WSU BIOL209 Microbiology

In response to Pushpendra jain's comments... I am no longer amazed of anything in pediatrics. In 15 years of primary care suburban practice I have learned the following: I am an antibiotic nazi especially if i do not treat by telephone request, my medical expertise is compromised by my financial gains or relationships with pharmaceutical companies, my patients' parents do more "research" than I do--AKA reading a google searched internet account, I should be available at their whim and see them at a time convenient to their kid's soccer schedule as a walk-in service, and parents that think nothing of texting while driving their kids to said soccer game think that a 1 in 10,000-100,000 risk of a vaccination obviates its well documented scientific benefits. We are in a cycle where people no longer believe in science, but they'll be back when we see resurgences of diseases i haven't seen since medical school.

Dr. Segedy, I can assure you that your sentiments were shared by a majority of the attendees at the AAP conference. It seems as though we have gotten to a point where the element of surprise no longer exists; health care providers (for the most part) are numb to the fact that studies with ulterior motives (ie, Wakefield & vaccines/autism) and "celebrities" seem to have more of an impact on health care decisions than physicians who have dedicated their entire lives studying medicine. And when it comes to self diagnosing via Dr. Google, Offit specifically mentioned that a website like the "National Vaccine Information Center" (NCVIC.org) comes up on the first page of Google for a search for "vaccines" and yet the information on the website is extremely misleading and, in some cases, downright wrong. But that doesn't stop people from treating it as credible; after all, it's on the Internet so it must be true!