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June 18, 2003
U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS
Pneumonia Shots for the Masses
New York Times (www.nytimes.com)
(06/17/03) P. F6; ONeil, John
The most cost-effective way to prevent deaths
from invasive pneumococcal disease is to offer the pneumonia vaccine to all
Americans over the age of 50, according to a new study in the Annals of Internal
Medicine. Although the vaccine is recommended for all seniors over the age of
65, only about half of them received the immunization in 2001, says lead author
Dr. Jane E. Sisk of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. The study found that
vaccinating individuals between the ages of 50 and 64 would lower overall health
care costs, and it said that offering the vaccine to everyone 50 years of age or
older would be more cost-effective in preventing deaths than some other
preventative measures, such as screening for colon cancer.
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-- Albert Einstein, letter to a friend, 1901
"I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves, and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education."
-- Thomas Jefferson, letter to William C. Jarvis, September 28, 1820
"What's the point of vaccination if it doesn't protect you from the unvaccinated?"
-- Sandy Gottstein
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