“When Father Myers got up at Mass and told everyone to pray for Ben and Barbara’s daughter, MaryAnne, we thought you were never coming home again,” my sister Jan would say, wide-eyed and animated. I was MaryAnne, the subject of the prayers, but because I have my own memories of what happened that winter’s night […]
As a high school senior, I made my first phone call to a doctor to schedule an appointment when I was sick. I only did so because my mother suggested I was old enough to use a phone and to maintain my own schedule, but I believe my mother still brought me to the clinic […]
I know those people out on the steps of state capitols across the country protesting proposed immunization laws. They are scared and misinformed. I know because I used to be one of them. They aren’t stupid or uncaring. They love their children just as much as you and I do, but many are filled with […]
The past few weeks have been active in the vaccine advocacy world–and in the anti-vaccine activist movement. Normal things, such as the ACIP (Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices) meeting and a U.S. Senate hearing have been viewed as nefarious by those who believe the United States vaccine program is part of some kind of profit-driven […]
Lately, I have noticed how anti-vaccine activists are using the law to shape how we are all talking about vaccines. Sometimes they file lawsuits, sometimes they fight legislation, and sometimes they claim malfeasance in past legal battles. On this last point, we have a recent claim by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., an environmental lawyer by […]
The HPV (human papilloma virus) vaccine lags far behind other adolescent vaccines when it comes to immunization rates. In 2016, 60% of adolescents received at least one dose of HPV, while 88% received the vaccine for tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis. All of those diseases are serious, and HPV causes six types of cancer, so it […]
Every year, I post on social media asking who among my friends needs to be pestered to get a flu shot. And every year, some smart aleck tells me he isn’t getting one because he doesn’t believe in flu shots. So what about flu shots? Are they worth it? Is influenza even a big deal? […]
The past three years have been grueling. During that time, I was diagnosed with Stage 2 Adenocarcinoma at age 36. I was a single mother with two children, ages 6 and 8. I got the diagnosis in a roundabout way, as, unfortunately, many of us do. I had had abnormal pap smears starting 8 years […]
1 Week Prior to Doctor Appointment Zoe: “I don’t want to get a shot. Will I have to get a shot?” Me: “Yes, you will have to get at least one shot.” Zoe: “I DON’T WANT TO GET A SHOT? Why? Why do I have to get a shot?” Me: “To keep you healthy.” Zoe: […]
Is there wiggle room about the idea that vaccines do not cause autism? Is it possible that sometimes in some particularly vulnerable children that vaccines act as a trigger for autism? Dr. Peter Hotez’s new book Vaccines Did Not Cause Rachel’s Autism leaves no wiggle room in the answer. Vaccines have nothing to do with […]