Awesome mumps catch-up vaccination commercial. Instead of pharmaceutical advertisements on television, we need more ads like this.
Via Kevin, MD
Posts Tagged ‘Vaccine’
Mumps vaccination commercial
Saturday, February 28th, 2009Eradicating Polio – The Final Inch
Wednesday, November 19th, 2008Poliomyelitis is a deadly disease which may affect the central nervous system leading to irreversible flaccid paralysis of the legs. Since it strikes children at a very young age, affected children are paralyzed for their entire life.
Google’s philanthropic arm – Google.org is about to release a movie titled “The Final Inch” to document the historic effort to eradicate this disease from the planet. Once we succeed this will be second disease after small pox to be found only in history books (and/or some covert lab, somewhere in the world).
The Final Inch is a 38-minute film about the historic global effort to eradicate polio. Here, the story told is as much about the messengers as the message. You’ll meet Munzareen Fatima, one of the thousands of community “foot soldiers” across India working to sway reluctant families to vaccinate their children, and Dr. Ashfaq Bhat, who travels into the backwaters of India’s Ganges Basin by boat and foot to detect emerging cases of polio. Martha Mason and Mikail Davenport bring us into their lives and describe the paralyzing challenges of childhood polio, reminding us how endemic polio once was in the United States.
Filmed in high-definition (HD) in cinematic style — wide open shots to give a strong sense of place — The Final Inch captures their stories, and we hope it is both a tribute and an inspiration of hope. With a final push, this is a disease that can, and should, be eradicated finally.
The movie airs on HBO in 2009. Check out the film trailer:
Measles vaccine and Autism
Thursday, September 4th, 2008In continuation to my earlier post, now there is more proof that measles vaccine does not cause autism. And I reiterate that the benefits of MMR vaccination far outweighs any risks.
Researchers at Columbia University and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sought to allay some of their fears today, releasing study results they said showed “no connection” between the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine and autism in kids.
The researchers were dealing with a hypothesis out there that, as they explained it in a call with reporters, goes something like this: The measles virus from the vaccine could reproduce in the intestinal tract, leading to inflammation and bowel permeability. That leaky bowel could permit the release of chemicals that would make their way to the nervous system, causing trouble.
The researchers compared bowel tissues from two groups of kids, one with gastrointestinal problems and autism, and the other with gastrointestinal problems alone. But they didn’t find any differences between the two groups that suggested the vaccine could be to blame.
References: Wall Street Journal Health Blog, Public Library of Science
Rising incidence of Measles
Sunday, August 24th, 2008In contrast to my earlier post, Measles vaccine is very effective and should be given to each and every child. Failure to vaccinate children is leading to to measles outbreaks which will increase in the future. Furthermore, the risk of contracting measles (with its attendant complications) far outweigh the risk of developing autism.
More people had measles infections in the first seven months of this year than during any comparable period since 1996, and public health officials blamed growing numbers of parents who refuse to vaccinate their children.
Many of these parents say they believe vaccines cause autism, even though multiple studies have found no reputable evidence to support such a claim.
Reference: New York Times, Center for Disease Control (CDC)
Public domain image. CDC Public Health Image Library.
Is Gardasil really for everyone?
Saturday, August 23rd, 2008More proof that we need extended studies before blanket recommendations are made for targeting the entire population rather than “high risk” (in this case most likely to benefit) group.
A new study suggests that giving Merck & Co.’s cervical-cancer vaccine Gardasil to women through their mid-20s may not be worth the price, despite U.S. recommendations that this age group receive the costly shot.
The study, published online Wednesday by The New England Journal of Medicine, comes as Merck already is having difficulty persuading college-age and older women to get the vaccine, which was introduced in 2006 and costs about $360 for a three-dose regimen. This has contributed to a slowdown in Gardasil sales, casting a cloud on Merck’s financial outlook.
Study Questions Cost-Effectiveness Of Gardasil Cervical-Cancer Vaccine – WSJ.com
