Tag Archives: vaccines

Children 6 Months And Up Can Get COVID Vaccine

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that parents check with their pediatrician and community health care providers about how to get their children vaccinated with a COVID-19 vaccine. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) of the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended two COVID-19 vaccines: one for children ages 6 months to 4 years, and one for ages 6 months to 5 years. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) supports this recommendation and encourage pediatricians to promote vaccination and give COVID-19 vaccines. Authorization of the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines for children ages 6 months and older … Continue reading →

Back-To-School Vaccines are Important

Back-To-School means more than shopping for pencils and backpacks. It also means it is time for your child to get the necessary vaccinations. Doing so not only protects your child from preventable illnesses, it also helps protect your community. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has advice that can help students stay healthy during the school year. One of those recommendations includes back-to-school vaccinations.  Some schools will require that parents provide a certificate of immunization on order for their child to attend school. Parents should contact their child’s school and find out what their rules regarding vaccination are. … Continue reading →

The New Controversy Over Thimerosal in Vaccines

The U. N. Environment Program is considering a ban on thimerosal. It is a preservative that is used in vaccines in developing countries. The American Academy of Pediatrics endorsed what the World Health Organization has said – that it should not be banned. An organization called SafeMinds disagrees. What is thimerosal? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Thimerosal is a mercury-containing preservative used in some vaccines and other products since the 1930’s. There is no convincing evidence of harm caused by the low doses of thimerosal in vaccines, except for minor reactions like redness and swelling … Continue reading →

Why Vaccinations May Fail

I’m a big fan of vaccinating pets. Immunization has successfully prevented disease in millions of pets for years. But once in a while, a vaccine doesn’t work for a particular animal. Vaccine failure is pretty rare, but it can happen. Here are a few reasons why: Different strains of the same disease. Most of the time, the strain of a disease used in a vaccine protects your pet against other strains of the same disease. Sometimes, a new strain evolves that is resistant to the vaccine. (Drug-resistant diseases are a problem for humans, too.) The vaccine was spoiled. Many vaccines … Continue reading →

Guide to the Rotavirus Vaccine

When it comes to your baby, I am of the mindset that the more information you have at hand, the better chance you have of making the right decision for your baby. Immunization is a highly debated topic among some. Many parents choose not to vaccinate and are trying to enact laws that make it illegal for a child to be refused private daycare because of lack of immunization. Other parents believe wholeheartedly in the power of vaccinations to protect children from potentially fatal diseases and oppose measures that would allow non-vaccinated children to be enrolled in private day care … Continue reading →

New Five-in-One Vaccine Approved

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a new combination vaccine for children. The combination vaccine covers five different diseases — and could reduce the number of shots needed for infants by as much as a third. The combination vaccine is known as Pentacel and is manufactured by Sanofi Pasteur. It is a four-dose vaccine series that protects against five different diseases: Diphtheria Tetanus Whooping cough (also known as pertussis) Polio Influenza type B Pentacel is safe for children two months of age and older. Most childhood vaccines are completed before the age of eighteen months. The U.S. Food … Continue reading →

You Can’t Have Your Cake and Eat it Too: Thoughts on Refusing Vaccines

Last month, I wrote about Hannah Polling, a girl whose vaccines caused her autism. Her parents won money from the Vaccine Injury Compensation program. It was a landmark case in part because it was one of the largest compensations for autism ever awarded. Autism advocacy groups were quick to print headlines that the CDC acknowledges that vaccines cause autism and the government was quick to tout studies that showed that vaccines don’t cause autism. Before this the big ‘vaccine’ news was mandatory vaccinations in New Jersey that sent several hundred parents to court to prove that their children had them. … Continue reading →

Vaccine Fact and Fiction

Feeling hesitant about your own (or your child’s) vaccinations? Only one of the following three popular beliefs about vaccinations is true. Mercury in vaccines can accumulate in the body. The flu vaccine can actually cause the flu. People can have allergic reactions to vaccines. Do you know which one is true? It’s the third one — allergic reactions. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, out of one million vaccines given, only ONE vaccine will cause a severe allergic reaction or death. Mild allergic reactions are slightly more common. If you do experience a reaction to a vaccine, a … Continue reading →

Vaccines That Grown-Ups May Miss

Immunization isn’t just for childhood. In fact, immunization experts at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control say that some childhood vaccines may not last a lifetime. Here are a few vaccinations that may need a booster. Tetanus — you should be getting a tetanus booster every year. Now you also have the option of extra protection in the form of the Tdap booster, which also includes protection against whooping cough and diphtheria. Pertussis (whooping cough) has been making a comeback over the last twenty years — more than twenty-five thousand cases were reported in the U.S. in 2005. CDC experts … Continue reading →

FIV: Feline AIDS

Today I was reading over the New York Times list of what happened on this day in history. In 1981, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention made the first report on cases that would later come to be known as AIDS. I remember the first time I heard about AIDS. 1984. I remember the first time I heard about a doctor testing a cat for AIDS. 1999. “The vet tested my cat for AIDS. Is he crazy?” Wayne and I were having dinner with our friends Thais and Wlad. As we often did, we swapped funny stories about various … Continue reading →