NEWSWORTHY
As measles cases spread, fight against vaccinations likened to a contagious disease
Faced with a global resurgence of measles, health experts called Tuesday for countries to step up the fight against vaccine resistance, warning the movement was spreading like a contagious disease. World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus joined experts and health ministers from a range ...
'Hippie' Vashon Island off Seattle sees shift in low vaccine rate
Sarah Day is a school nurse with "street cred" when it comes to the polarizing issue of vaccines on an idyllic island in Washington state known for its rural beauty, counterculture lifestyle and low immunization rates. Since she began communal living on Vashon Island more ...
Japan struggles to ditch 'vaccine backwater' image due to policy gaps
Earlier this year, a quiet outbreak of rubella began to sweep Japan. Over 1,300 people — mainly men in their 30s and 40s — have been diagnosed with the virus as of early May. But why should such a specific demographic be falling victim to rubella? From ...
On Oct. 26, 1918, just over two weeks before the end of World War I, readers of The Japan Times & Mail, the predecessor of The Japan Times, woke up to the headline "Thousands Dying From Influenza Throughout the World," and an accompanying article ...
Germany's health minister is proposing fines for parents of school-age children who haven't been vaccinated for measles amid concern that the highly contagious and potentially deadly disease could make a comeback. In an interview published Sunday with German weekly Bild am Sonntag, minister Jens Spahn ...
U.S. measles outbreak raises questions about immunity in adults vaccinated decades ago
Adults in the United States who were vaccinated against measles decades ago may need a new dose depending on when they received the shot and their exposure risk, according to public health experts battling the nation's largest outbreak since the virus was deemed eliminated ...
Malawi becomes first nation to immunize kids against malaria
The World Health Organization says Malawi has become the first country to begin immunizing children against malaria, using the only licensed vaccine to protect against the mosquito-spread disease. Although the vaccine only protects about one-third of children who are immunized, those who get the shots ...
U.S. records 71 new measles cases in week as outbreak spreads
The United States recorded 71 new measles cases last week, a 13 percent increase as the country faces its second-worst outbreak of the disease in almost two decades, federal health officials said on Monday. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it had ...
New York City defends measles vaccination order in court after parents sue
New York City's Department of Health defended its mandatory measles vaccination order in a state court on Thursday after a group of anonymous Brooklyn parents sued, arguing that the order was unconstitutional. The department issued the order last week, saying it was an unusual but ...
Global measles cases surge 300% year-on-year, as anti-vaccination concerns grow: WHO
Measles cases rose 300 percent worldwide through the first three months of 2019 compared to the same period last year, the U.N. said Monday, as concern grows over the impact of the anti-vaccination movement. Measles, which is highly contagious, can be entirely prevented through a ...
Fukuoka High Court overturns ruling and denies damages in hepatitis B relapse cases
A high court on Monday overturned a lower-court ruling and denied damages to chronic hepatitis B sufferers who contracted the illness in a state-run vaccination program and had relapses. The focus of the trial at the Fukuoka High Court had been on when the 20-year ...
New York county's measles outbreak spotlights use of 'religious exemption' to avoid vaccinations
Patricia Schnabel Ruppert, the health commissioner of an outlying New York suburban county, is feeling "overwhelmed." Since October she has been fighting an uphill battle to quell one of the worst U.S. measles outbreaks in 20 years. Among her daily struggles: having to constantly repeat that ...
