TUDY
OF CHICKEN POX VACCINE
A chicken pox outbreak two years ago found vaccinations surprisingly
ineffective and may suggest that children should get two shots
instead of one, some researchers say. Seven earlier studies found
the vaccine protected at least 71 percent of the children who got
shots from developing chicken pox. But the latest study, the results
of which were published in today's New England Journal of Medicine,
tracked the worst performance of the vaccine since its introduction
in 1995. At a day care center near Concord, N.H., a boy who had been
vaccinated three years earlier came down with the illness. Within
six weeks, the virus spread to 24 other children, including 17 who
had also been vaccinated. Dr. Karin Galil, the study's lead author,
said it was still too early to suggest that more than one
vaccination was needed. "When there are 20 or 30 estimates, we'll
have a better measure of how well it's truly working," she said.
(AP)
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MATERIAL CONTAINED, PRESENTED, OR PROVIDED HERE IS FOR GENERAL INFORMATION
PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS REFLECTING THE KNOWLEDGE OR OPINIONS
OF THE PUBLISHER, AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED OR INTENDED AS PROVIDING MEDICAL OR
LEGAL ADVICE. THE DECISION 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 PROVIDER.
"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?"