'Happy Easter & Passover Sunday 2025!'

Easter, also known as Resurrection Sunday, is considered one of the most important holidays in the Christian faith and is typically observed with various customs, such as attending church services, taking part in Easter egg hunts, and sharing meals with loved ones.

Easter Sunday, which is the main day of celebration, falls on the first Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox, which marks the beginning of spring.

The date of Easter can therefore vary from year to year, but it is always celebrated in the springtime. In addition to the religious significance of Easter, it is also a time for many people to celebrate new beginnings and the arrival of spring.

Every year, Passover begins on the 15th day of Nisan, the first month of the Jewish calendar. The celebrations last for seven or eight days, depending on where the holiday is celebrated.

Passover is important to Jews, as it celebrates the birth as a nation.

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April 20, 2025

FLU SEASON IS OVER IN ARIZONA……AND IN DECLINE NATIONALLY.

STILL, THERE IS A FAIR BIT OF NONSPECIFIC VIRAL UPPER RESPIRATORY INFECTIONS AROUND, BUT FLU, COVID AND RSV ARE ALL VERY LOW.

*CURRENT COVID VACCINE IS IN PHARMACIES. IT IS STILL A SOLID MATCH FOR THE CURRENT COVID VIRUS

MEASLES CONCERNS/OUTBREAK:

MEASLES OUTBREAKS ARE IN THE NEWS. A CHILDHOOD VIRUS THAT IS THE MOST HIGHLY CONTAGIOUS VIRUS KNOWN TO MAN, IT HAS BEEN ALL BUT ERADICATED IN THE USA, WITH A FOOTHOLD DEVELOPING DUE TO ANTI-VACCINE CONCERNS.

ADULTS ARE GENERALLY NOT AT RISK, BUT HERE IS INFORMATION FOR YOU:

IF YOU WERE BORN BEFORE 1957 YOU HAVE NO CONCERNS.  IT IS ALMOST CERTAIN YOU HAVE MEASLES AND YOU REMAIN IMMUNE.

IF YOU WERE BORN IN 1968 OR LATER YOU CERTAINLY HAD AN EFFECTIVE MEASLES VACCINE AND ARE PROTECTED.

IF YOU WERE BORN IN 1958-1967, IT IS POSSIBLE THAT YOUR MEASLES VACCINE HAS WORN OFF.  ALTHOUGH LIKELY THAT YOU HAVE IMMUNITY, YOU COULD CONSIDER A BLOOD TEST TO CHECK FOR IMMUNITY AND IF NEGATIVE, GET AND MMR BOOSTER SHOT.  IN GENERAL, I DO NOT RECOMMEND TESTING PEOPLE IN THIS AGE GROUP UNLESS THEY ARE IMMUNE COMPROMISED, THEN IT IS WORTHWHILE.  THE ONLY OTHER REASON IS IF YOU REMAIN WORRIED SO THAT YOU HAVE PEACE OF MIND ON THIS TOPIC.  THE RISKS OF MEASLES BROADLY REMAIN VERY VERY LOW.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR 2025 IMMUNIZATIONS:

DATA CONTINUES TO SUPPORT BENEFIT FROM COVID VACCINATION. BENEFITS OF THE SHOT INCREASE WITH AGE AND WITH CONDITIONS THAT PREDISPOSE TO COMPLICATIONS (EMPHYSEMA/COPD, HEART FAILURE, DIABETES, IMMUNE SUPPRESSION)

ONCE A YEAR:    FOR THOSE OVER 65 YEARS OLD AND HEALTH…A COVID VACCINE ONCE A YEAR WILL PREVENT HOSPITALIZATION.

EVERY 6 MONTHS:    FOR THOSE OVER 80 AND FOR THOSE 65 AND OLDER WITH SIGNIFICANT HEALTH ISSUES SUCH AS DIABETES, COPD, HEART FAILURE, SIGNIFICANT KIDNEY DISEASE……EVERY 6 MONTHS IS APPROPRIATE FOR THE COVID VACCINE, AND CERTAINLY AT LEAST ONCE A YEAR. THIS PREVENTS HOSPITALIZATION.

