A health and public policy blog
As humans, our first line of defense against viral pathogens is the innate immune response. That includes things like the skin, cytokines, and macrophages. This response tries to hold the line till tRead More…
It is more than 18 months since the first case of SARS-CoV-2 infection was diagnosed in the US. Most of us hoped for a vaccine which we believed will end the pandemic. Today we have several vaccineRead More…
It is 18 months since the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 as a global pandemic. The global deaths now is 8467, more than what was reported in the worst days of April and May 2020. The geoRead More…
In the past months with Covid-19 vaccines available in many countries, implementation programs are rolling out across the globe. The effectiveness of such programs is very important in curbing furtheRead More…
Different countries have so far approved more than 6 Covid-19 vaccines mostly by Emergency Use Authorizations. With this development a few questions keep popping up. One such question is on how the vRead More…
The side effect of a vaccine becomes significant if that complication’s occurrence is higher than pertains in the general population.Let’s take Bell’s Palsy, aka partial facial paralysis, as an exampRead More…
This post is my attempt to bring the vaccine experience to a larger audience. To do this I polled about 500 vaccine recipients over about 24 days. A prior survey that I conducted suggested that manyRead More…
US Response To Vaccine Implementation As public health authorities in the US roll out the Covid-19 vaccination program many issues beyond immunization logistics are beginning to surface. A receRead More…
There is an anti-COVID vaccine video making the rounds on SM. It stars a black lady called Khalilah Mitchell who claims she works as a registered nurse in Nashvillee, TN. According to her heart wrencRead More…
Covid-19 What’s going on in the World: 81,126,416 cases worldwide since the start of the epidemic, with 1,771,407 deaths. It is likely we will, despite starting vaccinations, see another increaRead More…
Brief History of mRNA Vaccines The first published human trial of an mRNA vaccines was of a rabies vaccine. CureVac a Dutch Company specializing in mRNA vaccines and scientists at the University Read More…
About a year ago our world was upended when it became clear the respiratory virus spreading through China was not going to be contained locally. China dragged its feet trying to figure out how to hanRead More…
The Boston Smallpox Epidemic For many centuries’ smallpox was the scourge of humanity. It decimated human populations and in the New World wreaked havoc among Native Americans with the influx oRead More…
After almost 10 months of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic there appears to be some light at the end of the tunnel. There are several SARS-CoV-2 vaccines on the horizon, with two approaching FDA approval. As Read More…
When it comes to infectious diseases national boundaries have never been a useful means of control. This is one very important reason why the World Health Organization (WHO) is so important. There isRead More…
Anytime I hear any debate on the HPV vaccine Gardasil, I remember a fact that most of us tend to forget. This simple piece of common sense was brought to my attention by a classmate in a class Read More…
Emma Lazarus a poet and activist wrote the poem on the plaque of the Statue of Liberty. The words say;
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your pRead More…
As a student in School of Public Health I learned one basic fact of life; new ideas in most fields including medicine usually benefit the most advantaged in society the most. This lesson will follow Read More…
Over the years widespread application of vaccines globally has led to significant reductions in the incidence of many vaccine preventable communicable diseases. One disease smallpox has been completeRead More…
A recent WHO ranking of health systems puts the US at number 37 between Costa Rica and Slovenia. This is more surprising since US heath expenditure per capita is twice that of the number one country Read More…