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The politics of immunization in public health
Annenberg School of Communications, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
19104.
The role of socio-political and psychological factors in the decision to
immunize is explored using data collected in a county health department in the
United States. Decisions regarding the administration of post-exposure
immunizations for hepatitis A and rabies are described, and a tendency toward
unnecessary use noted. At times these interventions function more to reduce the
anxiety of a patient or clinician than they do to prevent an infection. These
findings may have implications for analyses of clinical decision making that
involve other types of interventions.
PMID: 2705017 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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INFORMATION, DATA, AND MATERIAL CONTAINED, PRESENTED, OR PROVIDED HERE IS FOR
GENERAL INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS REFLECTING THE
KNOWLEDGE OR OPINIONS OF THE PUBLISHER, AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED OR INTENDED
AS PROVIDING MEDICAL OR LEGAL ADVICE. THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO
VACCINATE IS AN IMPORTANT AND COMPLEX ISSUE AND SHOULD BE MADE BY YOU, AND YOU
ALONE, IN CONSULTATION WITH YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.
"A foolish faith in authority is the worst enemy of truth."
-- Albert Einstein, letter to a friend, 1901
"I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves, and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education."
-- Thomas Jefferson, letter to William C. Jarvis, September 28, 1820
"What's the point of vaccination if it doesn't protect you from the unvaccinated?"
-- Sandy Gottstein
"Who gets to decide what the greater good is and how many will be sacrificed to it?"