We live in a vaccination world, a world where many accept vaccines like they accept a blue sky. Many, therefore, are looking at ways to encourage more and more vaccinations. On one end, some want to create easier ways to get vaccines, easier than getting a needle shoved into your (or your child’s) arm. On the other end, in the policy realm, more and more we hear talk about mandating vaccines. These two studies together address these two sides of the problem and are helpful whether you are for or against the world of vaccines.
In the first, researchers tested out microneedles. While still needing some means of poking through the skin, most of us know that the smaller the needle, the better. In this case, rather than one big needle, they made a patch of many tiny and short needles. Together the micro-needles puncture the skin, deliver the vaccine, but without the big needle pain. We can thank Bill Gates for funding this research in developing countries, according to the article. Thanks, Billy.
In the other article, we are provided with the amazing insight that mandating the HPV vaccine for school age children increases the number of children who get this vaccine. I am glad that people are getting paid to show that coercion and force increase compliance. But, since the world of vaccines tells us that vaccines are good, therefore they believe that forcing children to take vaccines is good.
Back to the big picture, we can see that efforts are underway to increase vaccination rates. People and organizations are working to make vaccines less painful to get and more painful to not get. Quite a simple formula for a world where vaccines “save lives.” Whether you feel safe or not in the world of vaccines, just remember that each of these articles also have a dark side. If children can get a micro-needle vaccine without knowing it, what else can we be injected with without being told? If government can decide what is best for your health care when it comes to vaccines and force you to get them, what else can they dictate for your health?
As a functional medicine provider caring for children, I am all for making it easier to get pediatric patients to swallow a therapy like a capsule or a liquid by mixing in smoothies or food. However, I am against forcing others to receive therapies with health risks either without their knowledge or by force. Helping others live healthier, more abundant lives includes informed consent where everyone gets all the information without surprise and without hiding things. Be aware of what is occurring in the vaccine world.
Original articles:
Ikechukwu Adigweme, Mohammed Yisa, Michael Ooko, Edem Akpalu, Andrew Bruce, Simon Donkor, Lamin B Jarju, Baba Danso, Anthony Mendy, David Jeffries, Anne Segonds-Pichon, Abdoulie Njie, Stephen Crooke, Elina El-Badry, Hilary Johnstone, Michael Royals, James L Goodson, Mark R Prausnitz, Devin V McAllister, Paul A Rota, Sebastien Henry, Ed Clarke. A measles and rubella vaccine microneedle patch in The Gambia: a phase 1/2, double-blind, double-dummy, randomised, active-controlled, age de-escalation trial. The Lancet, 2024; DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(24)00532-4
Mary Catharine McKeithen, Melissa B. Gilkey, Wei Yi Kong, N. Loren Oh, Jennifer Heisler-MacKinnon, Rebecca Carlson, Greeshma James, Brigid K. Grabert. Policy Approaches for Increasing Adolescent HPV Vaccination Coverage: A Systematic Review. Pediatrics, 2024; DOI: 10.1542/peds.2023-064692z
Thanks to Science Daily:
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. “Microarray patches safe and effective for vaccinating children, trial suggests.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 29 April 2024. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/04/240429201917.htm>.
Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist. “Study finds school entry requirements linked to increased HPV vaccination rates.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 29 April 2024. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/04/240429165830.htm>.
Sanctuary Functional Medicine, under the direction of Dr Eric Potter, IFMCP MD, provides functional medicine services to Nashville, Middle Tennessee and beyond. We frequently treat patients from Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Ohio, Indiana, and more... offering the hope of healthier more abundant lives to those with chronic illness.
