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June 27, 2003
INTERNATIONAL IMMUNIZATION NEWS
Hepatitis A Outbreak Spreading Quickly in
Ukraine
More than 400 people have been affected by an
outbreak of hepatitis A in Kiev, Ukraine, after drinking contaminated water,
according to the Ukrainian Health Ministry. A total of 303 adults and 126
children in Sukhodilsk are being treated for hepatitis A infection; however,
officials expect that number to rise following the diseases 30-day incubation
period. The water was contaminated on June 9, after stagnant sub-soil waters
caused the water supply and sewage systems to overflow. To help stem the spread
of the disease, Aventis Pasteur has donated 1,000 doses of hepatitis A vaccines.
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whether or not to vaccinate is an important and complex issue and should
be made by you, and you alone, in consultation with your health care
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"A foolish faith in authority is the worst enemy of truth."
-- 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
"Who gets to decide what the greater good is and how many will be sacrificed to it?"