Adult Vaccinations

After two years of lockdowns and social distancing the flu has returned with a vengeance. Lab-confirmed cases of the flu were among the worst rates on record in 2017, resulting in 29,000 hospital admissions and 745 deaths across Australia. When the pandemic arrived, the flu all but disappeared as better hygiene measures were adopted and lockdowns limited the population's movements. But now the easing of COVID restrictions means people are out and about, and this has led to a surge in flu cases. Now health authorities are pleading with Australians to get a flu shot to ease the growing pressure on hospitals. And in a move to encourage people to do this, the vaccine is now being offered for free. But its availability differs throughout the states and territories. Who is offering the jab for free? New South Wales will offer a "month-long blitz" of free flu jabs starting June 1 and ending June 30 for anybody over the age of six months of age.  Previously the...

Diarrhea and other gastrointestinal (GI) problems are sometimes symptoms of influenza (flu), although not every person with the flu experiences them. While the flu is a common cause of respiratory illness, it only sometimes causes diarrhea. Researchers do not know why or how this may occur. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) , diarrhea during the flu is more common in children than in adults. This article looks at why influenza may cause diarrhea, stomach flu, and vomiting. It also looks at other flu symptoms and treatments. The flu virus typically infects people via a respiratory route. However, GI symptoms, including diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal pain, sometimes occur. GI symptoms can indicate severe flu and represent a secondary infection. It is common for the flu virus to spread to the GI tract after a respiratory infection. However, researchers do not know how it is spread. Researchers suggest that a person with the flu may experience diarrhea a...

Strep is an infection that attacks your throat and tonsils. Strep refers to "group A streptococcus." It's named after the type of bacteria that causes the disease.  This condition is most common in children and teenagers between the ages of 5 and 15, but strep can affect anyone. It spreads when you share fluids with someone who has it, like by drinking from the same glass or sharing utensils. Adults who work with kids or have children are more likely to contract it. If you're not sure if you have strep throat, visit your doctor for a throat culture test. That's the only way to know for sure. Strep comes on fast. You may go to bed feeling fine and wake up sick. Strep throat symptoms include: A sore, itchy throat White spots that appear on your tonsils Fever Pain when you swallow Swollen glands  Headache Stomach pain or loss of appetite Remedies and Treatments For Strep Once you're diagnosed, your doctor will prescribe a course of antibiotics t...

It's hard to keep track as regulations continue to change and evolve. This is the latest for those heading out to sea soon or considering it. share this article T wo years after the start of the pandemic, cruise lines are back in business and more ships are returning to sea. On all of them, you need to be vaccinated in order to cruise and precruise testing is now a fact of life. And the rules appear to be here to stay for the foreseeable future. Royal Caribbean, for instance, recently extended its vaccine and testing rules through September on cruises in North America. If adults want to cruise this summer, they will need to be fully vaccinated, meaning they have had all inoculations at least 14 days prior to their sailing date. (While the CDC considers people to be up to date on their vaccines if they have received a booster shot for those who are eligible, most lines are still accepting the original one or two shots to be considered vaccinated and are simply recommending booste...

If you child is coughing, wheezing, finding it difficult to breath, play outdoors, or sleep at night, you must immediately take your little one to their pediatrician. Though asthma is the most common chronic disease among children, doctors usually can't make a diagnosis until children are older, by about age 4 or 5.(Shutterstock) Published on May 29, 2022 12:14 PM IST By Parmita Uniyal Asthma can impact people of all age groups including children. If you child is coughing, wheezing, finding it difficult to breath, play outdoors, or sleep at night, you must immediately take your little one to their pediatrician. The recent Global Burden of Disease (GBD, 1990–2019) estimated the total burden of disease in India as 34.3 million, accounting for 13.09% of the global burden. It also attributed those 13.2 thousand deaths were due to asthma, three times higher compared to the global proportion of burden. (Also read: Asthma Awareness Month: What to d...

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Three days after an 18-year-old gunman walked into Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, and fired on two classrooms full of third- and fourth-graders, and as officials admitted police waited too long to enter the classrooms and stop him, the devastating and life-altering impact on the children who survived and the relatives of those killed is apparent throughout the small, tight-knit town. On the same day that news emerged that Joe Garcia, the husband of Irma Garcia, one of two teachers killed, along with 19 students Tuesday, had suffered a fatal heart attack shortly after coming to the school to lay flowers in honour of his wife, survivors, friends, relatives and complete strangers continued to stream to several memorial sites around town, leaving piles of bouquets, stuffed animals, mementos and hand-scrawled messages that grew as the day wore on. Accompanied by his mom and sister, nine-year-old Fernando Rodriguez came to&...

23 May 2022 07:05 BST   Approval follows CHMP recommendation for use in patients previously vaccinated with Vaxzevria or an EU-approved mRNA COVID-19 vaccine   AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine, Vaxzevria (ChAdOx1-S [Recombinant]), has been granted approval in the European Union (EU) by the European Medicine Agency (EMA) as a third dose booster in adults. Healthcare professionals can now use Vaxzevria as a third dose booster in patients previously given a primary vaccine schedule of either Vaxzevria or an EU-approved mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. The authorisation is based on a review by the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the substantial body of evidence demonstrating an increased immune response after a third dose booster with Vaxzevria following a primary vaccine schedule of either Vaxzevria or an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. 1-5 Although more than 65% of the global population has received at least one dose of a COVID...

Telemedicine is often thought of as a way to manage chronic conditions, but a study from Iowa suggests it can work for acute disease monitoring, too.  A telemedicine program in Iowa designed to closely monitor COVID-19 patients at home during their acute illness was an effective, cost-efficient and sustainable way to manage the disease and take pressure off of hospitals, research shows. And the method of providing patients care while minimizing health care workers' exposure to disease shows potential for how future acute illnesses—whether a future pandemic or respiratory illnesses—can be appropriately managed using telemedicine, says the study, "Outcomes of a home telemonitoring program for SARS-CoV-2 viral infection at a large academic medical center." It was published in the Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare . "The biggest takeaway from this is that disease-specific telehealth is something that can be easy to do and is very likely associated wit...