Polio survivors gather with Senator Dr. Richard Pan to reinforce the need for SB 277 before bill passed through Education Committee Standing one room away from an antique iron lung, a historic medical device once used to help polio patients breathe, survivors of the once widespread disease urged parents on Tuesday to get their children vaccinated in order to avoid suffering from completely preventable diseases. The polio survivors surrounded Senator Richard Pan, M.D., who authored Senate Bill 277, which would require most children enrolled in school to be immunized from highly infectious diseases. They joined together at the Sierra Sacramento Valley Medical Society’s Museum of Medical History to speak on the ... April 23, 2015 General Public Health, State Legislation, State Legislative Advocacy, Vaccination, Immunization 0 0 Comment Read More »
Senate Bill 277 clears Senate Education Committee Sacramento – Senate Bill 277 (Pan/Allen) cleared the Senate Education Committee today with a 7-2 vote. The bill will now move on to the Senate Judiciary Committee. “This is a huge step forward for public health and the safety of our schools and communities,” said Luther Cobb, M.D., California Medical Association president. “Vaccinations are a proven method to prevent many illnesses and SB 277 will ensure more kids are protected against these diseases.” SB 277 will remove the Personal Belief Exemption (PBE) option from the school and child care enrollment requirements. ... April 23, 2015 General Immunization, Public Health, State Legislation, State Legislative Advocacy, Vaccination, I Heart Immunity 0 0 Comment Read More »
On 60th anniversary of polio vaccine, physicians support bill to expand vaccines Senate Bill 277 is built on science and will keep kids and communities safe from preventable diseases. Sacramento – As Sunday marked the 60th anniversary of Dr. Jonas Salk’s creation of a vaccine for polio, California Medical Association (CMA) President Luther Cobb, M.D., issued the following statement: “None of us practicing medicine today are old enough to have lived through the first major U.S. polio epidemic, which occurred in 1894, or the first large-scale outbreak in 1916, which resulted in 6,000 deaths. Those trends unfortunately continued, and into the 1940s ... April 14, 2015 General Immunization, Public Health, State Legislative Advocacy, Vaccination, I Heart Immunity 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMA joins vaccine advocates to launch "I Heart Immunity" campaign in support of Senate Bill 277 The California Medical Association (CMA), American Academy of Pediatrics, California (AAPCA), California Immunization Coalition (CIC), Vaccinate California and Health Officers Association of California (HOAC) have joined forces to launch the “I Heart Immunity” campaign in an ongoing effort to promote the importance of vaccines and Senate Bill 277 (Pan/Allen). The bill would remove the personal belief exemption (PBE) option from the school and child care enrollment requirements. It would also require schools to publically provide information about their immunization rates. Removing the PBE will help protect the most vulnerable, including ... April 8, 2015 General Immunization, Personal Belief Exemption, Public Health, Vaccination, I Heart Immunity, State Advocacy 0 0 Comment Read More »
ACIP updates HPV vaccine recommendations During its February 2015 meeting, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommended the 9-valent human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine (9vHPV; Gardasil 9, Merck) as one of three HPV vaccines that can be used for routine vaccination, according to a report published in the March 26 issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved 9vHPV in December 2014. Based on a review of clinical trials, the committee determined the new vaccine was more cost-effective and had 97 percent efficacy compared with the current 4-valent HPV ... April 8, 2015 General Immunization, Public Health, Vaccination, HPV 0 0 Comment Read More »
California Immunization Coalition Summit coming in April The 2015 California Immunization Summit will be held in April 26-27 in Riverside. This annual summit is an opportunity for physicians to learn about community-based programs that have increased vaccination rates, and how to adapt and apply key lessons from successful programs. The summit is presented by the California Immunization Coalition, a public-private partnership dedicated to achieving and maintaining full immunization protection for all Californians to promote health and prevent serious illness. This year's program, “Ready, Set, Vaccinate!” includes keynote speaker William L. Atkinson, M.D., MPH, Immunization Action Coalition Associate ... March 23, 2015 General Public Health, Vaccination, Immunization 0 0 Comment Read More »
New study concludes that vaccine refusal helped fuel Disneyland measles outbreak A new study conducted by research teams from MIT and Boston Children’s Hospital has concluded that parental resistance to vaccinations played a role in the Disneyland measles outbreak that started in January. The analysis, published in JAMA Pediatrics, showed that the highly contagious disease has spread to seven states and two other countries, largely because parents did not vaccinate their children. The study’s authors used simple math to determine that the vaccination rate among people who were exposed to measles during the outbreak was no higher than 86 percent, and might ... March 23, 2015 General Measles, Public Health, Vaccination, Immunization 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMA Foundation releases adult vaccine schedule To help physicians answer questions posed by the recent measles outbreak in California and to educate adult patients about their vaccination needs, the California Medical Association (CMA) Foundation has release an adult vaccine schedule that physicians can hand out during patient visits. Many adults may be skipping vaccinations for a variety of conditions, leaving them susceptible to disease. For example, the tetanus vaccine can prevent a deadly bacterial toxin. While adults should get a booster every 10 years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported last week that ... February 26, 2015 General Immunization, Public Health, Vaccination, CMA Foundation 0 0 Comment Read More »
Boxer and Pan introduce vaccination legislation plans in effort to raise immunization rates U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer and California State Senator Richard Pan, M.D., toured an Emeryville Head Start program last week to illustrate the reasons they have introduced vaccination bills at the national and state levels. Senator Boxer introduced the Head Start on Vaccinations Act with Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto. That bill would protect children in Head Start programs from preventable diseases by requiring that all children in Head Start programs nationwide be fully vaccinated unless they have been exempted for medical reasons. Boxer chose the Emeryville Head Start program to ... February 26, 2015 General Immunization, Public Health, State Legislation, Vaccination, Federal Legislation 0 0 Comment Read More »
Legislation announced to ban personal belief exemptions for school vaccinations With the number of California measles cases now at 103 and growing, Sacramento pediatrician and State Senator Richard Pan, M.D., has announced his intention to introduce legislation to repeal personal belief exemptions for school vaccinations. Cosponsoring the repeal with Dr. Pan is Sen. Ben Allen, D-Redondo Beach. Joining Senators Pan and Allen at the press conference announcing their bill were Senators Hannah Beth Jackson and Lois Wolk and Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez. The same day, Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer urged California to revisit the law allowing personal belief exemptions. In ... February 18, 2015 General Measles, Public Health, State Legislation, Vaccination, Immunization 0 0 Comment Read More »
