History of Vaccines Blog
Farm Animals and Pets Also Need Vaccines
Unless you adhere to a strict, no-pork diet, you’ve probably had some sort of pork product in your life. From bacon with breakfast to a pork chop for dinner and gelatin for dessert, there are too many pork products to list. According to the National Pork Producers Council, the United States produces about $23 billion in pork products each year. Like with other livestock, it is crucial for pork growers to keep their herd healthy.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices Expands Recommendations on HPV Vaccine, Leaves Some Decisions Up to Patients and Their Providers
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has made two recommendations on the use of the vaccine against the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). First, the upper bound of the age recommendation for women is now age 26. For men, it remains at 21. The committee also recommended that men and women ages 27 to 45 have a discussion with their healthcare providers and receive the vaccine if they’re deemed to be at risk for the infection.
With More Deaths in a Younger Population, Measles Is Affecting the Democratic Republic of Congo Worse Than Ebola
According to Doctors Without Borders, there have been over 1,500 deaths from measles in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in the first five months of 2019.
Where People Go, Diseases Follow
Wherever there are people, there is disease. This seems like a “truism” — something that should go without saying and is just a part of life — but, when you think about it, there really is no reason for there to be disease among us. Injuries and conditions that rise from genetic abnormalities, sure, but infectious disease?
Student Documentary on Polio
The following documentary on the polio epidemic in the United States was put together by Defne and Kaya Ceyhan, students at Upper Arlington High School in Columbus, Ohio. It was part of a senior group documentary competition for National History Day 2019. Their documentary won the district and state contests.
Celebrities Have Influence on Vaccination
When the 13 colonies that would become the United States of America were fighting the Revolutionary War against England, General George Washington ordered his troops to receive the variolation against smallpox. This was the time before Jenner’s smallpox vaccine, so variolation was the best protection against smallpox, a disease that would decimate whole communities when it would arrive in merchant vessels. In 1777, Gen.
Chickenpox Vaccine and Shingles Risk
When I was 4 or 5 years old, in the early 1980s, I contracted chickenpox (also known as varicella). I remember the days that I spent home feeling sick and covered in pocks because my parents decided that it would be a good idea to invite all my cousins to come over and get exposed. The house was soon filled with over a dozen children my age, and I couldn’t join them in playing because I was sick while they were running around, laughing and playing. A few days later, I felt better, but almost all of my cousins went down with the disease.
More Evidence That Vaccine Policy Is Political
Governor Gavin Newsom of California has expressed some concerns over a recent bill before the California State Legislature aimed at reducing the number of unqualified medical exemptions to the vaccine mandates in the state.
The Anti-Vaccine Misinformation You Read on Twitter Probably Came From Russia
In what seems to be an offshoot of the Russian interference with the 2016 Presidential Elections in the United States, Russian “trolls” apparently sowed discord in the American public on the issue of vaccinations. A “troll” is a person who behaves online in a way that creates controversy only for the sake of causing trouble. In a study from George Washington University, it was found that Russian trolls used memes and other social media posts to cast doubt on the United States vaccination recommendations.
Memes like this one: