A Doctor's Vaccine Christmas Wish List

Christmas Wish List

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we had a vaccine to prevent tooth cavities? That possibility isn’t as far-fetched as you might think. For cavities to occur, they need sugar, plaque and bacteria, and the bacteria responsible for cavities in humans are lactobacillus and a type of streptococcus. I checked this week with three of my favorite dentists to confirm that there has been a lot of effort expended towards developing a vaccine that would protect us from ever getting cavities.

How about a vaccine against acne? The germ responsible for pimples and scars is propionibacterium acnes. It’s a bacteria against which we have antibiotics such as tetracycline and erythromycin. A vaccine which prevented acne would be welcome news for the complexions of millions of teenagers and young adults.

Here are a few others on my wish list. We currently have great vaccines against hepatitis A and hepatitis B. Whoever invents a vaccine against hepatitis C will be a rich man or woman.

Some day we’ll likely have a herpes vaccine. It’s a bit complicated, however, because there’s genital herpes and oral herpes and a few other cousins. A herpes vaccine might not help the more than 80 million Americans already infected with this virus, but it would be a boon for those in the future.

In many parts of the world, malaria is an everyday threat. An effective malaria vaccine could prevent an estimated 300-500 million infections per year.

It’s been more than twenty years since AIDS was first recognized as a new disease and HIV was identified as the virus responsible. Many thought that we would have a vaccine against HIV by the mid-1990s. Unfortunately, this virus has proven to be exceedingly resistant thus far to researchers’ efforts to come up with a safe and effective vaccine.

Lastly, MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus) is a miserable bacteria that’s responsible for pneumonia and bloodstream infections, both in hospitals and in our communities. My Dad died as a result of an overwhelming staph infection, so I’ve always had a healthy respect for this particular bacteria. Selfishly, a vaccine against staph is at the top of my list.




Brad Gascoigne, M.D.
Smart Readers Health Column

Few adults get vaccinations needed to fight infectious diseases

As reported in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, last month the CDC released data showing that inoculation rates for adults "range from 6 percent to 57 percent depending on the vaccine." This includes the vaccine for the whooping cough--which Passport Health Northern Ohio actively carries and administers. Whooping cough "has reached epidemic levels in California, with 6,400 cases, including 10 infant deaths this year, according to the CDC. That's a 418 percent increase over 2009, and the most cases since 1958." In addition, "Whooping cough has spiked in six other states including Ohio, where 1,546 cases have been reported this year."

"The CDC recommends adults get vaccines for flu, tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), shingles, pneumococcal pneumonia, meningococcal meningitis, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and measles, mumps and rubella. Inoculations protect adults against viruses that can cause cancer, reactivation of the chickenpox virus that leads to shingles, and bacteria linked to some forms of pneumonia."

Source: http://www.cleveland.com/healthfit/index.ssf/2010/12/few_adults_get_vaccinations_th.html