U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. James Stewart/Release

A new mandate from the United States Air Force requires all active-duty airmen who will be stationed in Japan or the Republic of Korea for more than 30 days to receive a Japanese Encephalitis vaccination.

The mandate, which was signed into effect by Air Force Surgeon General Lt. Gen. Thomas Travis on January 9, went into effect on February 1.

Although the Japanese Encephalitis vaccination has been available since 2009, it was not made mandatory by the US Air Force until now. Normally, the military mandates that service men and women receive all vaccines recommended by the Centers for Disease Control for the destination at which they will be stationed, and the new requirement is meant to bring USAF standards in line with CDC protocol.

[Read more…]

Courtesy of Melissa Johnson on Flickr

Imagine going to your doctor for what you thought would be a routine check-up only to be diagnosed with HIV. That is exactly what happened to a 74-year-old man in a Cambodian village last month. When the unidentified man’s test came back positive, he immediately spoke with family and friends and asked them to be tested as well. Within a few weeks, over 200 cases of HIV were diagnosed in the area, and the majority of these cases were connected to an unlicensed doctor in the town of Rhoka, where the 74-year-old and his family reside.

Since the discovery of the infections, the unlicensed doctor, identified by authorities as Yem Chrin, has been charged with murder and deliberately infecting individuals with HIV. Whether Chrin maliciously infected his patients is as yet unknown, but investigators have found evidence that the doctor re-used needles on multiple patients, leading to cross contamination and widespread infection.

[Read more…]

The measles cases in Disneyland (a crowded environment through which many people pass) have been extremely well documented by the media. Similarly, a recent CDC report shows the potential effects of one infected individual passing through an airport and the potential harm that vaccine preventable diseases can cause. This information is equally applicable to an airport, Disneyland, a grocery store, or a school. According to the CDC, in January, 2014, an individual with measles passed through an undisclosed airport, and, within a four-hour span, he or she infected three other people.

[Read more…]

Workplaces can pose all kinds of hazards, especially to those individuals who work in environments where exposure to various diseases is heightened. Healthcare, farming, oil drilling and food handling jobs are just some of the professions and industries in which additional health risks exist that typically do not affect the average person. As a result, it is extremely important that workers in these fields be vaccinated against a variety of diseases.

Below are five vaccines that are most needed by the individuals in these higher risk jobs to help ensure protection against what could otherwise be deadly infections.

[Read more…]

During January, Cervical Health Awareness Month, we have reviewed a range of cervical health issues, including the new vaccine from Merck that will hopefully enter the market soon. Recently, studies have been released showing how safe the current HPV vaccine is, and this safety is likely to extend to the new vaccine as well. In our last post for Cervical Health Awareness Month, let’s consider what these studies mean for you and your family.

[Read more…]