TMC PULSE

t m c » p u l s e | j a n / f e b 2 0 1 7 34 2017 EVENTS • REGISTER NOW For further information, contact Houston Methodist Office of Continuing Medical Education 6670 Bertner Ave., R2-216, Houston, TX 77030 Phone: 713.441.4971 • Fax: 713.441.0589 • Email: cme@houstonmethodist.org SECOND ANNUAL Houston Heart Failure Summit FEB. 10, 2017 • Course Director: Jerry D. Estep, MD events.houstonmethodist.org/houstonheartfailure MARCH 9-10, 2017 Course Directors: Alan B. Lumsden, MD, and Myung H. Park, MD events.houstonmethodist.org/pulmonaryembolism INAUGURAL Acute and Chronic Pulmonary Embolism Summit APRIL 6-7, 2017 • Course Director: Mahesh Ramchandani, MD events.houstonmethodist.org/reevolution EIGHTH ANNUAL Re-Evolution Summit Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery (MICS): The Ultimate Hands-on Summit MAY 5-7, 2017 • San Antonio, Texas Course Director: Stephen H. LiŽle, MD events.houstonmethodist.org/swvalve JUNE 17, 2017 • Course Director: Alpesh Shah, MD events.houstonmethodist.org/cardiology Southwest Valve Summit 2017 INAUGURAL Cardiology for the Non-Cardiologist Houston Methodist CMR A Weeklong Hands-on Workshop FEB. 24 -26, 2017 • Course Director: William A. Zoghbi, MD events.houstonmethodist.org/cvimaging SEVENTH ANNUAL Multimodality Cardiovascular Imaging for the Clinician All events take place in Houston, Texas, unless otherwise noted. Houston Methodist is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians. These live activities have been approved for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit.™ Events hosted by the DeBakey Institute for Cardiovascular Education & Training APRIL 3-7, 2017 • Course Director: Dipan J. Shah, MD events.houstonmethodist.org/cmri Q&A: Vaccine Safety with Dr. Peter Hotez W hile a new administration settles into Washington, D.C., the future of health care continues to grip the nation's consciousness. One of the most divisive topics is U.S. immuniza- tion policy. Peter J. Hotez, M.D., Ph.D., dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and president of the Sabin Vaccine Institute & Texas Children's Hospital's Center for Vaccine Development, discussed the dangers of the anti- vaccination movement and the overwhelming science supporting the safety and importance of vaccines. Q | The scientific and medical communities stand by the safety of vaccines. Can you briefly explain the evidence supporting vaccine safety in general? A | Vaccines are probably one of the most closely-watched interventions in all of human medicine. There is a massive reporting database run by the federal government called VAERS, which stands for Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System. There are rare complications of vaccines; the numbers show that of the two billion vaccines given between 2006 and 2014, serious adverse events occurred less than one in a million times. Your risk of being hit by lightning is one in 280,000, so you're four times more likely to be hit by light- ning than you are to suffer a serious adverse effect from a vaccine. Q | What are the consequences of the anti-vaccination movement? A | The anti-vaccination movement has been around for quite a while, but it's taken on a new character in the last couple of years. What we have now is an effort to promote non-medical exemp- tions so parents can opt their kids out of getting vaccinated for school entry. Texas is up to 50,000 kids now that are not getting vaccinated, and the actual number could be much higher. What that usually means is that we're going to start seeing measles epidemics. My recent paper in the PLOS (Public Library of Science) Medicine journal basically predicts measles in the next year or two, which is a highly deadly disease, killing 100,000 people a year. Q | What does 2017 look like for vaccination efforts here in Texas? A | We've got some important organi- zations in Texas that are trying to fight back. Our Sabin Vaccine Institute & Texas Children's Hospital's Center for Vaccine Development are very vocal about the harm that the anti-vaxxer community is doing. We also have Dr. Julie Boom and Dr. Carol Baker with the Center for Vaccine Awareness and Research at Texas Children's Hospital, as well as The Immunization Partnership, which is also based in Houston. I think we'll work hard with the legislature this year to close the loophole, because it's just too easy to opt out of getting vaccinated and it's a valid threat to kids in Texas. Editor's note: This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity. B y A l e x a n d r a B e c k e r Your risk of being hit by lightning is one in 280,000, so you're four times more likely to be hit by lightning than you are to suffer a serious adverse effect from a vaccine. — PETER J. HOTEZ, M.D., PH.D.

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