While viral contagions spread across the nation like wildfire, stubborn pockets of anti-vaccine resistance promote their spread and expose all of us vaccinated or not to needless danger.
According to an article in the New York Times, while a majority of consumers surveyed think it s important to know if foods are made with genetically engineered (GMO) ingredients, most are pretty ignorant about what s already out there in the marketplace.
The latest in health news: anti-vaxxers stand by their beliefs while measles breaks in Disney and a new study confirms their safety, antiviral drugs may be the alternative to the failed flu shots but not all experts agree, and in the court of public opinion, fear-mongers win the debate over gmo and pesticide safety.
There have been some remarkable advances in medicine over the past two decades. HIV infection is no longer a death sentence. Hepatitis C is now readily curable. There is now a vaccine to prevent cervical cancer one of only two cancer vaccines in existence. Targeted approaches to cancer, as well as the use of genetic information for personalizing therapies for individual patients have the potential to completely change the way that cancer and maybe other diseases are treated.
But, science is unpredictable. There are still diseases that simply won t yield, despite the huge amount of research that is thrown at them.
Influenza is one of them.
A survey by the Pew Research Center, in collaboration with the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), asked members of the public, on the one hand, and scientists associated with AAAS on the other, about a range of scientific and health issues often in the news.
The news these past few weeks has been dominated with stories about vaccines: the effectiveness of the flu vaccine, the measles outbreak in Disneyland, the anti-vaxers holding strong to their beliefs that vaccines are harmful. Well, a new study published in
We have perennially been on opposite sides of the table from the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) on virtually every issue, for example, artificial sweeteners, trace chemicals,
As the measles outbreak continues to spread, anti-vaxers cling to their beliefs that children should not receive the life-saving vaccine. Alex Berezow, founding editor of
Australian researchers have successfully trialed a peanut allergy treatment in children, which has potential to lead to a long-term cure for the condition. About 1 percent of Americans have peanut allergies, and in Australia, where
As one of only a few states that have passed laws requiring the labeling of genetically engineered (GMO) foods or ingredients, Vermont is feeling its way carefully.