CURRENT COVID STATUS:

THE CURRENT COVID STRAINS ARE VERY CONTAGIOUS AND PRESENT THROUGHOUT ARIZONA… WE ARE SEEING SEVERAL EACH WEEK, MOST DUE TO TRAVEL OR LARGE EVENT ATTENDANCE.

IF YOU GET SICK AFTER TRAVEL OR ATTENDING A BIG GATHERING… DO A COVID TEST. ALL STANDARD COVID TESTS WORK TO IDENTIFY THE CURRENT STRAINS.

ALL DOING WELL.  BE PROACTIVE TO PREVENT THE NEED FOR HOSPITALIZATION. PROTECTION IS UP TO YOU AND NOW IS A PERSONAL DECISION. DO WHAT MAKES YOU COMFORTABLE.

DATA 100% SHOWS THAT GOOD MASKS MAKE A DIFFERENCE. THEY ARE NOT PERFECT, BUT THEY DO REDUCE RISK OF EXPOSURE AND INFECTION.

• I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH… IF YOU DON’T WANT COVID & FLU FROM TRAVEL… WEAR A MASK IN THE AIRPORT CROWDS AND ON THE AIRPLANE (UNTIL 10,000 FEET) … THIS IS NOT AS ESSENTIAL AS IT WAS WHEN COVID WAS MORE SEVERE… BUT IF YOU WANT TO AVOID INFECTIONS IN GENERAL DURING TRAVEL... IT’S A RECOMMENDATION.

• EVEN SELECTIVE MASK USE WORKS WELL… SUCH AS ONLY IN CROWDED SPACES IN THE AIRPORT, AND DURING TRAVEL ‘TO’ YOUR DESTINATION, SO THAT YOU ARE NOT ILL DURING YOU VACATION/TRAVEL TIME.  LESS IMPORTANT WHEN YOU RETURN FROM VACATION. 

TOP PODCAST DONE WEEKLY

BY DR. MICHAEL OSTERHOLM

(UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA)  

He is a world-renowned epidemiologist who was credited with first elucidating TOXIC SHOCK SYNDROME in the 1980’s.

He provides comprehensive and understandable/actionable ideas related to COVID.

Dr. Osterholm Update: COVID-19 Podcast

April 17, 2025

'Public Health Policy is Political'

In "Public Health Policy is Political," Chris Dall and Dr. Osterholm discuss the ongoing measles outbreak, the latest round of job cuts in the public health workforce, and new studies on long-COVID. Dr. Osterholm also reviews the latest vaccine news for Novavax, seasonal influenza, and H5N1.

According to Dr. Osterholm……

•  GET YOUR LATEST AVAILABLE BOOSTER IF YOU HAVE NOT HAD COVID OR IT’S BEEN LONGER THAN 4 MONTHS SINCE YOU HAD COVID YOURSELF

•  A GOOD MASK, N95 OF KN95, DOES HELP REDUCE TRANSMISSION…. USE IT AT HIGH-RISK LOCATIONS

• GOOD VENTILATION IN ROOMS/HOME/BUSINESSES IS A GREAT WAY TO PREVENT TRANSMISSION

• VACCINE, VACCINE, VACCINE…THIS IS OUR PROTECTION. ALL VACCINES ARE EFFECTIVE AND WITH TIME WE ARE SEEING THAT

• BOOST, BOOST, BOOST…THIS WILL BE NECESSARY TO PREVENT RECURRING SURGE AND TO RAISE ANTIBODY LEVELS IN THOSE ALREADY SET WITH THE PRIMARY COVID VACCINE SERIES.

• ANTIGEN TESTING IS USEFUL, BUT OF LIMITED VALUE. DON’T DEPEND ON IT…BUT USE IT.

