Adam R Houston, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa and Jason Nickerson, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa
Any upsurge in measles is of real concern, but in settings aggravated by poor living conditions and malnutrition, it can be disastrous. It can affect adults, but young children are at particular risk.
With poliovirus circulating in New York, health authorities worry that pockets of the county with low polio vaccination rates could give the virus a foothold.
Australia currently has its first cases of childhood respiratory diphtheria since 1992. So why are we seeing diphtheria now? And what role does travel play in its spread?
Vaccination uptake is influenced by many factors and carries a variety of meanings – social, political, economic, ideological, moral as well as biological.
First CDC signed off on a COVID-19 vaccine for adults, then teens. Now US children ages 5 to 11 are officially eligible for shots. Here’s the science on why each group needs to be considered separately.
Public health experts know that schools are likely sites for the spread of disease, and laws tying school attendance to vaccination go back to the 1800s.
Full population-level protection against COVID-19 will require most adolescents and children to be vaccinated. There are ethical arguments for encouraging vaccination uptake through vaccine mandates.
Vaccine hesitancy has resulted in multiple vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks. Research on vaccine hesitancy in South Africa is limited. But growing evidence suggests that it’s becoming a problem.
Senior Scientist, Cochrane South Africa, South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) and Honorary researcher, Division of Social & Behavioural Sciences, School of Public Health, UCT, South African Medical Research Council