This week’s NEJM has published the results from the Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness Network’s estimates of the effectiveness of the influenza vaccines in the United States of America in 2015-2016. The paper highlights some interesting details and I thought it would be a good chance to try out using the paper to jot down a visual … Continue reading
According to the Al Arabiya News, four members of a polio vaccination team were killed on February 18, 2015, after being kidnapped from Southwest Pakistan. This issue has been a teething problem, especially since poor vaccination coverage means immense risk to India and Global eradication status. Continue reading
Here is a great example of how a Governmental Policy and Implementation may impact global health issues! According to the New Zimbabwe report, fake WHO certificates crediting Yellow Fever vaccinations are sold openly in bus terminals of Zimbabwe and Zambia (a problem which was previously also noted to exist in Nigeria). The main reason why … Continue reading
A girl from Thane, Maharashtra, has recovered from what seems to have been a clinically diagnosed case of furious rabies, according to the Mumbai Mirror newspaper. There have been very few cases that have survived advanced form of rabies, once the symptoms gave set in. The newspaper report quotes Dr. Madhusudana, a Professor of Neurovirology … Continue reading
Compared to the first 14 weeks of 2014, in the same period in 2015, Washington has experienced a major spike in the number of pertussis cases. There were 49 cases in the corresponding period of 2014, compared to which, in 2015, there have been 319 cases. Pertussis shows cyclical trends of increasing numbers every three … Continue reading
Yellow fever vaccine is recommended to all travelers who are planning a trip to countries endemic for the disease. The vaccine is relatively safe and effective and recently, there have been two isolated reports of a fatal and extremely rare complication arising from the YF vaccine, the Yellow Fever Vaccine associated Viscerotropic Disease (YEL-AVD). The … Continue reading
The central Asian country of Kyrgyzstan has recorded 11,000 cases of measles, prompting a travel advisory from the WHO. The nation has initiated a mass vaccination campaign to combat the spread of this disease. Of these 11,000 cases, an estimated 7,000 had occurred in the very first seven weeks of 2015. The WHO has issued … Continue reading
