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Why Taking Fever-Reducing Meds and Drinking Fluids May Not Be the Best Way to Treat Flu and Fever
Read More: Why Taking Fever-Reducing Meds and Drinking Fluids May Not Be the Best Way to Treat Flu and FeverBy Tamara Hew-Butler, Wayne State University As flu season progresses, so does the chorus of advice, professional and otherwise, to drink plenty of fluids and take fever-reducing medications, like acetaminophen, ibuprofen or aspirin. These recommendations, well-intentioned and firmly entrenched, offer comfort to those sidelined with fever, flu or vaccine side effects. But you may be…
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Questions to Ask Your Childโs Healthcare Provider About Meningitis B
Read More: Questions to Ask Your Childโs Healthcare Provider About Meningitis BMedically reviewed by Dr. Shelley Kim Meningitis B is an uncommon but serious disease caused by the bacteria Neisseria meningitidis. Anyone can get meningitis B, but rates of the disease peak in adolescence, with the highest rates among teens and young adults 16-23 years old. Meningitis B can lead to an infection of the protective…
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Fast Facts: What Parents Need to Know About Meningitis B
Read More: Fast Facts: What Parents Need to Know About Meningitis BMedically reviewed by Dr. Karen Bonnie Meningitis B is an uncommon but serious disease caused by the bacteria Neisseria meningitidis. Five groups of Neisseria meningitidis cause bacterial meningitis: A, B, C, W and Y. Meningitis can lead to an infection of the protective lining of the brain and the spinal cord or an infection of…
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How mRNA and DNA Vaccines Could Soon Treat Cancers, HIV, Autoimmune Disorders and Genetic Diseases
Read More: How mRNA and DNA Vaccines Could Soon Treat Cancers, HIV, Autoimmune Disorders and Genetic DiseasesBy DNA and mRNA vaccines are much better at producing T cells than are normal vaccines.NIAID/NIH via Flickr What makes nucleic acid vaccines different from traditional vaccines? Most vaccines induce antibody responses. Antibodies are the primary immune mechanism that blocks infections. As we began to study nucleic acid vaccines, we discovered that because these vaccines…
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The Truth About Vaccines
Read More: The Truth About VaccinesMedically reviewed by Mary Koslap-Petraco, DNP, PPCNP-BC, CPNP, FAANP To turn captions on, click the “CCโ icon.
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How Effective Are Vaccines Against Omicron? An Epidemiologist Answers 6 Questions
Read More: How Effective Are Vaccines Against Omicron? An Epidemiologist Answers 6 QuestionsBy New variants of the coronavirus are all slightly different from the original strain that vaccines were based on, so immunity to variants may be different. Alexey Solodovnikov, Valeria Arkhipova/WikimediaCommons, CC BY-SA 4. What about the omicron variant? The preliminary data about omicron and vaccines is coming in quickly and is revealing lower vaccine effectiveness.…
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Covid-19 Vaccines & FOMO
Read More: Covid-19 Vaccines & FOMOFor some people, the holiday season can be a tangle of complicated emotions. Itโs often especially so for those spending the holidays with family because families can be tricky, not to mention that weโre still in a global pandemic โ and those are pretty tricky, too. What makes it all worse? Not taking care of…
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How Can Scientists Update Coronavirus Vaccines for Omicron? A Microbiologist Answers 5 Questions About How Moderna and Pfizer Could Rapidly Adjust mRNA Vaccines
Read More: How Can Scientists Update Coronavirus Vaccines for Omicron? A Microbiologist Answers 5 Questions About How Moderna and Pfizer Could Rapidly Adjust mRNA VaccinesBy Deborah Fuller, University of Washington If the omicron variant of the coronavirus is different enough from the original variant, itโs possible that existing vaccines wonโt be as effective as they have been. If so, itโs likely that companies will need to update their vaccines to better fight omicron. Deborah Fuller is a microbiologist who…
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Iโm an Infectious Disease Doctor. Yes, Iโm Vaccinating Our 5-Year-Old Against Covid-19. Here Is Why You Should Too.