Know that unvaccinated remain a source of potential infection. Avoiding unvaccinated persons will reduce your risk of COVID.

US Measles Cases are Under-counted, Experts Say, But Real Numbers are Proving

Hard to Pin Down

During a Cabinet meeting last week, US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. downplayed what is now the second-worst measles outbreak in the US since the disease was declared eliminated in 2000.

Kennedy has claimed repeatedly that measles cases have “plateaued,” despite contradictory data from his own agencies.

On Tuesday, the health department in Texas – the center of the outbreak that now spans multiple states – reported 234 new cases over the past three weeks, 39% more than in the three weeks before that. New outbreaks have also been reported in Indiana and Ohio.

Overall, there have been at least 760 cases in 24 states this year, according to CNN’s tally.

However, many experts believe that the actual case count stands in the thousands.

“I don’t think any of us have full situational awareness of what’s going on with this outbreak,” said Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. “You can’t say something is flattening if you don’t actually know the denominator of cases or [have] an understanding you’re getting [the] full capture of the cases.”

Some experts think the number of deaths alone indicates that cases are deeply undercounted. The measles fatality rate is typically up to 3 deaths per 1,000 cases. But three deaths have already been reported in the ongoing outbreak in — two children in Texas and one adult in New Mexico — even though the official outbreak case count stands at 668 cases between Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and possibly Kansas.

In the past six months, two babies in Louisiana have died of pertussis, the disease commonly known as whooping cough.

Washington state recently announced its first confirmed death from pertussis in more than a decade.

Idaho and South Dakota each reported a death this year, and Oregon last year reported two as well as its highest number of cases since 1950.

While much of the country is focused on the spiraling measles outbreak concentrated in the small, dusty towns of West Texas, cases of pertussis have skyrocketed by more than 1,500% nationwide since hitting a recent low in 2021 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Deaths tied to the disease are also up, hitting 10 last year, compared with about two to four in previous years. Cases are on track to exceed that total this year.

Idaho and South Dakota each reported a death this year, and Oregon last year reported two as well as its highest number of cases since 1950.

While much of the country is focused on the spiraling measles outbreak concentrated in the small, dusty towns of West Texas, cases of pertussis have skyrocketed by more than 1,500% nationwide since hitting a recent low in 2021 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Deaths tied to the disease are also up, hitting 10 last year, compared with about two to four in previous years. Cases are on track to exceed that total this year.

After you received your COVID or any other vaccination outside our office, please let us know!

We would like to document this information into your chart.



What we need:

1. Your name
2. Name & date of vaccination received
3. Brand name
4. Lot number if available
5. Which dose you have received

A Deadly E. Coli Outbreak Hit 15 States, But the FDA Chose Not to Publicize It

The outbreak linked to romaine lettuce killed one person and sickened at least 88 more, including a 9-year-old boy who nearly died of kidney failure.

An E. coli outbreak linked to romaine lettuce ripped across 15 states in November, sickening dozens of people, including a 9-year-old boy in Indiana who nearly died of kidney failure and a 57-year-old Missouri woman who fell ill after attending a funeral lunch. One person died.

But chances are you haven’t heard about it.  

The Food and Drug Administration indicated in February that it had closed the investigation without publicly detailing what had happened — or which companies were responsible for growing and processing the contaminated lettuce.

According to an internal report obtained by NBC News, the FDA did not name the companies because no contaminated lettuce was left by the time investigators uncovered where the pathogen was coming from.  

“There were no public communications related to this outbreak,” the FDA said in its report, which noted that there had been a death but provided no details about it.   

Federal officials are not required by law to reveal detailed information about all known outbreaks of foodborne illnesses, and there are reasons the FDA may choose not to publicize an outbreak, including when the cause is unknown or when officials are still working behind the scenes with the companies responsible.   

But the FDA had shifted in recent years toward greater transparency in the wake of large-scale outbreaks and heightened public concern about contaminated food, said Frank Yiannas, the former deputy commissioner of food policy and response at the agency.   

