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…
How Doctors Talk to Patients Impacts HPV Vaccination Rates
Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination rates in the United States continues to remain low in comparison to other adolescent vaccinations—approximately 38% of adolescent girls and 14% of adolescent boys complete the entire three-doses of HPV vaccine. As identified by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a key strategy in increasing HPV…
Leaky Vaccines: More Than a Farmer’s Nightmare?
Here’s the quote, as provided to The Washington Post: “To me, it doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t use imperfect vaccines,” says Andrew Read, Evan Pugh Professor of Biology and Entomology and Eberly Professor in Biotechnology at Penn State University, “Let’s say we become certain that a malarial vaccine is going to drive the evolution of more dangerous malarial…
Rabies Vaccine Delivered Via “Woodland Drops”
Anyone who has encountered a rabid animal or has seen the film “Old Yeller” for that matter knows that rabies is a serious, often deadly infection to avoid, whether in the wild or in our own pets. Though many veterinarians believe that rabies vaccines in general offer a lifetime of protection for pets and do not need to be repeated, the rabies vaccine is one that is encouraged…
Consumer Reports Looks at Arsenic in Food
Over the last several years, various studies from Consumer Reports have shown “worrisome” levels of arsenic in many mainstay foods commonly fed to children, including—of all things—fruit juices and organic baby cereal. Consumer Reports researchers first tested the arsenic levels in apple juice after Dr. Mehmet Oz alerted his viewers that arsenic levels in 10 of 36…
Doctors Going to Work Sick, Putting Patients at Risk
In case you didn’t know, patients may not be the only sick people in the room when they go visit the doctor’s office. A study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association Pediatrics designed to understand how often and why physicians and advanced practice clinicians work while sick found that 94% of respondents believed that working while sick puts…