Search Results for: blog vaccine fact and fiction

Talking Cats, Ferrets, and Writing with Ed Lynskey

I’ve never met my next interviewee in person, but we’ve had an acquaintance via writing that’s spanned a few years now. Back when I was editor for the now defunct EWG Presents, he submitted a couple of stories that I published. Unbeknownst to him, I’ve followed his burgeoning career. (Which I always knew was going to take off one day. He’s quite talented!) But after I interviewed Jeff Cohen, Ed wrote me and informed me we had another love besides writing in common: pets. Thus, an interview was born… Courtney Mroch: What kind of things do you write about? (Genre, … Continue reading →

New Five-in-One Vaccine Approved

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a new combination vaccine for children. The combination vaccine covers five different diseases — and could reduce the number of shots needed for infants by as much as a third. The combination vaccine is known as Pentacel and is manufactured by Sanofi Pasteur. It is a four-dose vaccine series that protects against five different diseases: Diphtheria Tetanus Whooping cough (also known as pertussis) Polio Influenza type B Pentacel is safe for children two months of age and older. Most childhood vaccines are completed before the age of eighteen months. The U.S. Food … Continue reading →

Vaccine Fact and Fiction

Feeling hesitant about your own (or your child’s) vaccinations? Only one of the following three popular beliefs about vaccinations is true. Mercury in vaccines can accumulate in the body. The flu vaccine can actually cause the flu. People can have allergic reactions to vaccines. Do you know which one is true? It’s the third one — allergic reactions. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, out of one million vaccines given, only ONE vaccine will cause a severe allergic reaction or death. Mild allergic reactions are slightly more common. If you do experience a reaction to a vaccine, a … Continue reading →

Chickenpox Vaccine

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Raise your hand if you’ve had chickenpox. I sort of had it twice — my father had it when I was a baby, and my parents tell me I had the rash on my rump. I had it again a few years later, and suffered through the itching by getting painted with calamine lotion. Chickenpox (varicella) is a very common childhood disease; it seems to get harder to deal with as the patient gets older. The disease is most dangerous to infants and adults — as many as 100 people die because of chickenpox here in the U.S. Around twelve … Continue reading →

Things to Know About the Measles Outbreak

If you’ve spent any time at all on Facebook or Twitter lately, you’ve undoubtedly come across a multitude of people talking about measles. Some people are more tactful about sharing their views about vaccinations than others. No matter what your personal viewpoint happens to be, there are some things you should know about the measles outbreak. There is a measles outbreak going on. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that there were at least 102 reported cases of measles in 14 states as of February 1, 2015. CDC Director Tom Frieden warns that the United States could see a … Continue reading →

Will the Swine Flu Shot Be Ready by October?

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We’re not done with swine flu yet… or maybe swine flu isn’t done with us. As of the beginning of June, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control are reporting more than 8,500 probable and confirmed cases of swine flu in the United States; the World Health Organization puts the global number of cases just over twenty thousand. The virus has been confirmed in sixty-six different countries. More than one hundred people have died at the time of writing. But we may see a swine flu vaccine in the United States as early as October — right around the start of … Continue reading →

Should You Vaccinate Your Own Pets?

Are you a do-it-yourself sort of person? Veterinarians are often asked if owners can administer vaccinations at home. But this is usually not a good idea. For one thing, the written instructions that come with over-the-counter vaccines may not be enough to educate an owner on the proper way to administer an injection. At the cats-only boarding facility, I was trained to prepare and give certain vaccines and supervised until the vet techs were confident that I could do it correctly. I don’t think I could have figured it out just from reading instructions! (The same with giving insulin injections … Continue reading →

Why Vaccinations May Fail

I’m a big fan of vaccinating pets. Immunization has successfully prevented disease in millions of pets for years. But once in a while, a vaccine doesn’t work for a particular animal. Vaccine failure is pretty rare, but it can happen. Here are a few reasons why: Different strains of the same disease. Most of the time, the strain of a disease used in a vaccine protects your pet against other strains of the same disease. Sometimes, a new strain evolves that is resistant to the vaccine. (Drug-resistant diseases are a problem for humans, too.) The vaccine was spoiled. Many vaccines … Continue reading →

Diary of a Cat Care B&B: When Vet Opinions Differ

I know I talk a lot about vaccines, both here in the Pets Blog and over in the Health Blog. The way I see it, immunization helps prevent diseases that would otherwise ravage the population. The one vaccine we require at the cats-only boarding facility is FVRCP — the upper respiratory combination vaccine. Cats from different families never come into physical contact with each other, but they are breathing the same air in the room. Some veterinarians believe that the FVRCP vaccine is good for three years; others feel that it only absolutely protects cats for one year. The vet … Continue reading →

FIV: Feline AIDS

Today I was reading over the New York Times list of what happened on this day in history. In 1981, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention made the first report on cases that would later come to be known as AIDS. I remember the first time I heard about AIDS. 1984. I remember the first time I heard about a doctor testing a cat for AIDS. 1999. “The vet tested my cat for AIDS. Is he crazy?” Wayne and I were having dinner with our friends Thais and Wlad. As we often did, we swapped funny stories about various … Continue reading →