“It is disturbing that FDA hasn’t said anything more public or identified the name of a grower or processor,” said Yiannas, who was at the FDA from 2018 to 2023.  



By declining to name the culprit, he said, the FDA was withholding critical information that consumers could use to make decisions about what they buy. It’s also possible that someone could have been sickened during the outbreak and not have realized the cause, and serious bacterial illness can cause long-term damage.

The US Centers and Disease Control and Prevention is considering recommending annual Covid-19 shots to those who are older or who have compromised immune function, rather than the current blanket recommendation for everyone 6 months of age and older.

The change would more closely align the US with guidance given in other countries. Unlike countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, the US alone recommends an annual Covid-19 vaccine for healthy younger adults and children. The World Health Organization also doesn’t routinely recommend annual Covid-19 vaccines for healthy adults under 65 or healthy children.

 On Tuesday, a panel of independent experts that advises the CDC on its vaccine recommendations, called the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, weighed the pros and cons of moving the US away from a blanket recommendation that most people get an updated Covid-19 shot every year and toward a more nuanced, risk-based recommendation.

Members of the Covid-19 vaccine work group said they began studying the policy change in November.

Under a risk-based recommendation, the CDC would continue to recommend two doses of Covid-19 vaccines each year for older adults — those over 65 — and to anyone with weakened immune function.

It may also consider recommending annual vaccination for adults and children who are at high risk of Covid-19 disease because they have a higher risk of being exposed to it. Those groups could include people like health-care workers or children in day care.

There was also strong support for a statement in the recommendation to say that anyone who wanted to get a Covid-19 vaccine could still get one, even if they didn’t fit into a higher-risk category.

A risk-based recommendation would be more complicated to communicate to the public and potentially trickier to implement than a universal recommendation, and some members of the full committee said they’d be against it for that reason.

We Are Here to Take Care of Your Healthcare Needs.

We Are Here to Serve!

Our office is using techniques to reduce exposure to a minimum during your visit. These include: 

• Multiple Super-HEPA filters to filter out potential virus and

particles in the office.

• High Level UV light air cleansing in the office to eliminate

bacteria and viruses in the air.

OUR OFFICE SCHEDULE  

DOORS OPEN     

7AM - 4PM Monday through Thursday

7AM - 11AM Friday

IN OFFICE

APPOINTMENTS: MONDAY – THURSDAY

7AM – 11:15AM & 1PM – 3:30PM

APPOINTMENTS: FRIDAY

7AM – 10:30 AM

DR. LAKIN WILL CONTINUE ‘TELEHEALTH’ VISITS WITH FaceTime, WhatsApp or ZOOM WHEN NEEDED.

Dr. Lakin's Info For COVID-19 Kit &

Recommended Treatments

SUMMARY OF A COVID KIT & CHECK LIST:

This is what you should have at home to prepare for possible COVID, to monitor yourself if you were to get infected:

DIGITAL ORAL THERMOMETER: MANY BRANDS ARE FINE…HERE IS ONE EXAMPLE:

PULSE OXIMETER:  TO CHECK OXYGEN LEVELS. MANY BRANDS ARE FINE...HERE IS ONE EXAMPLE:

OTHER ITEMS FROM THE HOME MEDICAL KIT:

• TYLENOL, ADVIL, OR ALEVE
• Sudafed 30mg tablets
• Chlorpheniramine 4mg tablets
• Robitussin DM syrup
• Imodium AD

Measles News, New COVID Study Findings, Plus Life in Media Survey on kids' Mental Health

and Phones

AMA's Vice President of Science, Medicine and Public Health, Andrea Garcia, JD, MPH, discusses the ongoing measles outbreak, latest study on COVID and the immune system, managing seasonal allergies, plus a new study about kids mental health and smartphone use. American Medical Association CXO Todd Unger hosts.

Stay Healthy!