Entries from December 2009
December 23, 2009 · 1 Comment
Jennifer Zavolinsky
The December 22 edition of USA Today featured the article, “Are Celebrities Crossing the Line on Medical Advice?” It discusses the celebrities who share personal medical stories with the public and the concerns that many doctors have about those stars, such as Jenny McCarthy and Suzanne Somers, who promote questionable and/or dangerous medical advice. The article contains information about Every Child By Two (ECBT) and its Vaccinate Your Baby campaign spokesperson Amanda Peet, and also includes quotes from ECBT’s Amy Pisani, CHOP’s Dr. Paul Offit and NNII’s Dr. Martin Myers.
Following is an excerpt from the online version of the article - Doctors and public health groups say they struggle over the best way to respond to celebrity claims. At Every Child By Two, an immunization campaign co-founded by former first lady Rosalynn Carter, board members were initially inclined to ignore celebrities who question vaccine safety, says executive director Amy Pisani. Now, the group spends 80% of its time explaining why vaccines are still critical. “We were poised to start working in Africa,” Pisani says. “But we were forced to pull back just to re-educate people here in the United States.”
Check out the full article on the USA Today website by clicking here.
Categories: In the News · Preventable Diseases
Tagged: Amanda Peet, Amy Pisani, anti-vaccine, Every Child By Two, vaccinate your baby, vaccine, vaccines
December 21, 2009 · 1 Comment
By Dena Penner
Dena Wichansky Penner is a health education and communications consultant to non-profit maternal and child health organizations, including Every Child By Two. She is the former Director of Communications for the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition and the National Partnership for Immunization.
“You must have gotten the flu from your flu vaccine.” I wish I had a dollar for every time I heard that statement during last year’s flu season! Despite being vaccinated against seasonal flu early last October, my 5-year-old daughter, one-year-old son and I all contracted the flu several months later. Through my coughing, I patiently explained to the questioners that it would be impossible for us to “catch” the flu from a flu shot, since the viruses used in the vaccine are inactivated. As someone who has worked on the issue of immunization for many years, this was the ultimate irony. I am a firm believer in immunization, and I had done everything right, getting vaccinations for myself and my children at the start of that flu season. In fact, I wouldn’t have believed that we actually had the flu if it hadn’t been confirmed by nose swab tests. (This is a procedure where you feel as if the nurse is sticking a cotton swab through your nose and into your brain. Almost a year later, my daughter still fearfully asks me each and every time we visit the pediatrician, “Do we have to get a nose test?”
Unfortunately, while the flu vaccine provides excellent protection from the virus, it is not 100% effective. When the flu vaccine is created each year, its manufacturers must match the virus strains in the vaccine with those circulating in the community. If these virus strains are not closely matched, the vaccine is less effective. However, getting vaccinated is still extremely beneficial, because even if you get sick, it reduces the severity of flu symptoms. My guess is that this is what happened to us. Despite our bout with the flu, I am still a strong believer in the vaccine, and my children and I were vaccinated again this year. Why? Because, of the three of us, I was actually the one who had the worst symptoms of the flu. Both children had low-grade fevers, but once they had some Tylenol in them, they were basically back to their normal selves, running and playing. The importance of the vaccine was made clear when I was at the pediatrician’s office for the second time with my daughter (who actually got sick with two different strains of the disease). I expressed my frustrations about the situation to the doctor, and wondered why I had bothered to get vaccinated. My doctor looked at my daughter dancing around the exam room and commented, “Be glad you got them vaccinated. If you hadn’t, you would have been carrying her in here.” I have seen the tragic stories of families whose children were completely healthy one day and seriously ill or dead the next after contracting the flu. I will do everything possible to make sure my family isn’t one of those stories.
Categories: H1N1 Flu · Preventable Diseases · Seasonal Flu
Tagged: flu, flu season, flu shot, mom, vaccines and children
By Amy Pisani
Congratulations to CDC’s Dr. Thomas Frieden, One of Time Magazine’s, People Who Mattered in 2009.