Read More: Iโm an Infectious Disease Doctor. Yes, Iโm Vaccinating Our 5-Year-Old Against Covid-19. Here Is Why You Should Too.Alexander Wong, University of Saskatchewan I am an infectious disease physician. When it is our turn to vaccinate our five-year-old son against COVID-19, I will do so with confidence and without hesitation. I am encouraging every parent with eligible children between ages five and 11 to do the same. Here is why. The U.S. Food…
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Unvaccinated? Donโt Count on Leaving Your Family Death Benefits
Read More: Unvaccinated? Donโt Count on Leaving Your Family Death BenefitsBy Michelle Andrews, Kaiser Health News These days, workers who refuse to get vaccinated against covid-19 may face financial repercussions, from higher health insurance premiums to loss of their jobs. Now, the financial fallout might follow workers beyond the grave. If they die of covid and weren’t vaccinated, their families may not get death benefits…
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Why Vaccine Doses Differ for Babies, Kids, Teens and Adults โ an Immunologist Explains How Your Immune System Changes as You Mature
Read More: Why Vaccine Doses Differ for Babies, Kids, Teens and Adults โ an Immunologist Explains How Your Immune System Changes as You MatureBy The dose that works for adults might not be appropriate for youngsters of different ages. Some vaccines need to be given multiple times.CDC National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, CC BY After 4 years of age and through younger adult life, your immune system tends to be more responsive and less prone to…
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The FDA Authorizes Pfizerโs COVID-19 Vaccine for Children Ages 5 to 11 โ a Pediatrician Explains How the Drug Was Tested for Safety and Efficacy
Read More: The FDA Authorizes Pfizerโs COVID-19 Vaccine for Children Ages 5 to 11 โ a Pediatrician Explains How the Drug Was Tested for Safety and EfficacyBy Debbie-Ann Shirley, University of Virginia Elementary school children in the United States will soon have one more layer of protection to keep them safe from COVID-19. On Oct. 29, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration authorized emergency use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11. The move came days after…
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The Pandemic Has Made It Even Harder for One in Three Americans to Obtain Healthy, Affordable Food
Read More: The Pandemic Has Made It Even Harder for One in Three Americans to Obtain Healthy, Affordable FoodBy The Conversation, CC BY-ND COVID-19 has made food access more challenging for many communities. In Michigan State University’s Fall 2021 Food Literacy and Engagement Poll, 31% of the people we talked to said the pandemic had affected their household’s ability to obtain food. This included 28% of households earning less than $25,000, and 38%…
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Cervical cancer, Gynecological cancer, Hpv, Prevention, Preventive health, Real women real stories, Vaccinations, Vaccines
How a Cervical Cancer Diagnosis in My 20s Taught Me How to Live
Read More: How a Cervical Cancer Diagnosis in My 20s Taught Me How to LiveAs told to Liz Sauchelli When I was younger, I wanted to be the next Oprah. As a broadcaster, my mind was always on the next story or package to produce. At 25, after years of freelancing, I’d finally landed a full-time job with health benefits and I felt like I was on my way…
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An Infectious Disease Expert Explains New Federal Rules on โMix-and-Matchโ Vaccine Booster Shots
Read More: An Infectious Disease Expert Explains New Federal Rules on โMix-and-Matchโ Vaccine Booster ShotsBy Glenn J. Rapsinski, University of Pittsburgh Health Sciences Many Americans now have the green light to get a COVID-19 vaccine booster โ and the flexibility to receive a different brand than the original vaccine they received. On the heels of the Food and Drug Administration’s Sept. 22, 2021, emergency use authorization of a third…
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HealthyWomen Is a Proud Convener on the COVID-19 Vaccine Education and Equity Project (CVEEP)
Read More: HealthyWomen Is a Proud Convener on the COVID-19 Vaccine Education and Equity Project (CVEEP)The COVID-19 Vaccine Education and Equity Project (CVEEP) was established in December 2020 by the Alliance for Aging Research, HealthyWomen and the National Caucus and Center on Black Aging, Inc. The project is composed of more than 200 leading organizations representing patient, provider, employer and public health organizations. This group has been convening dialogue among…
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Yes, We Should Be Keeping the Healthier Hand-Washing Habits We Developed at the Start of the Pandemic
Read More: Yes, We Should Be Keeping the Healthier Hand-Washing Habits We Developed at the Start of the PandemicBy Melissa Hawkins, American University People were washing their hands so much early in the pandemic that sensitive skin and soap shortages were common problems in 2020. All this focus on hand-washing was for good reason. The science uniformly demonstrates that frequent hand-washing reduces the risk of a variety of illnesses. It is low-hanging fruit…
