There’s a lot of chatter going on these days about vaccines. Moms-to-be, new moms and seasoned moms are faced with loads of questions and concerns. What’s in the shots? Why are there so many? Should we space them out? Are they safe? What are the risks? And the challenge is, each of these questions is often met with conflicting answers. [Read more…]
In the fourth installment of the Immunology 101 Series, Aimee will define and explain the importance of herd immunity.
While watching the news or reading the newspaper the last few weeks, you may have heard that there have been a record high number of cases of whooping cough (pertussis) in Boulder, CO, and measles in England. As parents, this news is worrisome. Our immediate thoughts turn to questions like, ‘Will my child be exposed to either of these illnesses?’ If so, ‘What are the chances that s/he will become infected?’ The answer to these questions lies not only in the choices we make as parents but also in the choices those around us make for their children and families. The term we use to describe the immunization choices made within the community is ‘herd immunity.’ [Read more…]
By Stephanie Wasserman
This week is National Infant Immunization Week, and it is also the week the Colorado Children’s Immunization Coalition (CCIC) celebrates its members, supporters, partners and friends at our annual SOUP! (Shots Offer Unrivaled Protection) event. All of this excitement around immunization advocacy led me to reflect on my experience thus far as executive director of the Colorado Children’s Immunization Coalition. What I have learned in the past six months is that immunizations are a lot like onions. Let me explain. [Read more…]
By Andrea Clement-Johnson
My son, Caleb, is many wonderful things and this word cloud captures just a few aspects of his personality. You may have noticed that autism is represented as the smallest piece of this word cloud. Autism, like any diagnosis, is just one part of his life, not the whole of our Caleb.
Colorado: we are not average. This is something all Coloradans know and eagerly share with fellow out-of-staters. We see 300 days of sunshine every year, have the opportunity to ski, hike and climb world-class mountains, and we pride ourselves on being the “leanest” of 50 states. Not to mention we are consistently among the best-performing states — if not the best —regarding heart attacks, strokes, cancer and diabetes. But, as The Colorado Health Foundation’s 2012 Health Report Card points out, looks can be deceiving.
The Colorado Health Report Card, which launches today, reveals we’re far from the top of the class by many important measures in health and health care. [Read more…]
As you know from reading the first Immunology 101 Series post, vaccines are composed of non-disease causing forms of pathogen (the scientific term for ‘germs’ such as bacteria and viruses) that allow our immune system to create long-lived memory cells. Memory cells remember the pathogen from the first encounter with the vaccine and quickly defeat the real, disease-causing pathogen when it enters our body. Essentially, vaccines train our immune system to recognize and respond quickly to infection to keep us healthy!
While getting your flu shot this season, you may have been offered the choice of different types of vaccines. Live, attenuated? Inactivated? What do these terms mean, and how do they affect protection? [Read more…]
Do you get overwhelmed trying to make sense of biology? It’s okay. We do, too, which is why we’ve asked Dr. Aimee Pugh-Bernard, an immunologist and educator, to give us an easy-to-understand review of the basic biology we need to make sense of the science behind vaccines. In this first installment of the Immunology 101 Series, Aimee will explain how the body’s immune system works so we can better understand how vaccines protect us. [Read more…]
Dr. Aimee Bernard with her husband Dr. Tim Bernard and their children, 8-year-old twins Jack and Sawyer
As a scientist and an educator who appreciates the hard facts, and as a mom with real concerns about my kids’ health, I understand how difficult it can be to make choices that affect your family’s health. We all want to do what’s right. But in today’s world – filled with conflicting information online, in the media and among peers – it’s hard to know which sources are accurate and reliable. Throughout the course of this blog series, I’ll use my expertise and my experience to arm you with the facts.
So, what makes me an expert? [Read more…]
Nothing is more special than a mother’s love. As mothers, we want our kids to grow up happy and be healthy. We want our kids to experience all the joys life has to offer and protect them from anything that may cause them fear or harm. There isn’t anything a mother would not do for her child; it’s innate, it’s the way we were created, it’s because we love our children more than ourselves.
Jennifer with her twin daughters, Mary and Emma
My journey as a mother is different from most, but the love for my children is no different from any other mother’s in the world. For me, being a mother of twin girls was a dream come true. When Mary and Emma were born, my life felt complete. My heart was made whole and overflowed with love. Then, in November 2008, Mary contracted a non-vaccine preventable form of bacterial meningitis and my perfect world came to an end. She did not exhibit any of the typical signs of meningitis and because she was vaccinated the doctors did not suspect meningitis. Why or how she got this horrible disease, we will never know. Mary passed away when she was only 7.5 months old. Although my heart will be forever broken, my love continues to grow and remains as strong as it was the day she was born. My husband and I made a choice to raise Emma in a family where love has no boundaries and with the promise to keep Mary alive through sharing our story. [Read more…]
In this episode, I will share my own experience with childhood vaccine adverse reactions and how to handle the mild side effects that may occur post-vaccination.