Half-Dose Flu Shots

A study from the Walter Reed Army Medical Center looked at the effectiveness of half-dose flu shots… and found that they are often just as effective as full doses. The researchers worked with more than a thousand subjects between the ages of eighteen and sixty-four. Participants were chosen at random to get a half-dose or a full dose of the influenza vaccine. After the shots were administered, antibody levels in the blood were adequate to protect against the flu in men and women of all ages. Researchers pointed out that full doses of the flu vaccine produced a stronger immune … Continue reading →

Flu Type A vs. Type B

Lately, I find the flu capturing my interest. For a long time, I thought the flu was just the flu. Just another virus going around. But it turns out that there’s more than one type of flu… WAY more than one. The influenza virus is divided into three types: Type A: the most common version of the flu. It is also the most serious — the one that caused flu epidemics throughout history. Influenza A can infect people, birds, pigs, horses, and other animals. Type B: a milder version of the flu. Also to blame for epidemics in the past, … Continue reading →

Updating the Flu Shot

The flu vaccine is new every year. The influenza virus evolves quickly, and the vaccine has to change every year to keep up. This year’s flu shot is getting some attention in the news lately. It seems like the flu shot did well protecting people for the first part of the flu season, but now cases of influenza are on the rise. Why? Because the strains that are very active this year aren’t strains that were covered in the 2008 flu shot. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control say that only about forty percent of the people who got vaccinated … Continue reading →

Beat Colds and Flu Faster

Do you ever feel like your body WANTS to be sick? Over the last week or so, I’ve been feeling the first hints that there may be a cold on the horizon: a scratchy throat, a drippy nose, and a general feeling of fatigue. Here are some tips to help you beat colds and flu faster this winter! Work on your resistance. When I start to feel crummy, I reach for my Echinacea and goldenseal supplements — but there are lots of different options out there! Check your local health food store or the vitamin section of your favorite pharmacy … Continue reading →

Welcome To Flu Season!

October is usually the start of flu season in the United States. Influenza is a mild to severe respiratory illness that can spread easily from person to person by coughing and sneezing. Symptoms include fever, body ache, headache, fatigue, cough, sore throat, and runny nose. A flu vaccination is the best way to prevent catching influenza. Vaccination also helps prevent serious complications like pneumonia. The vaccine itself is made of inactivated or killed viruses that can help your body build up an immunity to influenza. The disease and the vaccine change every year — so if you are risk, you … Continue reading →

What Is Bird Flu?

If you watch or read the news regularly, you’ve probably heard of bird flu, otherwise known as avian influenza. Bird flu is a contagious disease of animals; the viruses infect mainly birds and occasionally pigs. On rare occasions, the virus has crossed over to infect humans. There are 23 different variations of the influenza A virus. Only a few of these subtypes can cause serious illness in poultry. The variety that is causing the most upset is the “highly pathogenic” form, which can cause high mortality rates in a domestic flock of poultry in a very short amount of time. … Continue reading →

What Is An Influenza Pandemic?

An epidemic is a disease that attacks many individuals in a particular area at the same time. A pandemic is a global disease outbreak. In just the last century, we have seen three influenza pandemics: 1918: 500,000 deaths in the United States; 40 million deaths worldwide 1957: 70,000 deaths in the United States; between one and two million deaths worldwide 1968: 34,000 deaths in the United States; 700,000 deaths worldwide As medicine, education, and communication abilities advance, the death toll has gone down dramatically. What causes a pandemic? Viruses are constantly changing. A new strain of the influenza virus may … Continue reading →