Polio Eradication Stalls with More Wild-Type and Vaccine Strain Polio Outbreaks
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 […]
Samoa’s Measles Outbreak and Response
(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, […]
This County Banned Unvaccinated Kids from Public Spaces
Joe Hendricks’ kids are part of a growing number of children in the U.S. who are unvaccinated. But unlike other unvaccinated families, Joe’s lives in Rockland County, New York where a first of its kind ultimatum has been put into effect… Get your kids vaccinated or keep them out of public spaces. Locations included in […]
Government Should Get Out of Exam Rooms When Ordering Vaccines
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 Special Ed Spending Up 20 Percent to $13 Billion
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 […]
Medical Errors Kill Five People Per Minute, 2.6 Million People Every Year
A new report published by the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 2.6 million people die annually in low-and middle-income countries from medical errors, and that most of those deaths are related to misdiagnosis and administration of pharmaceutical products. According to the WHO, “Four out of every ten patients are harmed during primary and ambulatory […]