Immunizations
Antibiotic-Resistant Pneumococcal Bacteria Are An Ever Greater Problem
Multidrug-resistant strains of pneumococci are common in the US and continue to increase -- especially in children under age 5 -- according to a report published in the December 28th, 2001 issue of th…
Prevent Meningitis
One evening a child has a high fever, a severe headache, and a stiff neck. It might be just the flu -- or it might be meningococcal meningitis. This devastating disease, though still uncommon, has bee…
Chicken Pox Vaccine
No matter how much is known about a vaccine before it is licensed for routine use, after it has been used in millions of people it is possible to discover side effects that are too subtle or too rare …
Teen Immunization
Data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) points to a growing problem: an estimated 35 million teens, in the United States alone, are missing one or more doses of childhoo…
Ear Infections – Predicting Them! Preventing Them?
No one has fun when babies' ears are in pain. Testing a baby's cord blood for levels of maternal antibodies to pneumococcal bacteria can predict the frequency of ear infections. Information presented …
Aerosol Form Of Measles Vaccine
Wouldn?t it be wonderful if kids could get vaccines that were safe and effective without having to have a needle poke? Measles Vaccine The March 4th, 2000 issue of The Lancet featured an article about…
CDC Recommends Routine Hepatitis A Vaccine For All Children
In 1999, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended routine Hepatitis A vaccination for children in high-risk areas. Hepatitis A is a serious, debilitating disease that can be sp…
Prevnar Vaccine Available to Prevent Ear and Sinus Infections
Antibiotic-resistant pneumococcal infections have become a major health problem. In 2000, the FDA approved Prevnar, a vaccine that provides protection against 13 types of pneumococcal infections ? the…
Parents Question Double MMR Vaccinations
I recently heard from an anxious mother in Kuwait,"My son has been vaccinatedtwice with the MMR by mistake, one was at 1.5 year and the second at 3.9 years. Please kindly advise." (more…)…
Lyme Disease Vaccine
The newly approved Lyme disease vaccine is not yet proven safe and effective for children under age 15, although the vaccine looks promising for children in studies currently underway. (more…)…
Polio Recommendations
No more polio? The World Health Organization was on target to eliminate polio by the end of the year 2000. This wonderful achievement also changes the risks vs. benefits for polio vaccines. For that r…
Pneumococcal Vaccine
In 1999, I attended the national meeting of the American Academy of Pediatrics in Washington, D.C. At the opening of the conference, Sarah Long, M.D. announced that the new pneumococcal vaccine would …
Health Revolution in Mexico
I sat enthralled at Grand Rounds as I listened to Jose Santos, M.D., Director of the National Vaccine Program for Mexico. While we struggle with the subtleties of further lessening the side effects of…
Rotavirus Vaccine and Intussusception
In September 1999, the FDA announced that 99 cases of intussusception (including two deaths) had been reported in possible association with RotaShield. This is a sharp increase from the 15 that had be…
Is It Empty Nest Time At Your House?
When your child first packs up and heads off for college, it is a bittersweet moment. How horrible if meningitis were to make the separation permanent. College students get meningitis 2.6 times more o…
Measles completely eliminated in USA
When the measles vaccine was first introduced, the number of cases of the disease plummeted. But a few years ago, new outbreaks prompted a reevaluation of the vaccine. In some people the immunity had …
Fast Facts about Rotaviruses
Rotaviruses are the leading cause of both routine vomiting and diarrheal illnesses and of severe, life-threatening diarrhea in every country in the world. Click here to read more about rotaviruses. (m…
Don’t use that vaccine!
A public health advisory issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics now warns against giving children rotavirus vaccine because it might cause a rare condition called intussusception. (more…)…
Vaccine Ingredients That May Cause Allergic Reactions
Many people are unaware of the problems associated with allergic reactions to vaccine components. According to the 2012 Red Book, allergic reactions to vaccine ingredients are rare. The most common di…
Fast Facts about SIDS
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS, is defined as the sudden, unexpected and unexplained death of any infant or young child. (more…)…