2020 Colorado legislative session: Expect new vaccine bill, more pushback for Polis

Jan 05 2020

Colorado Democrats, in total control of the statehouse for the second straight year, enter the 2020 legislative session with some unfinished business and plenty of new ideas. Last year was the first since 2013 in which Democrats controlled the state House, Senate and governor’s office, and so the session was essentially a 120-day race to clear a backlog of priorities that liberals had been waiting years to advance. The results? Sweeping oil and gas reform. A ban on conversion therapy for minors. And the state’s first new gun-control measure in years, among many, many others.

Source: The Denver Post

Our government and public institutions must protect us against the unvaccinated

Jan 02 2020

arlier this year, my friend adopted an adorable puppy that we named Bruno in a squealing fit of joy in the middle of Petsmart; we stocked up on puppy toys and treats on our way home. Two weeks later, he was dead. The culprit: distemper, a highly contagious vaccine-preventable disease that, because of his young age and the series of vaccines he needed overtime, he was not yet immune to. It was devastating to watch helplessly as this virus swiftly and mercilessly ravaged his little body. It was among the worst suffering I have ever witnessed a living being endure, and I am a nurse. Thankfully, humans cannot contract distemper. However, we are prone to its highly contagious relative, measles, which has made a resurgence in 2019, with the most number of cases reported since 1992. Standing on the precipice of an extremely preventable public health crisis, state governments are taking action.

Source: The Hill

Century-old TB vaccine may work better if given in a new way

Jan 01 2020

WASHINGTON | Scientists think they’ve figured out how to make a century-old tuberculosis vaccine far more protective: Simply give the shot a different way. In a study with monkeys, injecting the vaccine straight into the bloodstream dramatically improved its effectiveness over today’s skin-deep shot, researchers reported Wednesday. “This offers hope,” although more safety studies are required before testing the approach in people, said Dr. Robert Seder of the National Institutes of Health, a senior author of the study. Tuberculosis kills about 1.7 million people a year, mostly in poor countries. The only vaccine, called the BCG vaccine, is used mainly in high-risk areas to protect babies from one form of the disease. But it’s far less effective at protecting teens and adults from the main threat, TB in the lungs.

Source: Sentinel Colorado

Century-Old TB Vaccine May Work Better if Given in a New Way

Jan 01 2020

WASHINGTON — Scientists think they’ve figured out how to make a century-old tuberculosis vaccine far more protective: Simply give the shot a different way. In a study with monkeys, injecting the vaccine straight into the bloodstream dramatically improved its effectiveness over today's skin-deep shot, researchers reported Wednesday. “This offers hope,” although more safety studies are required before testing the approach in people, said Dr. Robert Seder of the National Institutes of Health, a senior author of the study.

Source: New York Times

Why the Flu Is Still a Bigger Threat to Americans Than Coronavirus

Dec 30 2019

THE CORONAVIRUS outbreak that started in China has spread concerns across the world. With more than 8,000 confirmed cases and at least 170 deaths, the virus is a global public health emergency, the World Health Organization declared Thursday. But the vast majority of the cases and all of the deaths are in China. The U.S. has six cases of the virus, and health officials confirmed Thursday that at least one case was spread through person to person contact. Despite repeated statements from the CDC declaring the general risk to the American public to be low, fear in the U.S. has spread across social media. After news that a plane carrying roughly 200 Americans out of China would land in the U.S., some questioned whether they should be let back into the country, regardless of repeated screenings from health officials.

Source: US News

No new measles cases found so far after exposure at Denver airport and hospital

Dec 30 2019

Tri-County health officials identified more than 250 individuals who might have been exposed to measles while at the emergency department at Children’s Hospital Colorado. Earlier this month, health officials warned that individuals at the hospital’s Anschutz Campus Emergency Department may have been exposed to measles after three children with the illness sought treatment. Individuals at the emergency room on Dec. 12 between 1 and 7:30 p.m. may have been exposed. So far, the department has not discovered additional cases of the illness, said Dr. Bernadette Albanese, a medical epidemiologist at the Tri-County Health Department.

Source: Denver Post

Seattle public school students barred from returning until they get vaccinations

Dec 30 2019

Thousands of students in Seattle have 10 days to get vaccinated or they will not be allowed to go to school. This comes after Washington state had two measles outbreaks this year, one forcing a state of emergency. The Seattle Public Schools district issued a notice to families saying their kids could not attend school "until the required information is provided to the school nurse." Students must be vaccinated by January 8, CBS News correspondent Carter Evans reports.

Source: CBS News

California Gets Ready for New Vaccine Rules

Dec 30 2019

California will open 2020 with a new law that's expected to make it more difficult for parents to circumvent the state's vaccination requirements for children entering school. The move is expected to shore up vaccination rates within a state that has been among the most effective over the past decade at bolstering immunizations among kindergartners. SB276 will take effect Jan. 1 and is designed to make it more difficult for parents to obtain illegitimate medical exemptions that allow children to avoid vaccinations. Medical exemptions are allowed for children with compromised immune systems, and who would not be able to safely receive certain vaccines.

Source: US News

Samoa Lifts State of Emergency After Deadly Measles Epidemic

Dec 29 2019

SYDNEY, Australia — Samoa announced on Saturday that it would reopen schools and end restrictions on public gatherings as it lifted a six-week state of emergency in the aftermath of a measles epidemic that left scores of children and babies dead. Since September, more than 5,600 measles cases have been recorded in the Pacific island nation of about 200,000 people, the Health Ministry said in a statement on Sunday. At least 81 people have died, many of them younger than 5. Measles is one of the most contagious diseases known to humans, and no one in the close-knit country was left untouched. The disease has resurfaced globally as vaccination rates have fallen, particularly in countries where poverty has left gaps in public health systems, experts said.

Source: The New York Times

Here's Why You Really Need A Flu Shot

Dec 20 2019

Thanksgiving leftovers are a distant memory, and December's extra travel, shopping and family commitments are already straining nerves, budgets and immune systems. It's officially "the holidays" — which also means we're well into a new flu season. It's never too late to benefit from a flu shot, even into December and January, says Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt School of Medicine in Nashville. "Giving influenza vaccine to people with heart disease, for example, is as important as giving them a statin," Schaffner says, yet many people living with chronic illness — and even many of their health care providers — don't realize how vital flu vaccination is to managing their condition.

Source: NPR