Children’s Flu Vaccination Day

Tuesday, November 27, the CDC is sponsoring Children’s Flu Vaccination Day. This is coinciding with National Influenza Vaccination Week.  Follow this link to find influenza activity across the United States for the week of November 11 through November 17, 2007.

The 2007-2008 influenza season is just beginning, and nationwide,
influenza activity is currently very low. So far, only two states are
reporting local influenza activity. In the United States, influenza
activity can begin as early as October and continues through May. Each
year, on average, from five to 20 percent of the U.S. population is
infected with influenza, with influenza estimated to result in 36,000
deaths and more than 200,000 hospitalizations from flu-related
complications in a typical year.

Autism-vaccine link court hearing

Researchers and physicians suggest no link exists between autism and vaccinations. As the court proceedings heat up, I am sure the media is going to flood the airwaves with both sides of the story. This is definitely one to keep tuned into. There is so much at stake. From the parents end of the spectrum; finding justice and being vindicated.  At the other end of the spectrum, physicians, researchers and manufactures of the vaccinations are defending their work and research…and let’s never forget about the money involved.

Follow this link to an ABCnews.com article with a view point of physicians and research.

States are moving on HPV vaccine

I have linked to a summary of current/recent legislation that relates to the HPV vaccine.  States such as Alaska, Colorado and Oregon are making it easier and less costly to get the vaccine.

Follow this link to the Medical News Today article.

Gardasil faces the lobbyist

About a week ago I wrote about Gardasil and mandatory vaccination. Looks like I was right on about opposition about the religious right. I found articles by CBS Health Watch and the other by MSNBC.

The State of Georgia was to make the vaccination to prevent cervical cancer mandatory. The governor of Georgia budgeted $4.3 million in the state budget to vaccinate 13,000 girls who do not have insurance. The religious right aggressively lobbied against this, thinking that the vaccination would promote promiscuity.

The religious conservatives did not want the government to mandate a vaccine for “something that is only contracted through sexual activity,” said Sadie Fields, executive director of the Georgia Christian Alliance.

HIV vaccine awareness day

May 18, 2007 marks the 10th annual HIV Vaccine Awareness Day, an opportunity to reflect upon the more than two decades of progress worldwide in the search for a safe and effective HIV vaccine. Today, many challenges remain, but we look forward with optimism as the HIV vaccine candidates in clinical trials today are among the most promising we have seen.

These clinical trials, as well as efforts to design the next generation of candidate vaccines, are essential to developing a safe and effective vaccine to help eradicate the modern-day plague of HIV/AIDS. The urgency of finding a safe and effective HIV vaccine is underscored by sobering statistics: Forty million people are currently living with HIV infection. Every day, another 11,000 individuals become infected with HIV, most of whom live in resource-poor countries. Last year alone, it is estimated that more than 40,000 individuals in the United States were infected with HIV. In this country, available data indicate that approximately two-thirds of new HIV diagnoses occur among African Americans and Hispanics, and more than one-quarter of new HIV diagnoses are in women.

NIH Vaccine Awareness Press Release

www.bethegeneration.org 

Gardasil Working a Predicted

  A third study has confirmed the effectiveness of Gardasil, a vaccine to prevent Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). The vaccine protected 98% of the women in the study.
The controversy of this vaccine is that it only works if you have never been exposed to the virus. So essentially you must have little, to no unprotected sex to receive the vaccine. Also there is a segment of our population, who believe that by giving this vaccine, you are giving permission for the girl to go have sex.
I believe that is a ridiculous thought process, but, it’s out there.

CNN Gardasil article here

Read an article on MSNBC about the controversy of Gardasil in Texas