Monday, August 6, 2012
In case you missed it, check out this weekend's top stories.
Snellville Patch featured a number of stories this weekend that got the community talking. For the most part, it was a pretty laid-back weekend. Patch 101: Get the Most Out of Snellville Patch On Sunday, Snellville Patch featured a short how-to guide on posting announcements, events and setting up a blog on the site. Snellville Police Confirm Five Separate Hit and Run Incidents in One Day Five separate hit and run incidents occurred in Snellville on August 2. None appear to be related, which made it a bit of a mystery. Did planetary forces align and make people go a little wacko that day? Kidding, of course, but the coincidence was odd. Only one suspect was tracked down and charged. Speak Out: To Vaccinate or Not to Vaccinate? This…
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Whooping cough is on the rise in Gwinnett. Will you get a booster shot? Tell us why or why not.
Whooping is twice as bad this year as it was last, with 95 cases reported in metro Atlanta alone. Whooping cough can be deadly, especially for infants and the elderly, or those whose immune system is compromised. As of mid-July, nine children have died from it, according to the CDC. The vaccine, which was changed in the mid-1990s, may not be as effective as it should be, the CDC confirmed. Still, adults and children alike are being urged to get a booster shot. One Snellville mom asked on Facebook, "if whooping cough is part of childhood immunization, and most kids were immunized...why is there an outbreak? How is it getting worse if the vaccination prevents it? Just curious. I know its part of the standard infant vaccination package…
Friday, August 3, 2012
The Georgia Department of Health says the increased cases are a "cause of concern."
Pertussis, commonly known as the whooping cough, is making the rounds in metro Atlanta. As of July 28, 95 cases have been reported; this time last year, that number was 51, according to a press release issued Aug. 1 by the Georgia Department of Health. “Though we have not seen a substantial increase in the number of whooping cough cases statewide, the increase in whooping cough cases in highly-populated metroAtlanta is of concern,” said state epidemiologist Cherie Drenzek, D.V.M. in a recent statement to the Georgia Department of Health. National trends are similar, and the U.S. seems to be headed for its highest number of cases in over 50 years. Nearly 18,000 cases have been reported so far this year nationally compared to half that…
Dave Ballard
1:49 pm on Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Here's a link to a story that provides a much more likely (in my view) explanation of the expansion of autism in recent decades. Turns out, it parallels an increase in inflammatory diseases in general, and pregnant women specifically. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/26/opinion/sunday/immune-disorders-and-autism.html The basic argument: inflammatory over-response in mothers tends to increase the … more ›