Adult Vaccinations

Topline The proportion of U.S. kindergarteners vaccinated against diseases like measles, mumps and tetanus decreased by about one percentage point during the 2020-2021 school year, as the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted school enrollment and vaccination requirements were loosened to accommodate remote learning, according to a study published Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Key Facts Mandatory vaccine coverage among kindergarten students declined from about 95% during 2019-2020 to about 94% during 2020-2021, according to the CDC's analysis of data from state and local immunization programs in 48 states and the District of Columbia. During that period, coverage for the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine fell from 95.2% to 93.9%, coverage for the diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTaP) vaccine fell from 94.9% to 93.6% and coverage for the varicella vaccine fell from 94.8% to 93.6%. This dec...

You might've heard by now that it's important to get a flu shot. It helps prevent the flu, and if you do get the flu, the shot can make symptoms less severe so that you feel better faster. It's also free to get, and it protects you as well as others — because if you're protected against the flu, you can't pass it on to someone else. But sometimes you may feel sick the day after getting your flu shot. This is normal. Here, we'll talk about common side effects of the flu shot. Some people will feel fine after receiving their flu shot, but others may notice some side effects and symptoms. Generally, this is nothing to worry about and is often a sign that everything is working as expected. Flu vaccines are very safe , but common side effects of the flu shot include: Symptoms of the flu shot should subside within 1 to 2 days. If you're feeling under the weather after receiving a flu shot, be sure to get plenty of rest. It can be helpful to treat the situation as ...

Data continue to show the importance of vaccination and booster doses to protect individuals both from infection and severe outcomes of COVID-19. For adults and adolescents eligible for a first booster dose, these shots are safe and provide substantial benefit. During the recent Omicron surge, those who were boosted were 21-times less likely to die from COVID-19 compared to those who were unvaccinated, and 7-times less likely to be hospitalized. CDC continues to recommend that all eligible adults, adolescents, and children 5 and older be up to date on their COVID-19 vaccines, which includes getting an initial booster when eligible. Following FDA's regulatory action external icon today, CDC is updating its recommendations to allow certain immunocompromised individuals and people over the age of 50 who received an initial booster dose at least 4 months ago to be eligible for another mRNA booster to increase their protection against severe disease from COVID-19. Separately and in add...

Albany Medical College scientists have been awarded a $3 million, five-year federal grant to develop a vaccine that could protect against plague. The funding is from the the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). A highly contagious disease caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis (Y. pestis) , plague has killed millions of people throughout history. Bubonic plague is the most common naturally occurring form of the three main types of plague, which also include pneumonic plague and septicemic plague. In the U.S., plague is most common in rural areas of the southwest, particularly New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado. For the most part, plague today is treated with antibiotics; there is no vaccine currently available that provides long-term defense against it. "While plague in humans is relatively rare, we've begun to see strains that are resistant to antibiotics and there are con...

TUESDAY, April 12, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends screening for major depressive disorder (MDD) in adolescents aged 12 to 18 years, and recommends anxiety screening for children aged 8 to 18 years. The two draft recommendation statements were published online April 12. Meera Viswanathan, Ph.D., from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Evidence-based Practice Center in Research Triangle Park, and colleagues reviewed 78 studies to examine the evidence on screening for suicide risk, anxiety, and depression among children and adolescents. The authors note that some screening instruments are reasonably accurate for anxiety and depression, but the evidence is limited for screening instruments for suicide risk. Benefits are seen for pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy for depression and anxiety; limited evidence is available for interventions for suicide risk. Based on these findings, the USPSTF developed two recommendation state...

Pseudomonas mendocina is a motile, Gram-negative, aerobic bacillus, belonging to the family Pseudomonadaceae [1]. P. mendocina is found ubiquitously in soil and water and can grow in various temperatures ranging from 25 ºC to 42 ºC [1,2]. P. mendocina is a rare cause of human infections. The first case of P. mendocina -related infection was reported in Mendoza, Argentina in 1992 [2]. Since then, P. mendocina -related infections have been seldomly documented in Asia [3-7], Europe [8-10], Middle East [11,12] North America [13-16], and South America [17]. Despite its low incidence of pathogenicity, P. mendocina has been known to cause severe infections, requiring hospitalization and intensive treatment. A systematic review of current literature reveals endocarditis, meningitis, and bacteremia to be the most common presentations of P. mendocina infections [18]. In the United States, there have been four documented cases of P. mendocina- related infections, which include three repo...

Aston's 18-year-old daughter, Josie, was put in an induced coma on 22 March after her organs began to fail, but has now been moved to a specialist kidney unit at King's College Hospital in south London. Meningitis is an infection of the protective membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord. But what are the symptoms of the condition and how does bacterial meningitis differ from viral meningitis? Here's what you need to know. What is meningitis? Meningitis is an infection of the meninges and can affect anyone, but is most common in babies, young children, teenagers and young adults. It can be very serious if not treated quickly. What are the symptoms of meningitis? Symptoms of meningitis develop suddenly and can include: a high temperature being sick a headache a rash that does not fade when a glass is rolled over it (but a rash will not always develop) a stiff neck a dislike of bright lights drowsiness or unresponsiveness seizures (fits) These symptoms can appear in ...