Time magazine has named CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden as one of the “People Who Mattered” in their Person of the Year Runner’s Up List. Dr. Frieden was chosen for his exceptional management of the H1N1 response efforts by the CDC and their public health counterparts. Included in Time’s list of achievements are his “controversial call in October to release the long-awaited H1N1 influenza vaccine in small batches as soon as they rolled off production lines” and the overall manner in which he has commanded the battle against H1N1, a very unpredictable foe.
Dr. Frieden became one of my favorite people when he led the ban on trans fats and cigarettes in New York with unwavering commitment. Having lost two parents, who were coincidentally New York natives, to lung disease, I found his unapologetic stance outstanding.
His superb communication efforts with public health entities and the public in general as we have prepared to unroll the largest vaccination effort in decades is but another example of his commitment to public health and his ability to get the job done. Congratulations on a well deserved recognition Dr. Frieden – although you only needed to look in your own public health back yard to know that we already recognized you as a Person Who Mattered.
Categories: H1N1 Flu · In the News · Preventable Diseases · Seasonal Flu
Tagged: 2009, CDC, Dr. Tom Frieden, flu, H1N1, Person of the year, Thomas Frieden, Time, vaccines
By Amy Pisani
Several batches of Sanofi Pasteur’s H1N1 vaccines have been voluntarily recalled after post delivery testing of the vaccines by the manufacturer revealed that they were less potent than the pre-specified limit. These vaccines were distributed in pre-filled syringes and distributed to providers nationwide. According to officials at the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the potency of these vaccines are high enough to stimulate an effective immune response to the virus. Children below the age of ten must receive two doses of the H1N1 vaccine to be fully protected. It is of utmost importance that all children receive the second dose, particularly those who may have received the batches in question. Follow this link to learn more here.
To learn more about H1N1 and seasonal influenza, check out the Vaccinate Your Baby flu page.
Categories: General Info · H1N1 Flu · In the News · Preventable Diseases · Seasonal Flu
Tagged: flu shot, H1N1, recall, swine flu, vaccine
By Amy Pisani
Newsweek has published another excellent piece on the importance of vaccinations. Written by Laurie Garrett, senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, and Dana March, a doctoral candidate at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, “The Long-Term Evidence for Vaccines” examines the current trend of parents shunning vaccines for their kids, most notably the H1N1 vaccine.
Garrett and March look at epidemiological evidence from past years showing a correlation between exposure to influenza and medical complications later in life. They encourage expectant moms and children who are old enough to get vaccinated against the flu to protect themselves in light of this evidence, saying “Overall, prenatal and infant exposure to influenza is strongly associated with cognitive failures. Babies are born with brains and immune systems that are still developing, and will not be hard-wired and strong until their second year of life. Scientists are increasingly discovering links between viral infections during those precious times, and psychiatric problems ranging from lifelong depression to acute learning deficits.”
Still, the article is not all doom and gloom. The authors point out that, “the still-developing immune system of babies and infants is ripe for the vaccine-induced programming that can confer decades—in some cases, lifelong—protection.”
The full article is available on their Web site here.
Categories: H1N1 Flu · In the News · Preventable Diseases · Seasonal Flu
Tagged: anti-vaccine, H1N1, Laurie Garrett, Newsweek, swine flu, vaccine exemption
By Dr. Christopher J Harrison MD, FAAP
[Editor’s note-Although it seems that cases of H1N1 influenza may be slowing down, it’s important to still be vigilant in protecting ourselves and our families. I wanted to share some very helpful guidelines from a physician who wanted to help spread the message about a dangerous trend: secondary infection of pneumococcal disease from H1N1 flu. Please take a second and read these guidelines from Dr. Christopher J Harrison MD, FAAP, Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Children’s Mercy Hospital, University of Missouri at Kansas City.]
