Mumps Cases Jump 700 Percent in Northern Ireland

Story Highlights A 700 percent increase in incidence of mumps has been reported in Northern Ireland, reflecting a similar surge in cases in other developed nation. Most cases have occurred in fully vaccinated young adults, for whom the potential complications of mumps are more serious than they are in children. The increase in cases has […]
Vaccines are Kind of Like the Emperor’s New Clothes

Whether or not one supports the removal of religious exemptions to vaccination, the discussion about the issue should at least be accurate and honest. Sadly, agenda-driven hyperbole has hijacked the narrative in recent years, and oft-repeated mistruths have evolved to become widely-accepted dogma that may not be questioned. It is time to call out the […]
Is a Bill Requiring Your Children to Get Every CDC Recommended Vaccination Coming to Your State?

As vaccine-related bills are being introduced into state legislatures this month, a bill (HB1090) has been proposed in the Virginia legislature to require school children to receive every dose of all current and future vaccines added to the recommended childhood vaccine schedule by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) appointed by the U.S. Centers […]
“Little Women” Movie Spurs Interest in Scarlet Fever

Little Women, the 19th century coming of age movie directed by Greta Gerwig currently showing in theaters nationwide, has moviegoers searching for information about scarlet fever. Beth, the youngest of the four March sisters, dies of complications of the infection at the climax of the movie. Scarlet fever is a bacterial infection caused by the […]
The Media’s Obsession With the ‘Debunked’ Lancet Study

How many times have you read or heard about the “debunked”1 2 3 study published in the British medical journal The Lancet in 1998 that described “gastrointestinal and developmental regression in a group of previously normal children?”4 Probably lots of times, particularly if you follow the debate on the safety of vaccines and the ethics of mandatory vaccination. […]
Samoa Measles Emergency Extended

On Dec. 20, 2019, the government of Samoa announced that 94 percent of the island nation’s population of about 200,000 people had been vaccinated against measles as part of a government-led mandatory, mass vaccination campaign. As of Dec. 20, the Samoan Ministry of Health (MOH) had confirmed 5,463 reported cases with 1,762 hospitalizations and 78 […]