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Clinical trials, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Medical research and clinical trials, Policy, Prevention, Preventive health, Research, Science, Vaccinations, Vaccines
How Many Lives Have Coronavirus Vaccines Saved? We Used State Data on Deaths and Vaccination Rates to Find Out
Read More: How Many Lives Have Coronavirus Vaccines Saved? We Used State Data on Deaths and Vaccination Rates to Find OutBy CC BY-ND More than 200 million U.S. residents have gotten at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine with the expectation that the vaccines slow virus transmission and save lives. Researchers know the efficacy of the vaccines from large-scale clinical trials, the gold standard for medical research. The studies found the vaccines to be…
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15 minutes with, Access, Clinical trials, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Health, Health disparities, Hivaids, Lgbtq, Racial disparities, Research, Science, Vaccinations, Vaccines
15 Minutes With Phyllis Greenberger
Read More: 15 Minutes With Phyllis GreenbergerWe are honored to have Phyllis Greenberger on our team as senior vice president of policy, advocacy and science for HealthyWomen. A women’s health pioneer, Greenberger received the 2021 Perennial Hero Award from the Alliance for Aging Research in September. The award honors an older individual who is actively contributing to creating positive societal change…
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As American Independence Rang, a Sweeping Lockdown and Mass Inoculations Fought off a Smallpox Outbreak
Read More: As American Independence Rang, a Sweeping Lockdown and Mass Inoculations Fought off a Smallpox OutbreakBy Abigail Adams remarked upon the cheering crowds in a locked-down Boston. Benjamin Blyth via Wikimedia Commons Abigail Adams was among the โMultitude” who attended the reading. As Crafts finished the Declaration of Independence and shouted, โGod Save our American States,” Adams reported, โthe Bells rang โฆ the cannon were discharged, the platoons followed and…
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Access, Access to health care, Affordability, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Health disparities, Policy, Prevention, Preventive health, Racial disparities, Research, Vaccinations, Vaccines
Covid Is Killing Rural Americans at Twice the Rate of Urbanites
Read More: Covid Is Killing Rural Americans at Twice the Rate of UrbanitesBy Lauren Weber, Kaiser Health News Rural Americans are dying of covid at more than twice the rate of their urban counterparts โ a divide that health experts say is likely to widen as access to medical care shrinks for a population that tends to be older, sicker, heavier, poorer and less vaccinated. While the…
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Who Qualifies for a Covid Booster? The List Is Growing Longer
Read More: Who Qualifies for a Covid Booster? The List Is Growing LongerOn Friday, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky said people whose jobs put them at risk of coronavirus infection qualify for a shot to boost the protection of their covid-19 vaccination. That step to include people with โinstitutional and occupational exposure” overrules the recommendation of her agency’s advisory panel, and the move…
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Coronavirus, COVID-19, Healthy Eating, Nutrition, Policy, Prevention, Preventive health, Vaccinations, Vaccines
Can Healthy People Who Eat Right and Exercise Skip the Covid-19 Vaccine? A Research Scientist and Fitness Enthusiast Explains Why the Answer Is No
Read More: Can Healthy People Who Eat Right and Exercise Skip the Covid-19 Vaccine? A Research Scientist and Fitness Enthusiast Explains Why the Answer Is NoBy Richard Bloomer, University of Memphis I’m a fitness enthusiast. I also adhere to a nutrient-dense, โclean” eating program, which means I minimize my sugar intake and eat a lot of whole foods for the purpose of optimizing my health. You might wonder how effective such a diet and exercise plan would be in the…
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Changing Your Mind About Something as Important as Vaccination Isnโt a Sign of Weakness โ Being Open to New Information Is the Smart Way to Make Choices
Read More: Changing Your Mind About Something as Important as Vaccination Isnโt a Sign of Weakness โ Being Open to New Information Is the Smart Way to Make ChoicesArt Markman, The University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts Culturally, this is an era in which people are held in high esteem when they stick with their beliefs and negatively labeled as โflip-floppers” or โwishy-washy” when they change what they think. While the courage of convictions can be a plus in situations…
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Cervical cancer, Gynecological cancer, Medical tests, Prevention, Preventive health, Vaccinations, Vaccines
HPV, Cervical Cancer and Cervical Cancer Screening: What Do You Need to Know?
