Many may think the Ebola epidemic ended when major U.S. news outlets stopped covering it. However, the epidemic has raged on for over a year in West Africa. But there is some good news: the three countries at the center of the epidemic have not reported any new cases in over a week.
vaccine
Activists in California announced this week that they were not able to garner enough signatures to put the new, tighter school vaccine requirements on the 2016 ballot, in an effort to overturn them. This is a significant win for public health, but it also reveals something about how thin California's anti-vax movement really is.
The American Academy of Pediatrics is seeking to mandate that all healthcare workers receive flu vaccinations. Many healthcare workers, especially nurses, believe this is a violation of personal rights. But the science on the safety of the jab is clear and the policy could potentially benefit thousands of people.
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.
The holy grail of malaria prevention, a vaccine effective in preventing this devastating mosquito-borne parasitic disease, is one step closer to reality. The new GSK vaccine, RTS/S now called Mosquirix, provided significant albeit below-ideal levels of protection for infants and toddler, which will save thousands of lives.
We ve been avidly following the progress of California s vaccine law, and we are pleased to note that it is slated to take effect in 2016.