New Zealand is now contemplating using the same set of incentives to boost immunisation rates that Australia used to boost it’s rates from 50% to 91%. The MacDoctor is not convinced that New Zealanders will respond quite as well as Australians to the incentives. The incentives were:
Cash payments to parents for completing immunisations at 6 [...]
The Timaru Herald has run an article on the website offtheradar.co.nz, who are calling for the removal of Gardasil from the vaccination regime because it causes 16 times more serious adverse events than it prevents cervical cancer fatalities. Like most of the websites “crusading” against vaccines, it destroys its own credibility by drawing non-scientific conclusions [...]
The Lancet has finally withdrawn the paper on MMR and autism that it published 12 years ago. The study: “Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder in children” consisted of a series of 12 children all of whom had been referred in to a paediatric gastroenterology unit with a triad of autism-like symptoms, abdominal [...]
I discovered this very interesting poll on Medscape today:
What is interesting is that 17% of physicians who answered this survey think it is ethical to refuse to see a child whose parents have chosen not to vaccinate (this has remained stable at around 17% for the past 500 or so votes). I find this quite [...]
No, I don’t have a cold. And nor does my Mac, despite yet another silly scare article about the evils of malware. This one looks like a slightly fleshed-out press release from Sophos complete with video link to a scare video on Sophos’ website. Such things usually make me want to scream. It is all [...]
Obama has declared the Swine Flu epidemic in the US a national emergency. Swine Flu has been a public health emergency since April of this year, but making it a national emergency provides people like Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius quite sweeping powers to bypass most federal rules. I am a little curious as [...]
Centre for Disease Control in the US has announced that the H1N1 virus’ genetic makeup now “appears to be stable”. The cynical side of the MacDoctor finds the juxtaposition of this pronouncement on the back of the FDA announcing their approval of the first Swine flu vaccine just a little too convenient. Especially when the [...]
I see Labour is bellyaching about the proposed new National Health Board again.
Labour’s health spokeswoman, Ruth Dyson, said Mr Ryall had already make up his mind about the future direction of health services.
“This is more about Mr Ryall trying to impose his own vision for health than about a genuine attempt to make the current [...]
Stuff reports on a new vaccine that has been shown to provide some protection against AIDS. The vaccine was shown to reduce the incidence of contracting the disease by 31%. All other vaccines against AIDS have been abject failures. While this is indeed great news, the MacDoctor cautions against breaking out the champaign.
31% is by [...]
At least the medical insurance companies have assessed the risk of the swine flu vaccine properly. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that they are refusing to extend insurance to doctors who give the swine flu jab. Clearly, they think that the vaccine, which is being fast-tracked with only the bare minimum of clinical safety trials, [...]
