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There has been much debate recently over vaccination mandates, particularly in response to the measles outbreak currently taking place throughout the country. At this juncture, there have been 102 confirmed measles cases in the U.S. during 2015, with 59 of them linked to a December 2014 visit to the Disneyland theme park in Southern California. (It is important to note that 11 of the cases associated with Disneyland were detected last year and, consequently, fall within the 2014 measles count.) This large outbreak has spread to at least a half-dozen other states, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention...

Doctors are warning parents against reviving “measles parties” intended to expose children to the disease at a gathering with at least one infected person. The parties ostensibly help children build immunity against the disease and are used instead of vaccinating or leaving exposure up to chance. Such practices have been discouraged despite similar events such as “pox parties” which expose children to chickenpox for the purpose of building immunity. “CDPH strongly recommends against the intentional exposure of children to measles as it unnecessarily places the exposed children at potentially grave risk and could contribute to further spread of the outbreak,”...

Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama gave cautious support for the anti-vaxxer cause a few years ago. While running for the presidency in 2008, Obama called the alleged link between autism and vaccination scientifically “inconclusive.” In the same year, Mrs. Clinton went further, expressing her support for an official study to track down “possible environmental causes” of autism “like vaccines.” No scandal — though the eventual winner of the race did win a few “Pinnochios” for his statement. (Studies at that time had already determined no such link, hence the Washington Post’s awarding of demerits to both Obama and his Republican...

It may have been Goethe who said there is nothing so frightening as ignorance in action, and it certainly has been active of late, especially when it comes to vaccinating kids against diseases that once killed and crippled and scarred and generally ravaged millions. Like smallpox, diphtheria, mumps, measles ... the whole catalogue of curses. But that was back in medicine's dark ages -- before modern science came to the rescue, thank goodness. For there were giants in the Earth in those days, microbe-fighters who were willing to defy popular superstition and apathy and all the forces of inertia to...

Ithaca, N.Y. — Despite the efforts of local officials, vaccination rates for some Ithaca schools are significantly lower than both the New York State and national averages. How at risk is Ithaca? There are no reported cases here, but state statistics show that some Ithaca area schools have vaccination rates for measles as low as 72 percent — compared to the average rate of 95 percent for the state at large. The 95 percent figure is key, because it’s the rate at which an “effective herd immunity” is established to prevent the spread of a disease like measles Ithaca [is]...

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie unwittingly ignited a firestorm earlier this week when he responded to a reporter's question in Great Britain about forced vaccinations of children in New Jersey by suggesting that the law in the U.S. needs to balance the rights of parents against the government's duty to maintain standards of public health. Before Christie could soften the tone of his use of the word "balance," Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul jumped into the fray to support the governor. In doing so, he made a stronger case for the rights of parents by advancing the view that all vaccines...

Some things are easy to avoid. DonÂ’t want to be hit by a train? DonÂ’t play on train tracks. DonÂ’t want your kid to get measles? Get them vaccinated. CanÂ’t afford to pay your employees more? DonÂ’t advocate for raising the minimum wage. Done and done. But many granola-crunching, tofu-eating progressives think they can kale their way to a super immune system for their kids, so theyÂ’re skipping the vaccinations for measles and everything else. And other progressives are closing their businesses because the laws for which they advocated have sent them to the poorhouse. To paraphrase President Barack ObamaÂ’s...

Following an outbreak of measles that was traced back to Disneyland, public-health authorities are ramping up their campaign to persuade all American parents that their children should be vaccinated. This campaign places pressure on some parents who have moral objections to the use of certain vaccines. We should not underestimate the vigor of the public-health campaign. Writers from RealClear Science and from Fox News-- not outlets ordinarily inclined to favor the expansion of government powers—have called for mandatory vaccination of all children, and even jail time for parents who resist. Nor should we underestimate the seriousness of some parents who...

This week, controversy broke out over whether state governments have the power to require parents to have their children vaccinated. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, no stranger to compelling his citizens to stay off the roads during blizzards, announced that he had some sympathy for the anti-vaccination position: "I also understand that parents need to have some measure of choice in things as well. So that's the balance the government has to decide." Kentucky Senator Rand Paul doubled down on Christie's remarks, stating, "I have heard of many tragic cases of walking, talking, normal children who wound up with profound...

Apparently anything Rand Paul says is “controversial” these days, and that was certainly the case during a recent interview he did on Closing Bell this week. The subject at hand was the exhausting topic of vaccinations, (which the media can’t get enough of) but during the discussion, the Kentucky Senator said something which deserves more attention, and not just regarding vaccinations. Why this is controversial I don’t know. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) doubled down on his position that most vaccines should be voluntary, suggesting Monday that mandated immunization is an example of government overreach.“The state doesn’t own your children,”...

