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Adults want vaccines to be administered the way these awesome doctors give shots to kids

Sydnee Washington/Twitter, Mama Ethiopia/YouTube

Unless you're an actual masochist, nobody likes being poked with needles. But some of us hate it a whole lot more than others. If you're of the "Eh, no big deal—just get the quick shot and be done with it" mindset, you're in good company. But if you're in the "I can't handle the idea of a needle coming anywhere near my flesh" camp, you're also in good company.

The fear of needles is called trypanophobia, and it's very common. In fact, according Advent Health in Tampa, Florida, a 2012 study of 800 parents and 1,000 children found that 24 percent of the parents and 63 percent of the kids had a fear of needles. And between 7 and 8 percent of those people described needle phobia as the top reason for avoiding getting vaccinations.

Some pediatricians have developed methods for giving little kids vaccines in a way that results in the least amount of trauma. Our kids' doctor has a flower-shaped plastic device with little bristles on it that they push onto the kid's skin, distributing the sensation as the needle goes in, for example. But some docs takes it to a whole other level.

Like this one:

Tapping the baby with the covered needle like a game makes the needle itself seem not scary. Then, distracting them with the quick poke and then something super fun right after—the bubbles—appears to be a winning strategy.

Here's a different baby with the same doc, same routine, and same result. You can definitely tell the babe has a "Whoa, wait a minute, what just happened?!" moment, but it's short-lived.

Doctor Distracts Baby During Vaccine Jab With Sweet Routineyoutu.be

Another doc takes a similar approach with a toddler. This time, as the kiddo is a little older and more aware, the "Whoa, wait a minute" reaction comes with some verbal complaint. But the doctor knows just how to handle it, and it's incredible to see the immediate turnaround from a simple, silly tissue toss.

Baby laughing while getting shotswww.youtube.com

Adults certainly don't want doctors to start throwing tissues in their faces after getting a vaccination shot, but there's something to be said for trying to make the process less frightening. By the time people are adults, the pain itself isn't so much the issue as the idea of the needle. The silly play with the needle before the injection is one example of how doctors help kids not see the needle itself as scary, and though adults might need a different approach than children, purposeful exposure is actually one of the key strategies to overcoming phobias.

Considering the fact that we're going to need a good percentage of Americans to get the coronavirus vaccine in order to return to non-distanced, non-masked normalcy, doing everything we can to help people overcome their fears of either the vaccine itself or the needles used to give them is important.

Also, considering this dumpster fire of a year, we could all use a little extra TLC. Maybe we can all take our burned out doctors a gift card or something when we ask them to sing a song while they give us our shots. Whatever it takes to get us through this home stretch of the pandemic with as little ongoing trauma as possible.

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Share this with anyone who doubts vaccines. The U.K. just eliminated measles.

37 years ago, vaccines drove smallpox into extinction. Polio is about to be on death's doorstep. Now the U.K. can say it has added one more name to its personal kill list — measles.

According to a new report from the World Health Organization, Denmark, Spain, and the United Kingdom in 2016 successfully eliminated the measles virus.

The secret behind this achievement is something simple: vaccines and herd immunity.

It's important to note that, as the WHO defines it, "elimination" doesn't mean "completely wiped out." There were still about 1,600 cases in the United Kingdom last year.

Instead, the WHO reports, the United Kingdom has "interrupted endemic transmission." That is to say, enough people are vaccinated that even if someone does catch the virus, it's effectively impossible for the disease to spread. This phenomenon is commonly referred to as herd immunity, and it didn't happen overnight.

This is the culmination of a long, steady vaccination campaign.

Vaccination campaigns can sometimes face challenges — inadequate supply, unequal access to health services, and hesitancy or misinformation.

Still, the four countries of the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland) have managed to reach a 95% measles, mumps, and rubella vaccination rate in children younger than 5 years old.

While measles might sound relatively innocuous, it's a serious, potentially deadly disease, especially for children. Measles can cause permanent hearing loss, encephalitis, and death. It can also cause babies to be born prematurely if a pregnant woman contracts the disease. Eliminating it is a big achievement.

The United Kingdom is not the first country to achieve this goal. According to the WHO, 42 out of 53 European countries have achieved elimination.

This news shows that with dedicated, sustained efforts, we can chase some of our greatest specters back into the shadows.

There's still plenty to be done. The U.K. will need to keep up its high vaccination rates and keep the herd immunity strong, or else the disease may gain a foothold once again. But with the vast majority of European countries having now eliminated this disease, measles might soon be marching down the same path as smallpox.

Heroes

WHO just made a historic declaration about the status of Ebola in Guinea.

Guinea is officially Ebola-free.

Meet Noubia, the adorable little cutie in the photo below.

Photo by Cellou Binani/AFP/Getty Images.

She was just 34 days old when this picture was snapped back in November 2015, so she probably won't be able to recall all the hoopla over this photo when she grows up. But the picture, nonetheless, will go down in history.

Why? The photo captures the exact moment when Noubia, the last known patient to contract Ebola in Guinea, was released from care after being treated for the deadly disease.

Noubia's prognosis last month means her home country has officially turned a very big corner in the fight against Ebola.

Guinea was declared Ebola-free by the World Health Organization on Dec. 29, 2015.

Two 21-day incubation periods have passed since the last known patient — in Guinea's case, Noubia — has tested negative for Ebola a second time, according to the World Health Organization.

This is a big deal — not just for Guinea, but for all of West Africa. It's the first time the three hardest hit countries — Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone — "have stopped the original chains of transmission that were responsible for starting this devastating outbreak two years ago,” Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, said in a statement.

Photo by Cellou Binani/AFP/Getty Images.

Guineans are preparing to celebrate the declaration and ring in 2016 with fireworks and concerts, BBC News reported.

"It's the best year-end present that God could give to Guinea, and the best news that Guineans could hope for," Alama Kambou Dore, an Ebola survivor, told AFP News agency.

The celebrations come after two years of immeasurable heartache in Guinea.

The virus has ravaged West Africa since the chain of infections began in December 2013, causing about 11,300 deaths worldwide.

More than 2,500 of them have been in Guinea.

An Ebola patient sits at a treatment center in Guinea in 2014. Photo by Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP/Getty Images.

While the WHO's declaration of an Ebola-free Guinea is more than welcome, it certainly doesn't mean the country can let down its guard just yet. In fact, Guinea now enters a three-month period of heightened surveillance to make sure any new cases are quickly identified and treated immediately before spreading to other patients.

"The coming months will be absolutely critical," said Dr. Bruce Aylward of WHO's Ebola response team. "This is the period when the countries need to be sure that they are fully prepared to prevent, detect and respond to any new cases."

Liberia, for instance, was declared Ebola-free back in September, but has had two cases crop up since then.

But for now, Guineans have every reason to celebrate.

The coming year will bring a "full health sector recovery agenda" to Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, the WHO reports, noting that they'll focus mostly on vital public programs, like maternal and child health, and on pinpointing any Ebola flare-ups down the road.

You are just the cutest, Noubia. Photo by Cellou Binani/AFP/Getty Images.

Dr. Rick Brennan, a member of WHO's Ebola response team, told The New York Times that the declaration serves as a great moment to build on the significant progress that's been made.

“It’s important to take a pause and be thankful for where we’ve arrived at and get to work rebuilding that health system and making it more resilient for the future."

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