned how the Shot@Life campaign was focused on building awareness, raising funds and advocating for the millions of children around the world who do not have access to life-saving vaccines. The message is simple, yet profound. Every 20 seconds a child dies around the [...]
04/25/2012
Brady’s Battle with Pertussis
This week marks the 18th celebration of National Infant Immunization Week (NIIW), observed in conjunction with the World Health Organization’s first annual World Immunization Week. As we highlight the importance of childhood immunizations, it’s important that we also recognize the impact that vaccines can have on people in our communities that are not able to be vaccinated. Since infants don’t begin receiving vaccinations for [...]
04/23/2012
The Making of A Milestone and the Power to Protect
Today happens to be my youngest daughter’s 7th birthday – a milestone for her and a day that she has been anticipating for weeks now. As a typical seven-year old girl she has everything planned, right down to the sprinkles on the cupcakes she wanted me to bring into her first grade class. Unfortunately, yesterday I had [...]
04/20/2012
One Baby’s Battle with a Bacterial Infection Goes Viral
How is it possible that one tiny baby, who only graced this planet for a mere 27 days, can have such an enormous impact on people today? I believe it has to do with passion…persistence… and the horrible impact of a disease called pertussis. Kaliah was only 27 days old when she lost her life [...]
04/17/2012
Addressing Vaccine Hesitancy: What Advice Would You Give Your Pediatrician?
Later this week, I will have the privilege of speaking with a group of pediatricians about the topic of vaccine hesitancy. While it’s not a subject that is new to any pediatrician, it continues to be an area that they are concerned about. Although there are some doctors who refuse to see patients who remain unvaccinated, and others like Dr. [...]
04/12/2012
Chickenpox Outbreak in Florida Exposes Importance of Varicella Vaccine
According to recent reports in The Gainesville Sun, there is a chickenpox outbreak in Florida that has recently spread to five different schools. Currently, the outbreak involves 65 cases in which 26 children were infected from the Bhaktivedanta Academy, 25 children from the Alachua Learning Center, one child in a public school and 13 others — four adults, eight children and one infant. [...]
04/09/2012
California Immunization Coalition Co-Sponsors Important Bill to Prevent Disease
The California Immunization Coalition (CIC) is proud to be a co-sponsor of AB 2109 (Pan) Vaccine Preventable Diseases along with the American Academy of Pediatrics – CA District, the California Medical Association, and the Health Officers Association of California which has the goal of improving vaccination rates and reducing the use of the personal belief [...]
04/06/2012
Whose “Rights” Shall Prevail in Vermont?
Last week I made the nine-hour round trip trek up to beautiful Montpelier, Vermont to testify in front of the House Committee on Healthcare. As I made my way over the lovely mountain towns and stunning valleys en route to the hearing, I was certain that my testimony could help sway the committee to vote in [...]
04/03/2012
Importance of Immunizations Across the Lifespan
Until this past year, I can only remember one occasion where a doctor had ever suggested I consider an adult immunization. So while we place a great deal of emphasis on our children and their routine immunizations, it has occurred to me that adult immunizations are often overlooked. In a recent article that appeared in [...]
03/29/2012
Vaccine Supporters, Get Out Your Megaphones
Last week, Dr. David Katz, the founding director of Yale University’s Prevention Research Center, wrote an article for the Huffington Post. He explained his concern about the future of public health, stating that if we continue a trend towards rising rates of preventable diseases, coupled with declining rates of vaccination, that we may be taking a [...]
03/23/2012
Projects To Prevent Disease
I’m always amazed at the clever ingenuity of non-profit organizations and public health agencies that focus on disease prevention. They typically have a long list of ambitious objectives, and a short list of resources to help accomplish them. They are often tasked with communicating complicated messages that are of great importance, but are not nearly [...]
03/20/2012
Heritage Night Helps Children Recognize their Role as Global Citizens
Each year, our local elementary school organizes a Heritage Night to celebrate the global diversity that exists within our school community. This special event encourages both students and their parents to share their cultural cuisine, traditional dress and honored customs with one another in an engaging and interactive way. The first year my family and [...]
03/16/2012
Bill Addressing VT Philosophical Exemptions is Halfway There
We covered this before and will no doubt cover it again. The use of philosophical vaccine exemptions available in many states allow children to attend public schools without the state mandated vaccinations. In some states, such as Vermont, there is concern about the growing use of these exemptions and how an increased number of unvaccinated children may threaten the health of other students. There are [...]
03/13/2012
Should Doctors Refuse Patients Who Refuse?
Week after week, I read about doctors who are refusing patients who refuse vaccines. It’s an ongoing debate that has drawn a great deal of commendation and criticism. On the one hand, doctors are admired for taking a strong stand in support of timely immunizations. They typically make these policy decisions based on a number of different reasons. They understand that there is no scientific reason [...]
