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OK, why aren’t kids getting vaccinated with Gardasil?

Cervical-cancer-This is my 48th article about Gardasil, following by just a few hours, my 47th. After my 50th, I get a watch made from the gold hidden in the subterranean vaults of the Big Pharma overlords who generates bundles of cash from vaccines. Oh, I keep forgetting–that’s not true.

Despite the overwhelming evidence that the HPV quadrivalent vaccine, also known as Gardasil (or Silgard in Europe) can prevent human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, the most common sexually transmitted infection (STI) in the USA, which is linked to cervical, anal, vulvar, vaginal, oropharyngeal and penile cancer, HPV vaccine uptake is not as high as other vaccines. A recent report from the CDC, published in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, states that only 57% of girls and 35% of boys, aged 13-17 years, have received at least one of the three recommended doses of the HPV vaccine. This is far short of the goal of Healthy People 2020, the CDC’s initiative to set clear objectives and strategies to improve the health of Americans, that 80% of American teens have received all three doses of the HPV vaccine by 2020.

Currently in the United States, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommends that preteen girls and boys aged 11 or 12 are vaccinated against HPV. The immunization is also recommended for teenage girls and young women up to the age of 26 who did not receive it when they were younger, and teenage boys and young men up to the age of 21. Continue reading “OK, why aren’t kids getting vaccinated with Gardasil?”

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Physicians get rich from vaccinating children–refuting another myth

vaccines-moneyOne of myths promulgated by the antivaccination cult (and there are so many of these myths) is that through some mysterious financial system, physicians make boatloads of money from vaccinating kids. Like almost all of the myths pushed by these vaccine denier, it does not even have a kernel of truth. In fact, in this case, I’m not even sure it’s in the same planetary system as the truth.

In an article by O’Leary et al., published recently in Pediatrics, we see that there is no evidence that vaccines are a major profit center for primary care physicians (which are usually pediatricians in the case of children). In fact, the article seems to indicate that vaccinations are a financial burden for many pediatricians.

The cost of vaccinating each child from birth to age 18 is around $2500, depending on the vaccines used. Multiply this by the 100’s of patients each practice may manage, and you’re looking at several million dollars in vaccines, all of which has to be purchased by the private physician, then given at cost or even below cost, depending on reimbursement, to patients. Continue reading “Physicians get rich from vaccinating children–refuting another myth”

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Whooping cough outbreak in South Florida

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel is reporting about a whooping cough (pertussis) outbreak in South Florida area.  There have been other outbreaks reported in Wisconsin, Washington state, Illinois, British Columbia, England, and Australia.  This upsurge in whooping cough cases can mostly be blamed on falling vaccination rates and the lack of booster vaccinations in adults.  Importantly, whooping cough can be prevented, with almost no risk, with a DaTP vaccine. Continue reading “Whooping cough outbreak in South Florida”

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Vaccination Nation–Bill Moyers takes on the anti-vaccine lunacy

It’s not often that a political blog will show up on a skeptic’s posting, even if it’s written by Bill Moyers and Michael Winship, two respected political commentators.  In their article, Vaccination Nation, they strike out against the anti-vaccination crowd, quickly demolishing some of their ridiculous arguments.  I would have missed this article if not for some rantings of an vaccine denialist that will be discussed later.

Continue reading “Vaccination Nation–Bill Moyers takes on the anti-vaccine lunacy”

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Physicians fire anti-vaccine patients

The Wall Street today published an article, More Doctors ‘Fire’ Vaccine Refusers, by Shirley S. Wang, which discusses how physicians are beginning to refuse to see patients (mostly children) whose parents refuse to have them vaccinated.

❝Pediatricians fed up with parents who refuse to vaccinate their children out of concern it can cause autism or other problems increasingly are “firing” such families from their practices, raising questions about a doctor’s responsibility to these patients.❞ Continue reading “Physicians fire anti-vaccine patients”