Web links: Vaccines, from A to Z

From anthrax to (herpes) zoster, and all points in between, the world is a better place because of vaccines. The word vaccine comes from the French for cow-vache. Edward Jenner inoculated a boy from cowpox by exposing him with infected material from a milkmaid. The boy survived a mild fever, was immunized to cowpox, and thus the term "vaccine" was born.

Anthrax Vaccine: http://www.anthraxvaccine.org/
An anthrax vaccine is in the works, but hopefully no pediatrician will ever need to know anything found on this site.

Caries Vaccine: http://www.nidcr.nih.gov/Research/LongRangeResearchOpportunities/PanelOnCariesVacine.htm
If or when the vaccine finishes development, it will probably be given by dentists, not physicians.

Hib Vaccine: http://www.babycenter.com/refcap/baby/babyills/babyvaccine/1562.html
The Hib vaccine protects against meningitis and epiglottitis.

HIV Vaccine: http://www.hvtn.org/
Researchers are always on the lookout for healthy volunteers to sign up to be trial subjects for the HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) vaccine project.

HPV Vaccine: http://www.gardasil.com/
A de facto cervical cancer vaccine, given to girls before they become sexually active to protect from HPV (human papillomavirus) later in life.

Influenza Vaccine: http://www.fda.gov/cber/flu/flu.htm
Vaccines aren't made the way other drugs are; and any contamination means huge quantities of the vaccines have to be destroyed. As a result, there is a yearly shortfall of the flu vaccine. Find out how things look for this year at the CDC's site.

Japanese Encephalitis Vaccine: http://www.metrokc.gov/health/prevcont/encephalitis.htm
Information from Seattle and King's County Public Health site.

MMR Vaccine: http://www.vaccinesafety.edu/cc-mmr.htm
A triple-play of vaccines: Measles, mumps, and rubella inoculations all-in-one syringe. The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health's site contains study data confirming MMR's safety, and refutes its associations with certain disorders.

Pneumococcal Polysaccharide Vaccine: http://www.lungusa.org/site/pp.asp?c=dvLUK9O0E&b=35692
Pneumonia is a deadly disease for tens of thousands of elderly people every year in the US. It affects children too, but many cases are mild, and most can be prevented with this vaccine.