Dr. Lindsey M. Kirkpatrick, Pediatric Infectious Diseases physician

02/23/2024

Somethng wicked this way comes.

The Indiana Department of Health (IDOH) has confirmed a case of measles in a Lake County resident. The risk to the public is low, but IDOH continues to investigate the case along with local public health officials. No other information about the case will be released to protect patient privacy. This is the first case in Indiana since 2019.

“Measles is easily spread and can be serious, especially for young children. About one in five unvaccinated people in the United States who get measles is hospitalized, and 90 percent of unvaccinated people who are exposed to measles will become sick,” said State Health Commissioner Dr. Lindsay Weaver. “This case is a good reminder that you are at risk if you haven’t been vaccinated.”

Measles is a highly contagious respiratory disease caused by a virus. It is rare in the United States due to the widespread availability of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, but visitors from other countries or U.S. citizens traveling abroad can become infected, particularly before or during travel.

Look ya'll measles can kill you, so 'thesitate

01/25/2024

Measles is on the loose in the US. Don't hesitate - VACCINATE. We know the vaccine is the BEST WAY to prevent measles or serious complications from a measles infection. Measles is HIGHLY contagious and can be deadly.

From the CDC:
Between December 1, 2023 and January 23, 2024, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was notified of 23 confirmed U.S. cases of measles, including seven direct importations of measles by international travelers and two outbreaks with more than five cases each. Most of these cases were among children and adolescents who had not received a measles-containing vaccine (MMR or MMRV), even if age eligible.

Quick Facts:
Hospitalization: About 1 in 5 unvaccinated people in the U.S. who get measles is hospitalized.

Pneumonia: As many as 1 out of every 20 children with measles gets pneumonia, the most common cause of death from measles in young children.

Encephalitis: About 1 child out of every 1,000 who get measles will develop encephalitis (swelling of the brain) that can lead to convulsions and can leave the child deaf or with intellectual disability.

Death: Nearly 1 to 3 of every 1,000 children who become infected with measles will die from respiratory and neurologic complications.

11/02/2022

Complete Game-changer!!!

05/19/2022

1st case in US reported. Also, cases being reported in UK and Montreal. 10% mortality rate. My ID brain is like.... "Ohhh, interesting. You don't see that one very often". The rest of my brain is like "Oh hell no, you better fizzle out. I'm so tired".

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10116878507557488&id=13738997

“JUST IN: A Massachusetts resident has tested positive for monkeypox, the state health department confirms. https://t.co/0RBA2F11Rb”

11/12/2021

Hey Hoosiers,

We are at a critical blood product shortage. We need everything. If you are O neg or O pos, please consider getting into a blood bank this weekend. We NEED you.

10/17/2021

GREAT interview with Dr. Paul Offit, a world-renowned vaccine expert.

Answers to our top COVID vaccine questions, straight from the dude.

10/07/2021

Science at work! 400000+ people die every year of malaria... 5.3M are hospitalized... Many of them are children. Even a 30% reduction in death and hospitalization for severe malaria is a victory and progress toward better vaccines.

After years of trials, the vaccine has shown potential to save tens of thousands of children's lives.

09/08/2021

The American Red Cross Indiana Region Chapter is a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides disaster relief and helps people during disasters.

08/23/2021

Not peer-reviewed yet, but this speaks to why Delta variant is such a problem.

101 Delta variant cases had data that allowed estimate of time from infection to start of viral shedding (virus detected in throat) and symptoms:

Start of shedding: 4.0 days. 95% started shedding virus within 8.2 days.
Start of symptoms: 5.8 days. 95% started symptoms within 11.5 days.

BIG Take home point from this paper: 74% of spread occurred before spreaders had symptoms.

Wear your masks, America!

Kang, Min, Hualei Xin, Jun Yuan, Sheikh Taslim Ali, Zimian Liang, Jiayi Zhang, Ting Hu, et al. “Transmission Dynamics and Epidemiological Characteristics of Delta Variant Infections in China.” Preprint. Epidemiology, August 13, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.08.12.21261991.

Background The Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 has become predominant globally. We evaluated the transmission dynamics and epidemiological characteristics of the Delta variant in an outbreak in southern China. Methods Data on confirmed cases and their close contacts were retrospectively collected from t...

08/23/2021

Approved!!! Don't hesitate.. vaccinate

Experts praised the decision, saying approval could help ease some vaccine hesitancy and pave the way for more vaccination mandates.

08/20/2021

Finally!!

Federal regulators are winding down the process of licensing Pfizer’s two-dose coronavirus vaccine, setting up an approval possibly by Monday and possibly kicking off a wave of new mandates.