Should flu vaccines be mandatory for health care workers? That’s the question raised this week in the British Medical Journal to two health care providers, including Penn Medicine’s Amy J. Behrman, MD, in a “Head to Head” piece that argues both sides of the debate.
With the fall season well underway, people of all ages are urged to receive their flu vaccinations before the cold and flu season soon kicks into high gear.
Flu season lurks around the corner throughout the United States, and gerontologists at the University of Alabama at Birmingham say the elderly are at increased risk for getting the flu and often have a worse time coping with flu symptoms than do younger people.
There is an association between the influenza virus and cardiovascular events like heart disease and stroke; those with cardiovascular disease should protect themselves against the flu.
Receiving an influenza vaccination was associated with a lower risk of major adverse cardiovascular events such as heart failure or hospitalization for heart attack, with the greatest treatment effect seen among patients with recent acute coronary syndrome (ACS; such as heart attack or unstable angina), according to a meta-analysis published in the October 23/30 issue of JAMA.
The flu vaccine may not only ward off serious complications from influenza, it may also reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke by more than 50 per cent among those who have had a heart attack, according to new research led by Dr. Jacob Udell, a cardiologist at Women’s College Hospital and clinician-scientist at the University of Toronto.
Members of The National Communication Association who study health communication can provide insight into the following: Which messages are most effective in convincing people to get a flu shot?; What are the greatest challenges faced in communicating positive health messages?; Which health messages resonate well with underserved populations?
Revealing influenza’s truly insidious nature, Whitehead Institute scientists have discovered that the virus is able to infect its host by first killing off the cells of the immune system that are actually best equipped to neutralize the virus.
A study led by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists highlights a new approach for developing a universal influenza vaccine that could protect against multiple flu strains, including deadly pandemic strains. The research appears today in the advance online edition of the scientific journal Nature Immunology.
All children should have flu shots, even if they have an egg allergy, and it’s now safe to get them without special precautions. “In a large number of research studies published over the last several years, thousands of egg allergic children, including those with a severe life-threatening reaction to eating eggs, have received injectable influenza vaccine (IIV) as a single dose without a reaction” said allergist John Kelso, MD, fellow of the ACAAI.
UAB clinician says those with diabetes should receive the flu vaccine and not the mist, which is not safe for diabetics.
Researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Boston University, in collaboration with the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI), have found evidence of the H1N1 influenza vaccine’s safety during pregnancy.
Scientists at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have uncovered a new mechanism by which influenza can infect cells – a finding that ultimately may have implications for immunity against the flu.
A UAB internal medicine expert says sporadic cases of flu are appearing and with a vaccine already available, it is best to get immunized now.
A blood test developed by researchers at Duke Medicine showed more than 90-percent accuracy in distinguishing between viral and bacterial infections when tested in people with respiratory illnesses.
Researchers at The Mount Sinai Medical Center have developed an innovative system to test how a virus interacts with cells in the body — to see, for example, what happens in lung cells when a deadly respiratory virus attacks them.
Some of this year's flu vaccine will protect against four strains of the virus. There will also be vaccines which protect against three strains of the virus as well. This is the first year the four strain flu vaccine is available.
New mothers and obese people, two groups not typically regarded as risk groups, were found to have a higher risk of death and other severe outcomes from influenza, according to the global study sponsored by the World Health Organization.
A new technology is showing promise as the basis for a home test to diagnose influenza quickly, before the window for taking antiviral drugs slams shut and sick people spread the virus to others, scientists reported here today. In a presentation at the 246th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society, they described how it also would determine the specific strain of flu virus, helping in selection of the most effective drug.
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