Here is Dr. Klotman’s Week 309 video address. My comments follow.
Vaccination Schedule
- 28 states and DC are following the legacy childhood vaccination schedule and ignoring the CDC’s
“faux ACIP” recommendations - Recent surveys of the public show that trust in the CDC and its recommendations have fallen to a post-pandemic era low
- Today, 50% of Americans express distrust in CDC recommendations
- Trust in vaccines has also declined. Trust in Polio and MMR vaccines is still high, but it falls for Hepatitis B, Influenza, and COVID vaccines. That’s most unfortunate since those three diseases have a high burden of vaccine-preventable mortality
Shingles vaccine
- Shingles vaccine appears to reduce some biological markers of aging
- Six recent research papers suggest that the vaccine can lower the risk of developing dementia
- The risk reduction regarding the development of dementia is 17-20% in at least four studies
- Other studies suggest a 51% risk reduction of dementia among people who received two doses of zoster vaccine
Leaded or Unleaded?
- A study of coffee drinkers and their risk of developing dementia showed that drinkers of caffeinated coffee had a significantly lower risk of developing dementia. Decaf coffee showed no such risk reduction.
Pets and Stoats
- Dr. K offers some genetic insights into why some dogs have floppy rather than perky ears
- He also provides some insight into why some dogs have short legs
- Regarding cats, he reports that domestic felines were introduced to Europe only 2,000 years ago
- Stoats are ferret-like mammals that were chosen as the mascots for this year’s para-Olympics
Among Dr. K’s shoutouts during this address was recognition of a Baylor graduate student working in Dr. Mary Estes’ virology lab studying Norovirus. The student developed an effective way of growing Norovirus – a necessary step in testing anti-norovirus drugs and vaccines. Kudos to graduate student Gurpreet Kaur!
Personal Note: When our son was an IM resident and ID fellow at BCM, he too worked in Dr Estes’ virology lab studying norovirus and was a co-author on one or more of the lab’s research papers. I remember that he always complained that they couldn’t get the damned virus to grow! He studied Norovirus under the electron microscope but studying it in action was always a challenge. That was maybe a decade ago.
Basic science research takes decades to yield actionable results because Nature gives up her secrets only reluctantly. This is something that Trump and his cadre of know-nothing, “short-term thinkers” cannot understand.