Read More: HPV, Cervical Cancer and Cervical Cancer Screening: What Do You Need to Know?Medically reviewed by Nancy Berman, MSN Infection with high-risk types of human papillomavirus (HPV), the cause of cervical cancer, is common. By the age of 50, 80% of women will have had an HPV infection with one or more of 14 high-risk HPV types. Most infections are cleared within 24 months. If the virus isn’t…
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Cervical cancer, Gynecological cancer, Hpv, Medical tests, Preventive health, Vaccinations, Vaccines
Understanding Your HPV Type and the Risks That Go With It
Read More: Understanding Your HPV Type and the Risks That Go With ItMedically reviewed by Nancy R. Berman, MSN, ANP-BC, NCMP, FAANP
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Cervical cancer, Gynecological cancer, Hpv, Medical tests, Prevention, Preventive health, Vaccinations, Vaccines
Conversation Tips for Talking With a Patient About HPV
Read More: Conversation Tips for Talking With a Patient About HPVMedically reviewed by Nancy Berman, MSN
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Cervical cancer, Gynecological cancer, Hpv, Medical tests, Prevention, Preventive health, Vaccinations, Vaccines
Fast Facts: Hereโs What You Need to Know About Cervical Cancer and HPV
Read More: Fast Facts: Hereโs What You Need to Know About Cervical Cancer and HPVMedically reviewed by Nancy Berman, MSN, ANP-BC, NCMP, FAANP A cervical cancer diagnosis is scary โ and for good reason. The American Cancer Society estimates that around 14,480 women will be diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2021, and about 4,290 of them will die. Black and Hispanic women are more likely than white women to…
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Cervical cancer, Gynecological cancer, Hpv, Medical tests, Prevention, Preventive health, Vaccinations, Vaccines
Clinically Speaking: Questions to Ask Your Healthcare Provider About Cervical Cancer Prevention
Read More: Clinically Speaking: Questions to Ask Your Healthcare Provider About Cervical Cancer PreventionMedically reviewed by Nancy Berman, MSN, ANP-BC, NCMP, FAANP Cervical cancer has steadily become less and less common. “It’s a preventable cancer because we do a lot of effort in screening to find precancer and treat or remove those precancerous cells so they don’t progress to cancer cells,” said Nancy Berman, a nurse practitioner and…
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Access, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Health disparities, Health policy, Policy, Prevention, Preventive health, Research, Vaccinations, Vaccines
Are COVID-19 Boosters Ethical, With Half the World Waiting for a First Shot? A Bioethicist Weighs In
Read More: Are COVID-19 Boosters Ethical, With Half the World Waiting for a First Shot? A Bioethicist Weighs InBy Nancy S. Jecker, University of Washington Should countries that can afford COVID-19 booster vaccines offer them to residents if scientists recommend them? The director-general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has made his position clear, calling for countries to impose a moratorium on boosters until 10% of people in every country are…
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Forceful Vaccine Messages Backfire With Holdouts โ How Can It Be Done Better?
