measles
Tag archives for measles
Is history repeating itself?
Posted by Tara C. Smith on June 22, 2012 This is the fifteenth of 16 student posts, guest-authored by Cassie Klostermann. One of the major accomplishments that public health professionals pride themselves in is the reduction of people getting sick or dying from preventable infectious diseases. Unfortunately, these debilitating, historic diseases that health professionals had once thought they had under control are starting to rear their…
Hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) in history–part 4: the bigger picture
Posted by Tara C. Smith on June 23, 2011 As I’ve laid out this week (
Measles in Iowa
Posted by Tara C. Smith on May 24, 2011 We’ve had pertussis and mumps, so it was only a matter of time. State health officials declared a “public health emergency” Tuesday after a test confirmed a case of measles in an unvaccinated Dallas County baby who apparently picked up the disease in India. They said people who might have been exposed included passengers on…
Measles in Arizona by the numbers
Posted by Tara C. Smith on April 29, 2011 Maryn McKenna has an excellent post on 2008′s measles outbreak in Arizona. 14 confirmed patients, 8,321 individuals tracked down, 15,120 work hours lost at 7 Arizona hospitals due to furloughs of staff who were not appropriately vaccinated, and almost $800,000 spent by 2 hospitals just to contain the disease–and it all could have been prevented.
The consequences of refusal
Posted by Tara C. Smith on October 22, 2009 I’ve written previously about “chicken pox parties”. These types of events are coming back into vogue (they were common in the days before the vaccine, when the only way to provide immunity was to be infected), as parents mistakenly believe that “natural exposures” to these pathogens are somehow superior–and safer–than vaccinations. Though the latest rage…