Do you know the difference between

stomach flu and influenza?

Vaccinate Indiana

2 weeks ago

"Cost, perception remain barriers in pharmacy-based vaccination" Modern Medicine (June 8, 2017) - "Adult vaccination rates are historically low in the U.S., and both cost and access have a lot to do with it. Stakeholders have called for increased access, such as through pharmacy-based vaccination programs, but a new report verifies that cost is prohibitive and keeps patients from utilizing those services. In a new report titled, 'Opportunities and Challenges of Adolescent and Adult Vaccination Administration within Pharmacies in the United States,' and published in Biomedical Informatics Insights, researchers sought to identify factors that promote or deter pharmacy-based vaccinations for teens and adults. The research team focused on human papillomavirus (HPV); tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (TDAP); or meningitis (meningococcal conjugate vaccine [MCV4]), influenza and pneumococcal vaccines. Three quarters of the pharmacists that participated in the study reported that vaccination rates could be increased, and that insurance coverage, patient education, and pharmacist's time constraints were common challenges."

medicaleconomics.modernmedicine.com/medical-economics/news/cost-perception-remain-barriers-pharma... ...

Vaccinate Indiana

2 weeks ago

OPINION: "To keep kids healthy, knowledge is power" The Houston Chronicle (TX) (June 5, 2017) - "About six years ago, a Texas resident visited Minnesota three times to talk with its Somali community. Not just any Texas resident: This was Andrew Wakefield, the doctor disgraced for his widely condemned 1998 study claiming a connection between autism and the measles vaccine. Dozens of studies have since proven Wakefield wrong, but scientific fact hasn't stopped him from continuing to spread harm. That harm is very real and obvious today. Minnesota's Somali community saw its vaccination rate plummet by more than half, to 42 percent in 2014. And recently, 69 Minnesotans, most of them young children, most of them Somali, almost all of them unvaccinated, had fallen sick with measles. Measles is a potentially deadly illness. About a fourth of the stricken Minnesota children had to be hospitalized. One in a thousand measles patients will suffer the serious side effect of encephalitis, or brain swelling, and there are many other possible complications. And measles is so swift-spreading that 90 percent of the unvaccinated people who are exposed will fall ill. Only 3 percent of vaccinated people catch the disease... Linda McGee, Chair of the Advocacy Committee, The Immunization Partnership"

www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/outlook/article/McGee-To-keep-kids-healthy-knowledge-is-power-11... ...

Vaccinate Indiana

3 weeks ago

"How countries around the world try to encourage vaccination" CNN (June 6, 2017) - "New legislation in Germany will make it mandatory for all kindergartens to notify the German health authority if parents haven't submitted proof of vaccination counseling for their children. The policy goes into effect by next month and marks a change to current German law, which requires parents to submit proof that they have attended vaccination counseling before enrolling their child in kindergarten. This law, which has been in place for the past three years, doesn't require the school to report parents who have not been counseled by their doctors. Why the change? From the beginning of 2017 to May 7, Germany has reported 634 cases of measles, compared with just 62 cases over the same period in 2016, according to a report from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Another report indicates that a 37-year-old woman in the city of Essen died of measles, a viral disease that can lead to complications including pneumonia and encephalitis."

www.cnn.com/2017/06/06/health/vaccine-uptake-incentives/index.html ...

Vaccinate Indiana

3 weeks ago

"What Parents of Every Teen Should Know About Meningitis" Shot of Prevention (June 2, 2017) - "The most important thing parents of teens need to know about meningococcal disease is that it can be very serious. And by serious, we mean debilitating and often deadly. Even with prompt medical treatment, about 1 in 10 people with meningococcal disease will die from it. Of those who survive, about 1 to 2 will have permanent disabilities such as brain damage, hearing loss, loss of kidney function or limb amputations. The best thing parents can do to protect their children from meningococcal disease is to get them vaccinated against all of the preventable forms of the disease. What causes meningitis and meningococcal disease? Meningitis refers to a swelling of the protective membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord. While meningitis is commonly caused by a bacterial or viral infection, it can also be caused by injuries, cancer, certain drugs, and other types of infections."

shotofprevention.com/2017/06/02/what-the-parent-of-every-teen-should-know-about-meningitis/ ...

Vaccinate Indiana

3 weeks ago

"The 'Too Many, Too Soon' Myth" The Immunization Partnership - TIP Talk! (June 1, 2017) - "Among the many anti-vaccine myths dutifully presented by fervent immunization opponents is the argument 'Too Many, Too Soon.' It is often raised after all the other straw men about mercury, aluminum, autism, etc. have been knocked down. It is what I like to call the 'But still' argument. It falls in that category because it's usually presented in the following way: 'Okay, vaccines may work and may be safe for the vast majority of people, and may be effective in eradicating disease, but still my instinct tells me that Big Pharma/Big Government/Corrupt CDC/Uneducated Pediatricians are giving little babies too many vaccines all at once, and too soon for their little baby immune systems to handle.' There are variations on this theme, including 'One Size Does Not Fit All' and 'They Didn't Give That Many Back In My Day.' And it can be an effective argument when presented to someone who is unclear or misinformed about the way vaccines work and the way our immune systems work."

www.immunizeusa.org/blog/2017/june/01/suh/ ...