Read More: Forceful Vaccine Messages Backfire With Holdouts โ How Can It Be Done Better?By S. Shyam Sundar, Penn State With the FDA approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and the continued surge of the delta variant, governments across the world have renewed their push to increase the number of vaccinated individuals by persuading the holdouts. On Sept. 9, 2021, President Joe Biden announced sweeping vaccine mandates, expressing frustration at…
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Whoโs Covered by a Vaccine Mandate? Hereโs a Quick Guide to Americaโs Patchwork of COVID-19 Shot Requirements
Read More: Whoโs Covered by a Vaccine Mandate? Hereโs a Quick Guide to Americaโs Patchwork of COVID-19 Shot RequirementsBy Debbie Kaminer, Baruch College, CUNY President Joe Biden’s orders requiring vaccinations for about two-thirds of the U.S. workforce add to a patchwork of vaccine mandates aimed at pushing more people to get their shots and bring the pandemic under control. The president had largely resisted issuing federal mandates, but in recent months, many states,…
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Fast Facts: What You Need to Know about Shingles
Read More: Fast Facts: What You Need to Know about ShinglesMedically reviewed by Dr. Elizabeth Liotta If you associate shingles with old age, that’s a common misconception. But anyone who has had chickenpox or the chickenpox vaccine can get shingles โ including young adults. In fact, shingles infection rates have been steadily rising among younger and middle-aged adults over the past few years. Shingles isn’t…
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At My Hospital, Over 95% of Covid-19 Patients Share One Thing in Common: Theyโre Unvaccinated
Read More: At My Hospital, Over 95% of Covid-19 Patients Share One Thing in Common: Theyโre UnvaccinatedBy Nicholas Johnson, University of Washington The Conversation is running a series of dispatches from clinicians and researchers operating on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic. You can find all of the stories here. As an emergency medicine and critical care doctor at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle, I’ve lost…
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What Happens When the Covid-19 Vaccines Enter the Body โ a Road Map for Kids and Grown-ups
Read More: What Happens When the Covid-19 Vaccines Enter the Body โ a Road Map for Kids and Grown-upsBy Glenn J Rapsinski, University of Pittsburgh Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com. How does a COVID-19 vaccine work in the body? โ Wixy, age 12, New York The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus,…
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Coronavirus, COVID-19, Family planning, Fertility, Pregnancy, Prevention, Preventive health, Vaccinations
Pregnant or Worried About Infertility? Get Vaccinated Against Covid-19
Read More: Pregnant or Worried About Infertility? Get Vaccinated Against Covid-19By Matthew Woodruff, Emory University As the delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 surges across the U.S., almost 1 in 5 Americans continue to resist getting shots that are widely available, safe and effective โ particularly for preventing the most severe outcomes of the virus. While people have many different justifications for not getting the shot, one…
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What You Need to Know About Back-to-School Vaccines
Read More: What You Need to Know About Back-to-School VaccinesMedically reviewed by Janis Hogan, RN, NCSN
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Immunocompromised, Parenting, Parenting teens, Prevention, Preventive health, Vaccinations, Vaccines
Herd Immunity: What It Is and What It Has to Do With Your Child
Read More: Herd Immunity: What It Is and What It Has to Do With Your ChildTo Chalea Andrejko and her family, herd immunity is not only important. It’s 100% necessary because Chalea’s 14-year-old daughter, Erikah, has a weakened immune system. Erikah was only a few months old when she was diagnosed with biliary atresia, meaning she was born without bile ducts in her liver, which causes blockage of bile from…
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Coronavirus, COVID-19, Healthy home, Medical tests, Parenting, Parenting teens, Prevention, Preventive health, Vaccinations, Vaccines
Getting Caught Up on Back-to-School Vaccines
Read More: Getting Caught Up on Back-to-School VaccinesMorgan Aten’s son Isaac was due for his seven-year annual checkup in March 2020 โ just as the country was shutting down because of Covid-19. “We ended up missing it,” Aten said. But when Aten’s other son Arthur was due for his three-year checkup in July of last year, their pediatrician let Aten bring Isaac…
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Anxiety, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Healthy home, Medical tests, mental health, Parenting, Parenting teens, Prevention, Preventive health, Vaccinations, Vaccines
Tips for a Safe and Healthy Return to School
Read More: Tips for a Safe and Healthy Return to SchoolKate Schultz, a high school teacher from Madison, WI, has made back-to-school preparations many times since she started teaching 20 years ago, but never quite like this. Going back to the classroom looks very different in the age of Covid-19, and Schultz is planning accordingly. She knows her students may be stressed about the virus,…
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Access, Access to health care, Affordability, Affordable care act, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Health care, Health insurance, Prevention, Preventive health, Vaccinations, Vaccines
Can Health Insurance Companies Charge the Unvaccinated Higher Premiums? What About Life Insurers? 5 Questions Answered
Read More: Can Health Insurance Companies Charge the Unvaccinated Higher Premiums? What About Life Insurers? 5 Questions AnsweredBy Kosali Simon, Indiana University and Sharon Tennyson, Cornell University The current COVID-19 wave in the U.S. is mostly affecting unvaccinated Americans, who represent more than 95% of current cases of hospitalization and death. Given the average cost of a COVID-19 hospitalization in 2020 ran about US$42,200 per patient, will the unvaccinated be asked to…
