Adult Vaccinations

The Government is launching an urgent immunisation programme to fight an outbreak of meningococcal disease in Northland, which has had the highest number of cases and deaths of the new meningococcal strain MenW. Three of the seven nationwide MenW-related deaths this year were in Northland, including a 7-year-old girl and a teenage boy. "The advice from clinical experts is that MenW has reached outbreak levels in Northland and we should urgently launch an immunisation programme to prevent further spread of the disease," Health Minister David Clark said today. The number of MenW cases jumped from five in 2016 to 29 this year, including seven in Northland. Northland residents will not have to pay for the vaccine. The vaccination programme will start on December 5 in selected high schools and community centres across Northland. It will target people aged 9 months to four years (inclusive), and those aged 13 to 19 years (inclusive). Pharmac and the Ministry of Health had so...

The Measles-Rubella (MR) vaccination drive being conducted across the state has registered 75 percent success by covering around 58 lakh children of state, claimed Commissioner, Health R Prasanna. He revealed that extreme Naxal-hit district Sukma has registered cent percent success in MR vaccination. He pointed out the vaccination in remote forested villages is being carried out by health teams reaching on foot as these areas cannot be accessed by vehicles. “Even children in school, playing in ground, working in fields and those taking care of cattle, children moving in forest areas are being searched for vaccination,’’ Prasanna informed. Under the Central Government’s health department drive for inclusive vaccination, state health department is conducting the vaccination drive to eradicate the measles-rubella virus from the state, Prasanna said. He added that Balod, Kawardha, Surguja, Surajpur, Raigarh, Korba, Jashpur, Dhamtari, Dantewada and Bastar recorded 80 percent vaccinatio...

The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has launched the national yellow fever prevention campaign and it expects to vaccinate about 5,364,275 people in the country. With the exception of Upper West Region, which has already been vaccinated, the seven-day campaign, which begins on November 28 to December 4; and targets people between 10 to 60 years, would be conducted in 65 districts in nine regions free of charge. Speaking at the launching ceremony in Sunyani on Friday, Dr Anthony Nsiah-Asare, the Director-General of the GHS, said yellow fever has emerged as a serious global health threat and called for concerted efforts to make the campaign successful. He said it requires active support and engagements of traditional authorities, civil society actors and the municipal and district assemblies to make the campaign attain its desired results. Under the theme: “Get Vaccinated and Be Protected Against Yellow Fever”, the campaign is being supported by the UNICEF, GAVI and the World Health Orga...

One  recent  study  shows that the willingness to vaccinate may be influenced by political status; those who are more politically conservative are less likely to hold pro-vaccine beliefs.  The inundation of reasons for and against vaccination is exhausting. Medical providers have continued to discuss the importance of vaccines with the support of well-designed  studies  to reinforce our message. ADVERTISEMENT And although vaccines have been touted as one of the most important advances in public health, the most recent vaccine-preventable outbreaks are examples that the words of experts and these studies are often falling on deaf ears. North Carolina is experiencing its worst outbreak of  chickenpox  in 20 years, attributed to increased religious exemptions to the varicella zoster vaccine. Simultaneously, New York and New Jersey are swept by an outbreak of  measles , also part of the largest outbreak of measles in decades, responsible ...

Ahead of the government-led measles and rubella vaccination drive slated to start on November 27, schools have started sending parents circulars about it and private school parents across the city who have already vaccinated their children are asking why they have to put their children through another round of vaccination. On Thursday, Lilavatibai Podar High School (LPHS) in Santacruz urged parents to participate in the government campaign against the two diseases, “regardless of previous vaccination status.” “Why is the drive being forced on us? As a parent I have already administered this vaccination to my child. Why does he have to go through another round of immunisation?” asked a parent. Taking note of parents’ apprehensions, the Aditya Birla World Academy wrote to parents on Friday assuring them that the drive is safe even if the vaccine has been administered earlier. “The drive is similar to the polio vaccination drive and is being done pan India, in fact it has already been ...

Researchers at the University of Texas (UT) reported Tuesday that they have developed a vaccine that could arm the body to attack Alzheimer's plaques and tangles before they even start to shut down the brain. They hope to begin testing the vaccines in humans soon. Their new vaccine for the first time has targeted both amyloid-containing plaques and tau—both considered hallmarks for a definitive identification of Alzheimer’s disease—in a mouse with the disease. The shot uses DNA from Alzheimer's proteins to teach the immune system to fight these compounds and keep them from accumulating in the brain. Researchers say their new Alzheimer's vaccine—so-called DNA Aβ 42 —could conceivably cut the number of dementia cases in half. The new vaccine—unlike a previous attempt that caused swelling in the brain when DNA was injected into the test mice's muscles—is administered by injecting it superficially into the skin. The injected skin cells then make a three-molecule chain ...

