AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 Vaccine Not Recommended for People Over 65 in Germany
Health officials in Germany have cautioned that the AstraZeneca/Oxford University COVID-19 vaccine (AZD1222) should not be given to people over the age of 65. Germany’s disease control agency, the Robert Koch Institute, only recommends the shot for people between the ages of 18-64 after concluding that there is not enough data available to determine whether the […]
ACIP Updates Influenza Vaccine Guidelines for Seniors
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued new updates for influenza vaccines for 2020–2021 “flu season,” primarily for Fluzone and Fluad vaccines. In November 2019, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) licensed inactivated injectable Fluzone High-Dose Quadrivalent (HD-IIV4) for use in persons aged […]
Flu Vaccines Failing Seniors
Opinion | Ever since the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) began recommending that all Americans six months of age and older get an annual flu shot, it’s been touted as the best method of preventing influenza. While it’s true that influenza is a highly infectious airborne disease, controversy exists over the use […]
Flu Shot Fails to Protect Seniors and May Increase Miscarriages
Opinion | Flu season is creeping up on us again and there are widespread calls to get your annual flu shot, despite the fact that, year after year, this strategy turns out to have an abysmal rate of effectiveness across the board. One group that consistently turns out to draw the short end of the stick […]
Strong Evidence Linking Aluminum and Alzheimer’s
There has been a strong link between human exposure to aluminium and the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease for half a century or more. However, without definite proof, there is still no consensus in the scientific community about the role of this known neurotoxin in this devastating brain disease. The latest research from my group, published in the Journal of Trace Elements in Medicine and Biology, makes this link even more compelling. In my view, the findings are unequivocal in their confirmation of a role for aluminium in some if not all Alzheimer’s disease. At the very least, these…
Flu Shots Rarely Work for People Over Age 65
For the 2014-2015 “flu season,” the reported effectiveness of the annual flu shot was only 14% in those over age 50. It has been long recognized that elderly people do not respond well to vaccination as a whole and that their immune responses to annual influenza vaccinations are especially weak. The elderly are at higher risk for serious complications from infections…