Dr. Ben Carson, a likely 2016 GOP presidential contenders, believes there should be no “philosophical” or “religious” exemptions for vaccinations. “Although I strongly believe in individual rights and the rights of parents to raise their children as they see fit, I also recognize that public health and public safety are extremely important in our society,” Carson told The Hill.

Rand Paul: Most vaccines should be ‘voluntary’ By ADAM B. LERNER 2/2/15 2:42 PM EST Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) waded into the debate over vaccinations Monday, telling conservative talk show host Laura Ingraham that he thinks most vaccines should be “voluntary.” Paul, an ophthamologist and likely 2016 White House hopeful, expressed particular concern over mandatory vaccinations for sexually transmitted diseases. He criticized former Texas Gov. Rick Perry for his executive order mandating that Texas children receive the HPV vaccine. “I’m not anti-vaccine at all,” Paul said, but “I think that’s a personal decision.” Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/02/rand-paul-vaccines-114834.html#ixzz3QhA3J7zr

Liberals, conservatives, and almost everybody in between are hammering New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) after he defended parents' "choice" to not vaccinate their kids against the measles. "It's more important what you think as a parent than what you think as a public official," Christie said Monday when asked about recent measles outbreaks in the US, according to The New York Times. "I also understand that parents need to have some measure of choice in things as well. So that's the balance that the government has to decide."

"I understand that there are families that in some cases are concerned about the effect of vaccinations. The science is, you know, pretty indisputable. We've looked at this again and again. There is every reason to get vaccinated, but there aren't reasons to not," said Obama. "You should get your kids vaccinated. It's good for them, but we should be able to get back to the point where measles effectively is not existing in this country."

A New York requirement that all children attending public school be vaccinated has been upheld by a federal court. On Wednesday, a three-judge panel of the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals upheld a regulation by New York City health and education officials. The rule was being challenged on grounds that the law was discriminatory and that its local applications violated freedom of religion. The court also upheld a regulation that allows school officials to prevent non-immunized children from going to school during an outbreak of vaccine-preventable diseases. The state statute was being challenged by three New York City plaintiffs,...

November 17, 2014 Dear Physician, Each year, influenza results in an estimated 226,000 hospital admissions and 36,000 deaths. As you know, unimmunized individuals infected with influenza may be asymptomatic but still contagious and able to infect others. Health care personnel who are not immunized can unintentionally expose patients to seasonal influenza. Reducing influenza transmission from health care personnel to patients is a top priority both nationally and in Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Healthcare Influenza Prevention Coalition, a group comprised of the Wisconsin Hospital Association (WHA), Wisconsin Medical Society (the Society), LeadingAge Wisconsin, Wisconsin Health Care Association (WHCA)/Wisconsin Center for Assisted Living...

The Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Health Commission has criticised the Government’s planned nation-wide Tetanus vaccination campaign. The statement has expressed deep concern regarding the vaccinations. It says that the campaign leaves many questions unanswered hence the alarm. This is contained in a media statement released by the Catholic Health Commission of Kenya currently meeting at St Patrick’s Pastoral Centre, Kabula in Bungoma. The statement is co-signed by Bishop Paul Kariuki Njiru of Embu Diocese with his counterpart, Bishop Joseph Mbatia of Nyahururu on behalf of the Commisssion of the Bishops' Conference. The Commission includes 24 health facility managers drawn...

Japan’s nuclear watchdog has given the green light for two reactors to restart but the operator still has to persuade local communities they are safe. sendai-plant Widespread anti-nuclear sentiment has simmered in Japan ever since an earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 caused meltdowns at the Fukushima power plant, sparking the worst atomic disaster since Chernobyl. The country’s nuclear reactors were switched off after the catastrophe. Two reactors were briefly restarted last year but all of Japan’s nuclear plants are currently offline. The go-ahead from the Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA) for two reactors at the Sendai plant (pictured) in southern...

CDC Senior Scientist William Thompson has alleged that a 2004 study he co-authored omitted key data that would have revealed a link between autism and a commonly-required childhood vaccine, MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella). “I regret that my coauthors and I omitted statistically significant information in our 2004 article published in the journal Pediatrics. The omitted data suggested that African American males who received the MMR vaccine before age 36 months were at increased risk for autism,” said Thompson in a statement issued through his attorney Wednesday.

I was brought up on an incredibly healthy diet: no sugar till I was one, breastfed for over a year, organic homegrown vegetables, raw milk, no MSG, no additives, no aspartame. My mother used homeopathy, aromatherapy, osteopathy, we took daily supplements of vitamin C, echinacea, cod liver oil. I had an outdoor lifestyle; I grew up next to a farm, walked everywhere, did sports and danced twice a week, drank plenty of water. I wasn’t even allowed pop; even my fresh juice was watered down to protect my teeth, and I would’ve killed for white, shop-bought bread in my lunch...