Studies have shown that the reasons for anti-vaccine sentiment run deep, and scientific facts don’t often matter. A new study drills deeper into reasons for resistance and possible ways to counteract them.
When a certain percentage of a population has been vaccinated, it prevents an infectious disease from spreading. But that threshold depends on the disease.
Seven to 10 days in bed with a high fever and rash is the best outcome you can expect if your child catches measles. Brain damage or death is the worst.
Babies are normally vaccinated against measles at 12 months old. But doctors are now suggesting having the shot as early as six months might be worthwhile for youngsters traveling overseas.
Shobana Shankar, Stony Brook University (The State University of New York)
Nigeria’s highly mobilized efforts to eliminate polio, and even tackle measles and other vaccine-preventable diseases along the way, may have lessons for the US.
As measles cases surge, people blame parents who refuse to vaccinate their children. A sociologist who has studied public health says anti-vaxxers may not be so different from the rest of us.
There are many reasons adults might not be up to date with the vaccinations they need. Catching up is easy enough, and vitally important in the fight against infectious diseases.
Scientists identified the general pattern of measles infections as a country moves toward eliminating the disease. This roadmap can help public health workers most efficiently fight and end measles.
Measles cases in the US have reached their highest in 25 years. A bioethicist argues why parents opposed to vaccination are not just wrong about the science, but about the morals.
Paediatrician, National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance; Clinical Lecturer, Children's Hospital Westmead Clinical School, University of Sydney
Director of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Protection Research Unit in Emerging and Zoonotic Infections, and Professor of Neurology, University of Liverpool