Flu | gutsandgrowth

LA Times, Michael Hiltzik (1/9/24): Column: Meet the most dangerous quack in America

An excerpt:

It used to be fairly easy to dismiss Florida’s surgeon general, Dr. Joseph A. Ladapo, as a clownish anti-vaccine quack posing a danger mostly to residents of his home state…Ladapo has moved from promoting useless treatments for COVID-19, such as the drugs hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin, to waging an ever-expanding fact-free campaign against the leading COVID vaccines…

Last January, a faculty committee at the University of Florida medical school found that Ladapo engaged in “careless, irregular and contentious” research practices that may have violated university rules…

That brings us to Ladapo’s latest adventure in medical quackery, his claim that no one should take the mRNA vaccines….Ladapo’s advice is based on what he says is research that the Pfizer and Moderna mRNA COVID vaccines contain fragments of DNA that are injected into human cells, which they can contaminate and turn into cancer cells…

The human cell has a panoply of mechanisms to destroy foreign DNA. Even if the fragments managed to penetrate the cell nucleus, which can’t happen, they would have to cut up the existing DNA, which would require a mechanism the fragments don’t have.

“So the chance that DNA could affect your DNA is zero,” Offit said..

Ladapo’s words and actions have surely contributed to his state’s pathetic performance in getting its citizens vaccinated against COVID. With 11.6% of its population fully vaccinated with a booster as of last May, Florida had a rate among the lowest in the nation. (California’s rate was 20.6%.) Among those 65 and older — purportedly the population that Florida strives to protect — only 31.2% were fully vaccinated. (California: 48.3%.)

Florida’s death rate from COVID of 375 per 100,000 people is among the worst in the country. (California: 283.) You can ignore the defense that the difference is due to Florida’s relatively older population; states with even older median ages have done much better: Vermont (170), New Hampshire (245) and Maine (252). The difference is the indifference of Ladapo and DeSantis to their own residents’ health.

Related blog posts:

Besides the focus on legislation and access to care, the AAP meeting provided an infectious disease update from Dr. Harry Keyserling, membership update by Dr. Roma Klicius, the Pediatric Foundation Report by Dr. Bob Wiskind, an update on oral health care by Dr. Chevron Brooks, a brief update on AAP Friends of Children by Dr. Jay Berkelhammer, and discussion about transitional care.

With regard to the infectious diseases update, Dr. Keyserling noted that despite the flu vaccine’s lower “match” this year and its reduced effectiveness, it is still quite important to receive the flu vaccine.

Each year, about 1/3rd ot the population gets the flu.
About 1 in 10,000 people die due to the flu.
In 2012-13, there were 171 pediatric deaths across the country due to influenza. 90% of these deaths occurred in children who were not immunized; in other words, for a child with the flu, the risk of death is more than 10 times higher in those who do not receive the immunization.

Here are a couple of slides (used with permission) regarding the flu:

Risk of Death from the Flu

Flu Data thru Jan 2015

Flu Vaccine Coverage

Bottomline: The AAP is working on preventing deaths from all vaccine-preventable deaths, including the flu.

Related blog posts:

Since my job at the AAP is to work on nutrition-related issues, I would welcome suggestions for areas of concern. As there are separate areas devoted to obesity and breastfeeding, my goal is to work on other aspects of nutrition in children. Some ideas that have come up already include an update on gluten-related disorders and nutritional supplements. Any other advice?

Upcoming AAP Schedule

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Tag Archives: Flu

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