Vaccination schedule

Ever since the FDA approved the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine in 2006, its introduction has been embroiled in a medical, social, cultural, and political controversy. This controversy has once again been rekindled in the recent Republican primary debates between Texas governor Rick Perry and Congresswoman Michele Bachmann from Minnesota, in which Bachmann emphatically stated that Merck's HPV vaccine, Gardasil, causes mental retardation. As a physician, parent, and author of the…

This seems to be due to the spreading of anti-vaccination articles, celebrities taking an anti-vaccine standpoint, and many other reasons. Whooping cough rates have raised dramatically as a result of this, and some “virtually extinct” diseases could begin making reappearances. In 2008, we had the biggest…

In the summer of 2012, my uncle came down with West Nile Encephalitis and passed away from it two months later. Subsequently, in the summer of 2014, my dad came down with West Nile fever, and survived. West Nile is a potentially deadly virus that is carried by birds and transmitted to mosquitos. Mosquitos then transmit it to horses and humans, and even back to the birds, which continues the cycle when the mosquitos bite the infected birds. Humans can then transmit it to other humans through…

Living with a colostomy bag It might take some time to become used to the fact that you have an opening in the side of your abdomen which is now basically the way from which stool from your intestine will exit the body. An ostomy is a procedure where surgeons create an opening in your abdominal wall and attach part of your intestine (ileum or colon) to it. It has been estimated that around 100,0001 new ostomy procedures are performed every year in the US. Colostomy is usually performed in cases…

Mason City, Iowa is a city in the northern plains of the great state of Iowa. The population of this city currently is just over twenty-eight thousand residents. This city has faced many tragedies in the past including the death of Buddy Holly, multiple natural disasters that most specifically include flooding and tornadoes, and more recently an increased crime rate within the city itself. Even though these problems are some of the issues Mason City, Iowa faces today, back in the time period of…

debates about vaccinations for children have occurred since their inception in the early eighteenth century. Many citizens accepted vaccines unquestioningly after the horrors of World War II, but people have since forgotten the frightening effects of diseases. Instead, conspiracies, fears of adverse reactions, and beliefs that they intrude on privacy and personal freedom (Allen, “Avoiding Vaccination”) replace the sense of security that we once had. The loss of trust in vaccinations has put the…

It is a long proven fact that vaccinations can save lives. Think of vaccinations as a protective barrier between a child and a debilitating disease. Vaccinations are able to protect children from diseases such as polio, which was a disease that had once been, according to the US Department of Health and Services, “America’s most-feared disease, causing death and paralysis across the country” (“Five”). There are countless other diseases that have been rendered less dangerous by vaccines. Smallpox…

Vaccines can both be good or bad for you, they can either improve your health and makes you stronger or can cause an harmful effect on your body that can lead to severe illness, and in the worst case scenario it can cause you your own death. Being vaccinated should be the choice of the parents and should not be compulsory and forced by the government because in the end of they they they are the parents and they know and feel what is best for their children. Parents should be followed if they…

Kyosha Valley is taking a proactive approach to addressing the issue of pandemics head on so that we can ensure a sustainable healthcare response at all Kyosha Valley practices. I have enacted guidelines for the pandemic preparedness policies, which will be effective immediately. Pandemics affect a large group of people under a very large radius. Many of the epidemics that countries experience come by due to inadequacy in knowledge about the disease in question. Such a disease spreads faster…

20% of people suffer from trypanophobia, the fear of needles (“Needle Phobia Facts”). However, the fear of needles quickly dissipates when one realizes the amount of diseases a person is susceptible to when they do not receive vaccinations. According to the Center for Disease Control, there is no federal law that mandates children to obtain vaccines, but all 50 states require children entering schools to have mandatory vaccines. However, nineteen states allow philosophical exemptions to the…