Varicella vaccine — 25 years of success against chickenpox
The varicella vaccine has had over 25 years of success in preventing chickenpox, a disease that killed 145 children per year pre-vaccine.
Flu vaccine linked to a 40% reduction in risk of Alzheimer’s disease
A new peer-reviewed study found that people who received at least one flu vaccine were 40% less like to develop Alzheimer’s disease compared to non-vaccinated individuals. If this doesn’t convince you to run down to your local pharmacy or your physician to get the flu vaccine, I do not know what else to convince you.
As you know, I am a big proponent of the flu vaccine mainly because the disease it prevents is much more dangerous than most people seem to think. And during this time of the COVID-19 pandemic (yes, it’s still out there), getting the flu and COVID-19 vaccines are important.
Let’s dive into this paper to see if the data is convincing, and more than that, what potential mechanisms that may link the flu or flu vaccine to the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
Read More »Flu vaccine linked to a 40% reduction in risk of Alzheimer’s disease
Herpes zoster vaccine and dementia — is there a surprising link?
I generally wouldn’t write about herpes zoster and dementia, which recently appeared in a peer-reviewed article. Such a topic is mostly outside of my interest area. Then a thought hit my reptilian brain — anti-vaxxers might use this information to claim that the shingles vaccine, which prevents herpes zoster (the more formal name for shingles), might increase the risk of dementia.
So, this article is here just in case you run into that pathetic argument. In no way would I advocate not getting the shingles vaccine because of its supposed relationship with dementia.
Let’s take a look at this new article and how we should look at whether the herpes zoster vaccine and dementia might be related.
Read More »Herpes zoster vaccine and dementia — is there a surprising link?
Increased risk of shingles after COVID-19 — time to get both vaccines
A newly published and peer-reviewed study provides evidence that the risk of shingles (herpes zoster) increases after a COVID-19 infection. This supports numerous case reports that have been published that describe shingles in COVID-19 patients.
This post will examine the article. And this should provide you with more evidence that the COVID-19 and shingles vaccines are important to your health.
Read More »Increased risk of shingles after COVID-19 — time to get both vaccines