Are there still things we should be doing to protect our families, despite the recent decline in the intense 2009 H1N1 influenza activity, and stories about the virus and its complications no longer dominating the nightly news?
• There is at least a 50-50 chance that there will be another wave of intense 2009 H1N1 activity after the first of the year. Some immunizing centers are opening up eligibility for the 2009 H1N1 vaccine to include all persons not yet immunized. If our family members are not yet immunized to 2009 H1N1 influenza, be vigilant for when this option is available to those without high risk in our area.
• Any family members who have not received seasonal influenza vaccine should get it now. It is unclear if seasonal influenza will occur in the same months as in most years (December through April). But it makes sense to get as much protection as possible given that it is likely at least one seasonal influenza strain will arise this winter.
• It is clear that many severe influenza outcomes are due to secondary bacterial pneumonia. This is caused nearly equally by MRSA (a bacterial infection that is highly resistant to some antibiotics) and pneumococcus. Much pneumococcal pneumonia can be prevented by pneumococcal vaccines.
• Figure out if you should get the pneumococcal vaccine. Most children 2 years old who has risk factors for pneumococcal disease, (see item 5 below or click here). This vaccine is as safe as a regular “tetanus shot”, is relatively inexpensive, and provides potential protection for up to 5 years.
• ~70 million known candidates have not yet received the pneumococcal vaccine (PPV23) (National Health Interview Survey, 2007). Candidates for PP23 are in groups that would not surprise most of us. They are those >65 years old, or with a cochlear implant or spinal fluid leaks, or chronic illnesses (lung, heart, kidney, blood, or liver disease) or a weakened immune system (transplant recipients, those with HIV/AIDS or cancer, people without functioning spleens or taking immune suppressing drugs), or adults asthmatics or smokers.
• Waiting until our family members are sick is too late for vaccines. Do a vaccine inventory for both influenza vaccines and both pneumococcal vaccines. Then seek out the vaccines they need. It is better to prevent than to try to treat disease. So do it now.
Categories: General Info · H1N1 Flu · Preventable Diseases · Seasonal Flu
Tagged: flu, flu shot, H1N1, infections, influenza, pneumococcal disease, pneumonia
By Amy Pisani
Tonight, author and long-time New Yorker journalist Michael Specter will be appearing on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart to discuss his new book Denialism. Specter’s book explores the notion that Americans mistrust institutions and especially the institution of science more today than ever before. In one chapter, he takes on anti-vaccination activist Jenny McCarthy and other anti-vaccine advocates who persist with their theories about vaccines and autism despite epidemiological studies to the contrary. He cites these people as examples of “how irrational thinking hinders scientific progress, harms the planet, and threatens our lives.”
A couple of weeks ago, NPR’s Weekend Edition interviewed Specter about Denialism in a piece entitled “Refusing Flu Shots? Maybe You’re A ‘Denialist’”. Specter discussed parents who refuse vaccines for their children, saying that when parents make that decision, they focus on the one-in-10-million chance that a vaccine could kill a child and ignore the one-in-1,000 chance that a disease will do so. “These people retreat into denialism,” he says. He points out that diseases like measles, which had almost been eradicated in North America, are now coming back.
I encourage you all to tune in. I am glad that Jon Stewart/The Daily Show are addressing the topic of scientific mistrust. It should be a great show!
Categories: General Info · In the News · Preventable Diseases
Tagged: Daily Show, Denialism, Jon Stewart, Michael Specter, New Yorker, vaccines
By Amy Pisani
December 1 is World AIDS Day 2009. USAID and its partners throughout the globe are using this day to spread success stories in the fight against HIV/AIDS. New discoveries in both treatment and vaccine research bring hope to those dealing with this crisis, particularly in the developing world where lack of financial resources strengthens the virus’ ability to wreak havoc on the lives of millions. Click here to read about a new breakthrough in research for a vaccine against HIV discovered by scientists from the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI).
Categories: General Info · Get Involved · Preventable Diseases
Tagged: IAVI, vaccines, World AIDS Day
