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Vaccinations Archive
Articles
Do adults really need tetanus booster shots?
Why follow a vaccine schedule?
Can supplements help boost your immune system?
Your money might be better spent on something else.
During the winter months, you've likely seen ads for products that claim to give your immune system a boost to help you ward off colds and the flu. But can something in a bottle, whether a vitamin formulation or probiotic, really rev up your immune system to help you stay healthy?
"Unfortunately, the reality is that those kinds of products aren't really offering you any benefit," says Michael Starnbach, a professor of microbiology at Harvard Medical School. "There's no evidence that they help in fighting disease."
Flu shot may lower risk of early death in people with high blood pressure
In the journals
Need another reason to get your annual flu shot? It could protect you from a fatal heart attack or stroke if you suffer from high blood pressure, according to research presented at a 2019 joint conference of the European Society of Cardiology Congress and the World Congress of Cardiology.
Previous research has found that the inflammation from a flu infection can trigger a heart attack or stroke, and people with high blood pressure are especially at high risk.
Are there any new vaccines?
Ask the doctor
Q. Fancy new technologies keep appearing in medicine. Are there any innovative new kinds of vaccines?
A. There sure are. Vaccines are one of the greatest inventions in history. The smallpox vaccine campaign conducted by the World Health Organization eradicated the disease from the face of the earth by 1980. How much good did that do? From 1900 to 1980, 300 million people died from smallpox. Since 1980, not one death.
Did you get your flu shot yet?
A nasty bout of influenza may leave you more vulnerable to heart problems. Be sure to get vaccinated against this serious infection every year — ideally in September.
Of all the things you can do to help your heart, getting a flu vaccine may be one of easiest. This recommended ritual — which the CDC advises for everyone starting at the age of 6 months — is quick and nearly painless. Yet only about half of adults ages 50 and older get a flu shot.
Avoiding the flu is especially important for people who have or are at risk for heart disease, says cardiologist Dr. Scott Solomon, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. "There's growing evidence linking influenza with both heart attacks and heart failure," he says.
Is shingles contagious?
Ask the doctors
Q. I understand that shingles is caused by a virus. Does that mean that shingles is contagious?
A. Yes and no. If you had chickenpox when you were a child, you are at risk for shingles. Shingles occurs when the varicella-zoster virus that caused your chickenpox re-emerges after lying dormant in your nerve cells from the time of your original illness. When this occurs, you are contagious, but you can't give someone shingles. You can, however, infect people with chickenpox if they haven't been exposed to the virus in the past and haven't been vaccinated against it. For this reason, it's important to take precautions, particularly if you are close to someone who has a weakened immune system.
What do the measles outbreaks mean for me?
Ask the doctor
Q. I hear that there are outbreaks of measles in the United States. I think I had measles when I was young, but I'm not sure. Do I need to worry?
A. The measles virus has been infecting humans for at least 1,000 years. When I was very young, in the 1940s, I got the measles. So did nearly every kid I knew; it is very contagious. I had a high fever, sneezing, coughing, very red eyes, and then a rash on my face and all over my body. Fortunately, I didn't develop the severe complications of measles: pneumonia (which affects one in 20 people with measles) or encephalitis (which affects one in 1,000 and can be fatal). Still, I was miserable for more than a week.
Measles: The forgotten killer
We think of measles as a minor viral infection in children that goes away without compilcations, but it can have complications, and they can be serious or even fatal. Here's how to protect yourself, your circle, and your community — and why you should
Recent Blog Articles
Have you exfoliated lately?
Wildfires: How to cope when smoke affects air quality and health
PTSD: How is treatment changing?
Virtual mental health care visits: Making them work for you
How healthy is sugar alcohol?
A bird flu primer: What to know and do
New urine test may help some men with elevated PSA avoid biopsy
Dupuytren's contracture of the hand
Why play? Early games build bonds and brain
Moving from couch to 5K
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