background despite high immunization rates, hundreds of thousands of poor and underserved children continue to lack their necessary immunizations and are at risk of acquiring a vaccine-preventable disease. local health departments (lhds) and public health clinicians figure prominently in efforts to address this problem.   methods this exploratory research compared ten (10) north carolina lhds w...

Vaccinations are an important topic to address with pregnant women for maternal and neonatal health reasons, and pregnancy provides a unique time during which physicians have close, regular contact with the patient. Inactivated vaccines can be given before, during, and after pregnancy. Based strictly on theoretical concerns, live vaccines preferably should be given at least one month before pre...

One of the most important aspects of preparing travelers for destinations throughout the world is providing them with immunizations. Before administering any vaccines, however, a careful health and immunization history and travel itinerary should be obtained in order to determine vaccine indications and contraindications. There are three categories of immunizations for foreign travel. The first...

We show that the distribution of specific antibodies and antibody-secreting cells in the intestine after oral and rectal immunizations corresponds to the vascularization and lymph drainage patterns of the gut. Oral immunizations induce antibody responses along the parts of the intestine connected to the superior mesenteric vessels and lymph ducts, whereas rectal immunizations induce antibody re...

The time has come when physicians may be able to practice preventive medicine, which is particularly important in reference to those infectious diseases that can be prevented by immunizations. Even pregnant women should be candidates for certain immunizations. It is the scope of this editorial to cover just two of those immunizations that can be prescribed for pregnant women: the influenza vacc...