Mother taking care of a girl with chickenpox disease. (iStock) (Mixmike/iStock) November 19 Chickenpox has taken hold of a school in North Carolina where many families claim religious exemption from vaccines. Cases of chickenpox have been multiplying at the Asheville Waldorf School , which serves children from nursery school to sixth grade in Asheville, N.C. About a dozen infections grew to 28 at the beginning of the month. By Friday, there were 36, the Asheville Citizen-Times reported . The outbreak ranks as the state’s worst since the chickenpox vaccine became available more than 20 years ago. Since then, the two-dose course has succeeded in limiting the highly contagious disease that once affected 90 percent of Americans — a public health breakthrough. The school is a symbol of the small but strong movement against the most effective means of preventing the spread of infectious diseases. The percentage of children under 2 years old who haven’t received any vaccinations has qu...

Abuja, 22 November 2018 - The Government of Nigeria – with support from the World Health Organization (WHO), Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and UNICEF aims to vaccinate 26.2 million people during the second phase of its biggest-ever yellow fever campaign as it seeks to establish high population immunity nationwide. This step of the campaign, which is funded by Gavi will run from 22 November to 1 December 2018 and will target children and adults in Plateau, Sokoto, Kebbi, Niger and Borno states as well as the Federal Capital Territory. “The vaccination will be for people within 9 months to 44 years cohort, parents are advised to avail themselves and their children to partake in the vaccination; the vaccine is free, safe and effective,” said Dr Joseph Oteri, Director of Special Duties at Nigeria’s National Primary Health Care Development Agency. Yellow fever is caused by a virus spread through the bite of infected mosquitos. Some patients can develop serious symptoms, including high feve...

Planned mass vaccination of some 26.2 million people against yellow fever got underway across the country on November 22. It is the second phase of a massive campaign to establish high population immunity to yellow fever nationwide which ends December 1. ADVERTISEMENT Funded by the Global Alliance for Vaccine Initiative (GAVI), the present campaign targets all ages between nine years and 44 years in Plateau, Sokoto, Kebbi, Niger and Borno states as well as the Federal Capital Territory. “Parents are advised to avail themselves and their children to partake in the vaccination; the vaccine is free, safe and effective,” said Dr Joseph Oteri, Director of Special Duties at Nigeria’s National Primary Health Care Development Agency. ADVERTISEMENT Both the agency, the World Health Organisation and the United Nations Children’s Fund, support the campaign. A virus spread through the bite of infected mosquitoes cause yellow fever. Serious symptoms include high fever and jaundice (yell...

Sarah J. Clark A C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health demonstrated that a significant number of parents choose not to vaccinate their child against influenza. The survey showed that nearly 40% made they made their decision based on what they read or heard about the vaccine. Researchers said this is a result of an “echo chamber” effect related to negative information. Additionally, one in five parents reported that their child’s provider did not recommend the influenza vaccine this year. The CDC recommends that everyone aged 6 months and older should be vaccinated against influenza every season and may choose from influenza shots or FluMist (live-attenuated influenza vaccine, AstraZeneca). This year, the AAP has decided not to endorse the nasal spray vaccine unless a child would not otherwise be vaccinated. “Child health providers are a critical source of information to explain the rationale for annual flu vaccination and to parents’ questions abou...

Measles outbreaks in Israel and in Orthodox communities along the East Coast have caused one Orthodox high school in Northeast Ohio to revise its vaccine policy. Hebrew Academy of Cleveland in Cleveland Heights sent a letter to parents Nov. 15 informing them that, effective immediately, all students enrolled at Hebrew Academy needed to be vaccinated. “After consultation with experts in the field, the Academy has modified its policy regarding vaccination,” said the letter, signed by the school’s educational director, Rabbi Simcha Dessler and school president Dr. Louis Malcmacher. “This is particularly important, as there are students in our school for whom it is medically unsafe to be vaccinated. Consequently, it is crucial that we ensure maximum vaccination rates across our student body.” According to the letter, all students enrolled at Hebrew Academy are to be vaccinated, with only “an exception made to children whose physician certifies in writing that immunization against a ...

Although influenza activity has remained low the first weeks of flu season in United States, more than one-third of parents surveyed in a nationwide poll indicated that their child is unlikely to receive the flu vaccine this season. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), during Influenza Season Week 45 (November 4 to November 10, 2018) there was a slight increase in the proportion of outpatient visits for influenza-like illness. The proportion increased to 1.9% which is still below the national baseline of 2.2%. Influenza viral surveillance characterized the majority of influenza viruses as antigenically and genetically similar to virus components of the 2018–2019 influenza vaccine recommendations from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices , indicating that this season’s influenza vaccine matches with circulating influenza A and B viruses. In a new report published on November 19, 2018, by the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on ...