Black girl getting a vaccine shot in the arm. Vaccine FAQ
    Vaccine FAQ: Autism, Immunity, Mercury, Safety, SIDS

    How Is Vaccine Safety Monitored? Like antibiotics, vaccines have prevented unfathomable suffering, but some parents may worry about the potential side effects of giving them to their children. Immuniz…

    Fear, Measles, and Protecting our Kids
    Fear, Measles, and Protecting our Kids

    Claims that the MMR vaccine might cause inflammatory bowel disease or autism continue to haunt parents. I'm asked about the connection every week. The group that began the controversy, researchers fro…

    Scared to Give Your Kids the H1N1 Flu Vaccine? The Benefits Outweigh the Risks

    The Centers for Disease Control say all people from 6 months through 24 years are in a high priority group for getting the flu shot this year. But I can understand the fear some parents have about the…

    Should you get the flu vaccine?
    Should You Get the Flu Vaccine?

    In 2009-2010, the H1N1 flu (swine flu) outbreak brought public awareness to the potential seriousness of the flu virus. During the pandemic, there were 12,469 deaths in the United States attributable …

    Pregnancy and H1N1 Flu
    Pregnancy and H1N1 Flu

    If you think you may get pregnant in the next year, this may be the most important year to get a flu shot ? and an H1N1 flu shot, when it becomes available. When pregnant, it's generally best to avoid…

    Tween boys and girls looking into the camera. HPV vaccine can be given as young as 9 years old.
    HPV Vaccine for Boys and Girls

     Yes. The HPV vaccine is safe and very effective against certain types of cancers. If started before a child?s 15th birthday, only two doses spaced 6-12 months apart are needed for protection.  HPV Va…

    Flu Vaccine Recommendations
    Flu Vaccine Recommendations

    Flu season is almost here. Most people who get the flu feel miserable, but recover without major problem. Nevertheless, each year, the flu kills an average of about 36,000 people in the US alone. Over…

    Stark Rubella Contrasts
    Stark Rubella Contrasts

    The World Health Organization estimates that about 100,000 children each year are born with congenital rubella syndrome (CRS), a major cause of severe birth defects such as blindness, deafness, heart …

    Mercury Free versus No Added Mercury
    Mercury Free versus No Added Mercury

    A concerned father recently contacted me about the no-added-mercury flu vaccine. He had called the manufacturers who admitted that there were still trace amounts of mercury in the vaccine. He wanted t…

    PCV Vaccine Results
    PCV Vaccine Results

    It seems like kids these days get so many shots. One of the recent additions to the routine vaccine schedule is the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV or Prevnar). Pneumococcal bacteria are the leadi…

    No-Mercury-Added Flu Vaccines
    No-Mercury-Added Flu Vaccines

    More children than ever before are expected to get the flu vaccine for the 2004-2005 flu season, both because of new recommendations and because last year's rough flu season still lingers in many peop…

    Vaccine Diabetes Link?
    Vaccine Diabetes Link?

    Type 1 diabetes has increased in children over the last decade, presumably triggered by something in their diet or in their environment. Some have suggested that perhaps the disease is triggered by a …

    MMR/Autism Study Retracted
    MMR Autism Study Retracted

    A controversial 1998 study published in The Lancet implied that the MMR vaccine might be a cause of autism. This sparked deep suspicion of the vaccine and prompted a great deal of new research involvi…

    Avian Flu
    Avian Flu

    The flu epidemic appears to be winding down in the United States, having killed 93 children between October 2003 and January 6, 2004. About a third of these kids had another underlying medical conditi…

    Allergic to Shots
    Allergic to Shots

    A severe form of allergic reaction called anaphylaxis can occur after eating peanuts, shellfish, eggs, bananas, kiwi, avocado, or other foods. It can occur after bee stings, in those who are allergic.…

    Mercury, A Look Back
    Mercury, A Look Back

    What has been the effect of giving tiny amounts of mercury to millions of children in vaccines? A huge study in the November 2003 Pediatrics used an analysis of the medical records of over 140,000 chi…

    Heroic Polio Effort Hamstrung
    Heroic Polio Effort Hamstrung

    A worsening polio outbreak in West Africa has already spread to nations where polio had been eradicated and has prompted hundreds of thousands of volunteers and health workers to race to immunize 15 m…

    Polio - It’s A Small World After All
    Polio – It’s A Small World After All

    Hundreds of thousands of health workers and volunteers are mobilizing to reach every child in 5 countries with polio vaccine within just a few days ? in countries where polio had previously been eradi…

    Every Parent Whose Child Has Asthma Should Hear
    Every Parent Whose Child Has Asthma Should Hear

    A simple flu shot for every child with asthma could prevent 100,000 hospitalizations this year in the U.S. alone, according to an analysis by the American Lung Association released on September 18, 20…

    Preventing Ear Infections with Flu Vaccine
    Preventing Ear Infections with Flu Vaccine

    In stark contrast to some earlier studies, giving children flu vaccine does not help to prevent ear infections in young children, according to a large study published in the September 24, 2003 Journal…