History of Vaccines Blog
C-SPAN recently posted this video of a Public Health Service and Merck collaboration to inform the people about measles back in 1964. It's about 20 minutes long, and gives us a glimpse of what public health authorities were informing the public about when it came to measles. Read More...
April 27, 2019
A quick video from NBC's "Stay Tuned" on YouTube explaining what vaccines are and what the anti-vaccine movement is. Read More...
April 26, 2019
Yes, vaccines cost money, but they save more money on average and in the long run by keeping children healthy. Health children mean less time off from work for parents, and a healthier and more productive workforce in the future. Read More...
April 21, 2019
Some of the misinformation regarding vaccines includes an argument that vaccines have not been tested against a saline placebo in a double-blinded randomized clinical trial. This misinformation is aimed at confusing the wealth of evidence regarding the safety and effectiveness of immunizations. In this blog post, we will explain what a blinded randomized clinical trial is, when this study design has been used in the development of immunizations, and why it is not used as often anymore. Read More...
April 19, 2019
Feel like reading a good book or two, or three? Here are three good recommendations, no strings attached. Read More...
April 15, 2019
How do vaccines go from an idea to market in the United States in the modern era? Here is a video from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) describing the process. Read More...
April 14, 2019
Over 1,200 people are reported dead in Madagascar from a measles epidemic that started last September. Most of the dead are children, and parents are going through a lot to get them vaccinated and avoid the disease. Meanwhile, in the United States, anti-vaccine groups and individuals have convinced several state legislators to introduce bills to make it easier to skip childhood vaccinations. Read More...
New human trials on a universal influenza vaccine are underway, but that's not the only new technology coming down the pike... Read More...
April 9, 2019
After trying many different ways of trying to increase the rate of measles vaccination in children whose parents hesitate to vaccinate them, the City of New York has declared a public health emergency. The consequences for not vaccinating when required will include a stiff fine. Read More...
April 7, 2019
An outbreak of mumps has hit Temple University in Philadelphia. In response, health authorities are offering a free vaccination clinic. Despite being a highly-vaccinated population, college students have been at the center of recent outbreaks of mumps in the United States. With so many third doses of the MMR vaccine being given out in outbreak response, there is growing evidence that a third dose may be needed to boost waning immunity and prevent these outbreaks. Read More...