Viruses, Always the Easy Scapegoat
One of the problems with the current and evolving discussion within within the global health community and the media about the Zika virus (… Have you seen all those cockeyed, sensationalistic headlines?) is the assumption that the virus is dangerous and we should all be worried about its spread. This is similar to what has occurred with the poliovirus. The fact is that…
Polio Eradication by 2018: A Pipe Dream
The organized effort to eradicate polio from the world began in 1988 as part of The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI). The program was established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Rotary International, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the World Health Organization (WHO), working in partnership and primarily using the live…
Homeostasis is Life’s Balancing Act
The very first thing I did with my brand new Christmas knives was to cut the tip of my finger off… not enough to maim me permanently but enough to slightly change the shape of said finger. I watched in horrified fascination while copious amounts of blood ran down my hand and family members rushed up with towels and silently worried about whether there would still…
The Salk Polio Vaccine “Tragedy”
History is a powerful thing. If you accurately tell the story of an event that occurred, you get one picture, one understanding of it. Leave one tiny little detail out, however, and the whole picture changes. You can get thousands of details right, but get one wrong, or simply omit telling…
Doctors Just Not Pushy Enough On HPV Vaccine
I was driving to work the other day listening to the radio. I happened to tune into the program Here & Now on National Public Radio (NPR). The host, Robin Young, was interviewing Allison Kempe, MD of the University of Colorado about a recent study led by Dr. Kempe regarding the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. As part of the study, Dr. Kempe and her team surveyed 582 pediatricians and family physicians in the United States on their views about the vaccine. The survey found that more than a third of the doctors did not strongly…
A Wider Angle on Vaccines and Immunity
My husband and I indulged in a little prenatal uber-parenting when I was pregnant with our first child, and we interviewed several pediatricians known for being more sensible or holistic to see if we could find a good fit. One of the many questions we asked each doctor was about how they approached vaccination. The last physician responded by saying, “Well, there are…