“You may choose to look the other way, but you can never say again that you did not know.”
— William Wilberforce
Health officials in Samoa, assisted by international health organizations, have struggled to manage a surge in measles and apparent deaths from measles on the impoverished island since the first laboratory confirmed cases were reported in September 2019. A state of emergency was declared on November 15, and by December 11, 4995 measles cases had been recorded, […]
After 65 years of global polio mass vaccination campaigns, on Oct. 24, 2019 (“World Polio Day”) the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that, along with wild type 2 poliovirus declared eradicated in 2015, wild type 3 poliovirus has been eradicated from the earth.1 The credit for the achievement was given to the Global Polio Eradication […]
(updated to reflect new outbreak figures released by AFP on Nov. 25, 2019)—A total of 2,194 cases of measles have been reported in Samoa this year. The government has declared a state of emergency and closed all schools, including the nation’s only university. Samoan health authorities are developing plans to implement compulsory MMR (mumps, measles, […]
Opinion | The nation has averted a so-called “public health crisis,” but that hasn’t stopped lawmakers from playing doctor. Propelled by the measles crisis, states are enacting laws limiting the personal and religious exemptions parents can claim from vaccine mandates. California has gone one step further, empowering a bureaucracy to review all medical exemptions to vaccine mandates, placing […]
California’s Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) has issued a report revealing that public spending on special education students in California has risen by more than 20 percent during the past 10 years, from $10.8 billion to $13 billion. One out of every eight students in California’s public school system now requires special education services, with the […]
Opinion | Bills to either remove or restrict vaccine exemptions have been filed across the U.S. in 2019. One of the most striking was New York’s A2371, which eliminated the religious exemption to vaccination in one day, with no public hearings. Soon after, New York state health officials eliminated the ability of doctors to grant medical […]
Story Highlights A recent study released by Healthy Babies Bright Futures showed that 95 percent of baby foods that were tested contained at least one heavy metal. Research shows that heavy metals negatively affect child development. Animal vaccine experts have said there are 23 different strains of FMD viruses and pre-vaccinating animals is not a […]
Public interest nonprofit organizations U.S. Right to Know and Public Citizen have petitioned the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to stop issuing false disclaimers that it “does not accept commercial support” and has “no financial interests or other relationships with the manufacturers of commercial products.”1 The CDC consistently publishes the following disclaimer throughout […]
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a supplemental Biologics License Application (BLA) for the Fluzone high-dose quadrivalent influenza vaccine for use by adults 65 years of age and older. Fluzone is manufactured by Sanofi Pasteur, Inc. of France.1 2 The Fluzone high-dose influenza vaccine was approved by the FDA in 2009 as […]
Every fall I meet with teachers and school officials to review my children’s 504 plans to protect them from anaphylactic shock. This back-to-school ritual has become so routine that we hardly give it a second thought. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 protects people with disabilities and other qualifying health conditions from discrimination […]