A (fairly) Comprehensive Review of What We Know, What We Think We Know and What You Should Consider about COVID-19. My intention here is to provide you with information. With this information, you can make your own decisions about your health care. Any recommendations that I make are just that – you can choose whetherContinue reading “A (fairly) Comprehensive Review of What We Know, What We Think We Know and What You Should Consider about COVID-19.”
Tag Archives: vaccine
The Loss of Control of Measles in the U.S.: A Harbinger of Bad Things to Come
For the past five years, we have been seeing the impacts of decades of coordinated anti-vaccine, and more generally and more recently, anti-science campaigns on a grand scale. When writing the previous sentence, I initially used the phrase “we have been seeing the end results,” but then I replaced “end results” with “impacts.” That isContinue reading “The Loss of Control of Measles in the U.S.: A Harbinger of Bad Things to Come”
Measles
What is measles? Measles is a highly contagious virus that causes infection (also called measles). Because it is so contagious, most people who have not yet been infected or vaccinated who are exposed to someone infected with the virus will develop measles. How is measles transmitted? Measles is spread by direct contact with respiratory dropletsContinue reading “Measles”
Weighing the Risk of Vaccines versus Disease
In my prior blog post on Why Get Vaccinated and How Do Vaccines Work, I tried to explain what vaccines are, how they work at a very basic level, and the benefits of vaccines that might weigh in favor of immunization for those who have no or only a rudimentary understanding of vaccines, immunology andContinue reading “Weighing the Risk of Vaccines versus Disease”
The Polio Vaccines
Polio and other vaccines have been thrust into the spotlight with a New York Times report on December 13th that was updated on the 15th by reporters Christina Jewett and Sheryl Gay Stolberg revealing that an attorney working with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. had petitioned the government to revoke (or suspend) the FDA’s approval ofContinue reading “The Polio Vaccines”
Why get Vaccinated and How do Vaccines Work?
Other than sanitation (especially clean water, proper food handling, and reducing human exposure to rodents), I cannot think of anything that has done more to reduce childhood mortality, relieve human suffering and extend human life expectancy than vaccines. What is a vaccine? In general, a vaccine is something given by mouth (e.g., polio vaccine), intranasallyContinue reading “Why get Vaccinated and How do Vaccines Work?”
Responding to a Potential Avian Influenza (Bird Flu) Pandemic – Vaccines
I am often asked whether our seasonal flu vaccines could be used to prevent avian influenza (bird flu) infections, and if not, how long would it take to produce and distribute bird flu vaccines. I’ll try to answer both questions in this blog post. The U.S. government has stored some H5N1 vaccines made in theContinue reading “Responding to a Potential Avian Influenza (Bird Flu) Pandemic – Vaccines”
Addressing the Current Vaccine Disinformation
Let’s get a few matters out of the way before we dive in. Okay, with that out of the way, let’s dive in. I can’t possibly address all the lies and disinformation being spread out there, but let’s take some of the big ones, and then I may tackle some of the other ones inContinue reading “Addressing the Current Vaccine Disinformation”
Understanding Influenza – Part I
How Does the CDC conduct influenza surveillance? Are we seeing an increase in influenza activity yet? Is it time to get my flu shot? How Does the CDC conduct influenza surveillance? First, there is virologic surveillance, i.e., testing by a network of laboratories for the influenza virus and reporting to the CDC of those results.Continue reading “Understanding Influenza – Part I”
Marburg Virus Disease Outbreak Update
I have previously written about the Marburg virus, the timeline and history of outbreaks, and the recent outbreak in Rwanda. This is an update. Marburg virus is one of the deadliest viruses known to infect humans. Much of the background information below comes from “Key information about Rwanda’s deadly Marburg outbreak is still missing” https://www.science.org/content/article/key-information-about-rwanda-s-deadly-marburg-outbreak-still-missing.Continue reading “Marburg Virus Disease Outbreak Update”
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