Cancer is an “abnormal growth of cells.” That is perhaps the most succinct description of the disease, which is really more a group of diseases since there are more than 100 types of cancer. Cancer cells are malignant—meaning that they can invade and spread to different parts of the body, forming solid tumors (masses of […]
Story Highlights A case of diphtheria has been confirmed in an elementary school in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Three other people, who are asymptomatic carriers of the bacterial disease have been identified and are being treated in isolation. The diphtheria vaccine is only available as a combination vaccine (DT, Td, DTaP, Tdap) and its effectiveness wanes over […]
Sometimes topics for opinion pieces just fall out of the sky. Last week, officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that the new estimate for the effectiveness of the influenza vaccine during the second half of the 2018-2019 “flu season” was only nine percent. That’s pretty bad even by influenza vaccine […]
In April 2018, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a report estimating the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the United States at 1 in 59 children. The figure was based on a 2014 survey of eight-year-old children across 11 residential communities in the country, so clearly it was out of […]
The government of Peru declared a 90-day health emergency earlier this month following an outbreak of Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) that has killed at least four people in the country. According to the Institute of Neurological Sciences (INCN) in Lima, Peru, the emergency was declared because the cases “have unusual and atypical characteristics that require rapid […]
Opinion | You may have noticed a recent article in The Washington Post by Juliette N. Kayyem entitled “Anti-vaxxers are dangerous. Make them face isolation, fines, arrests.”1 My initial reaction was the article must have been written by a moron. However, my opinion changed when I discovered the author, Ms. Kayyem, who graduated from Harvard […]
On June 5, 2014, senior research scientist Stephanie Seneff, PhD of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory made the following statement at an event sponsored by the Groton Wellness organization in Groton, Massachusetts: At today’s rate, by 2025, 1 in 2 children will be autistic.1 Dr. Seneff repeated the […]
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned on May 30, 2019 that, if the current measles outbreak continues, the U.S. could lose its measles elimination status that has been in effect since 2000. According to the agency: “If these outbreaks continue through summer and fall, the United States may lose its measles elimination […]
An outbreak of mumps in 12 fully vaccinated students attending University of Florida, Gainesville campus had county health officials scratching their heads at the end of May. According to one media report, an Alachua County Health Department spokesperson said, “These things do happen. It’s a phenomenon that’s not completely understood,” and reassured students and the […]
Following is a short summary of a longer special report “What Is Going On With Measles? The Science and Politics of Eradicating Measles” that can be read on NVIC’s website here. This year, the fear mongering about measles has reached epidemic proportions in America. A day doesn’t go by without media outlets publishing angry articles […]