A New York state court judge's ruling, revoking New York City's mandatory flu vaccination for pre-school and young school children, is a counterproductive public health move. Hopefully the state legislature can revise the law to allow the city to require such vaccinations, to protect its youngest kids.
vaccination
Pertussis, or whooping cough, is one of those vaccine-preventable diseases that have been on the rise, as we pointed out here. That's because of waning immunity and low rates of revaccination, as well as fears of some parents.
As more children and teens become susceptible to whooping cough (pertussis), it becomes more important to protect newborns and infants from contagion transmitted by those age groups. With siblings now transmitting the virus more often than moms, pregnant women need to be vaccinated to insure protection.
In a recent New York Times column, Jane Brody encourages pregnant women to get vaccinated, both for their own health and for the benefit of their newborn babies.
We ve written several times about the Disneyland measles outbreak that occurred earlier this year. A total of 147 people were sickened in the US, and infections also spread to Mexico and Canada. The outbreak once again sparked the debate about vaccinations. With
After a four-hour hearing, California lawmakers approved Senate Bill 277, which prevents most exemptions (opting out) for parents trying to avoid vaccinating their children due to personal beliefs. The bill was proposed in the wake of the Disneyland measles outbreak that began in December. The final vote on the bill was 6-2. However, it must pass through several more hearings before a possible Senate floor vote, and then go through the state Assembly, and then to Gov. Jerry Brown (whose vaccine beliefs are
The CDC recommends that children be vaccinated for 14 diseases before the age of 6. In total, 29 shots should be given, and sometimes several shots are given at once. The CDC states, The recommended immunization schedule is
Earlier this month, we covered a measles outbreak that began in Disneyland, where nine cases of the disease were confirmed. Now, the outbreak is continuing to spread across California, as 59 cases of measles have been
Starting December 31st , children in all city regulated preschools and child care centers who are between the ages of 6 months and 5 years will be required to get the flu vaccine. The children must receive at least one dose of the influenza vaccine between July 1st and December 31st, and
Flu season is here, and The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that everyone age 6 months and older receive the flu vaccination every year, with few exceptions. However, even though influenza and pneumonia ranked eighth in the top 10 causes of death in the US in 2011, some people still choose to forgo the vaccine due to fear
Dr. Jennifer Raff, Ph.D., an anthropological geneticist, masterfully writes an open letter to anti-vaxxer parents that gets straight to point even in its title: Dear parents, you are being lied to. The piece was published on her blog, Violent Metaphors.
Vaccination rates in Hollywood s elite schools have dropped drastically low, according to an investigation by The Hollywood Reporter that looked into vaccination rates in Los Angeles County schools. The schools with the lowest rates are clustered in the affluent Westside, where some schools have vaccination rates as low as South Sudan, where only 65 percent of children are vaccinated.