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1) "VIDEO: Measles at Super Bowl festivities threatens public health" Los Angeles Times (February 10, 2012) - "The Indiana State Department of Health sent out a statement Feb. 3, two days before the New England Patriots and the New York Giants squared off for Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis. The bulletin, which advised 'Hoosiers and out-of-town guests' to 'Practice Good Health Defense for a Safe Super Bowl Sunday,' offered tips about healthful eating, drinking in moderation, keeping warm and storing party foods properly to avoid food-borne illnesses. Less than a week later, the department circulated another release that touched on a Super Bowl health hazard few had considered: measles, and the importance of vaccination. State health officials reported two confirmed and two probable cases of the respiratory ailment. One of infected individuals had attended pre-Super Bowl celebrations in downtown Indianapolis on Feb. 3 -- raising the alarming possibility that others at the event who were not up-to-date on their vaccinations or who had not had measles in the past could have been exposed to the virus as well."
2) "Vaccines that attack" The Boston Globe (February 13, 2012) - "More than 500 million people worldwide have genital herpes, a lifelong, incurable infection that can lead to ugly, painful flare-ups. Cancer therapy or other immune problems can spark a recurrence, and the virus makes people more vulnerable to HIV infection. Attempts to develop a vaccine to prevent the spread of herpes have failed, but three local efforts to develop therapeutic vaccines may eventually provide a solution for those with herpes, as well as a wide range of other illnesses. Just as conventional preventative vaccines use the immune system to prevent disease, therapeutic vaccines use the immune system to target and kill a disease already in progress."
3) "MSU sophomore dies of bacterial infection" Lansing State Journal (MI) (February 11, 2012) - "Ingham County health officials are awaiting the source of a bacterial infection believed to have killed a Michigan State University sophomore this week. Carly Christine Glynn, 19, of the Grand Rapids area, died Thursday evening at Sparrow Hospital after she contracted what appears to be meningococcal disease, which can cause meningitis, MSU spokesman Kent Cassella said. County health officials do not yet know the exact illness, but pathology tests are being run. Confirmation is expected soon, said Renee Branch Canady, Ingham County health officer."
4) "Carlsbad Kindergartner Possibly Infected With Bacterial Meningitis" NBC San Diego (February 11, 2012) - "Parents in Carlsbad have been warned to be on the look out as officials suspect a kindergartner in the area may have contracted bacterial meningitis, according to the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency. According to the agency, a student at Poinsettia Elementary School showed symptoms of the illness on Jan. 30. 'Based on this student's attendance dates, there is an extremely low risk of infections for anyone at the school,' said Wilma Wooden, M.D., M.P.H, County Public Health Officer. While there may be a low risk of infection, the HHSA urged parents to make sure that their children have received the appropriate vaccination against the disease."
6) "H1N1 'Swine' Flu Makes a Comeback in Mexico" HealthDay News (February 10, 2012) - "It was just about three years ago that a strange new strain of flu first appeared in Mexico, then spread across the border to the United States and eventually much of the globe. The H1N1 'swine' flu strain didn't behave like a 'normal' flu, because it proved particularly dangerous to children and younger adults -- the very groups of people who usually have the strongest defenses against seasonal flu. After a quiet couple of years, more cases of the pandemic H1N1 flu are circulating again where it all began -- in Mexico. But infectious disease experts says Americans shouldn't be overly concerned."
7) "Friday Flu Shot: Recommendations For Health Care Workers" Shot of Prevention (February 11, 2012) - "Three times a year the National Vaccine Advisory Committee (NVAC), which is an advisory group to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), meets to discuss vaccine related topics. This week the Committee met and discussed a number of issues, including the Healthy People 2020 goal to reach 90% influenza vaccination rates among health care personnel. Since flu vaccination rates among health care workers is currently around 63%, the Assistant Secretary of Health requested that the Committee propose recommendations for hospitals and other health facilities to help achieve the goal outlined by the Health People 2020 document."
8) "How Doctors Could Improve Childhood Vaccination Rates" The New York Times - Motherlode Blog (February 10, 2012) - "How should pediatricians handle a parent who wants to refuse or delay a child's vaccinations? In November, the question of whether that pediatrician could ethically refuse to treat the child was debated on the Armchair Ethicist, and here as well. Putting the ethical question aside, Dr. Douglas Diekema has a simple answer for pediatricians who might want to turn away those patients (and in his experience, many routinely do so, some by screening them before an appointment is even made): Don't. Dr. Diekema, a pediatrician and professor at the Seattle Children's hospital, wants his fellow physicians to reconsider their approach to parents who delay or refuse vaccinations for their children. 'They're not,' he told me firmly, 'all Jenny McCarthy.'"
9) "Some Parents in Queens Think Vaccinations Are Only for Heathen Children" Jezebel (February 12, 2012) - "In news that will most likely desiccate the last little puddle of faith you have in human rationality, some enthusiastically religious parents in Queens are asking a judge to nullify a law that would keep their children out of school if classmates are carrying communicable diseases such as measles, mumps, and chicken pox (which, to my daily mounting terror, I've never contracted). Lawsuits filed last week in Queens Supreme Court by parents Fabian Mendoza-Vaca and Nicole Phillips have been transferred to Brooklyn Federal Court and could be resolved as early as next week in an emergency hearing where some secular-minded necromancer will hopefully raise Clarence Darrow from his grave so he can give everyone involved a proper finger-wagging." |
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