the majority of physicians and other health professionals recommend vaccination as the most effective way to lower one’s risk of getting influenza. No matter how many people would like to believe otherwise, for most people the risk of influenza is greater than the risk of the influenza vaccine.
updated 10/29/2020
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This photograph depicted a woman who was using a modern, battery-powered oral thermometer, in order to measure her body temperature. In order to return an accurate reading, this particular type of thermometer needed to be placed beneath the user’s tongue, for a set amount of time, beeping when the ambient, sublingual temperature was reached.
Photo credit-James Gathany, CDC, public domain
Influenza
In this part of the world the influenza season is starting, even though influenza can occur year round. Once again, the majority of physicians and other health professionals recommend vaccination as the most effective way to lower one’s risk of getting influenza. No matter how many people would like to believe otherwise, for most people the risk of influenza is greater than the risk of the influenza vaccine.
I recommend you read Dr. Gretchen LaSalle’s thorough review
Most of the winter respiratory illnesses are not influenza, but can still make us feel miserable. Most of the time most of us recover uneventfully, but these diseases can cause more severe disease in certain people, like infants, elderly, and those with compromised immune systems. Here are some previous posts with info you need to know about keeping you and your family well and safe.
One of the most effective ways to prevent and stop the spread of infectious disease.
sharing the HEART of health
Dear friends, I hope all is well with you and that you are as healthy in body as you are strong in spirit.
3 John 2 , NLT
Stay well this winter, or what ever season you are enjoying now.
Dr. Aletha
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Measles cases in the U.S. have surged recently. Measles is highly contagious with serious complications, though largely preventable via vaccinations like the MMR. Public health officials express concern over these outbreaks.
update March 10, 2025
Measles in the U.S. has climbed to its highest level in 25 years, closing in on 700 cases this year in a resurgence largely attributed to misinformation that is turning parents against vaccines.
“This is alarming,” said Dr. William Schaffner, a Vanderbilt University vaccine expert. Not only is measles dangerous in itself, but its return could mean other vaccine-preventable diseases seemingly consigned to the past may be coming back as well, he said.
At one time, measles was one of the “usual childhood diseases” that most people Born before 1957 contracted as children prior to the use of the vaccine. It is caused by a virus in the Paramyxoviridae family and spread by person-to-person contact.
The other childhood diseases were
Rubella, or German measles
Chicken pox, or varicella
Roseola
Fifth Disease, or erythema infectiosum
These all cause a rash, called an exanthem.
Mumps was also a common childhood disease but does not usually cause a rash.
Symptoms of measles include
cough,
nasal drainage,
reddened, inflamed eyes, and
a rash as pictured below.
image courtesy of the CDC- Centers for Disease Control , U.S. government
Treatment of Measles
Management of measles involves supportive care, meaning controlling fever for comfort, ensuring adequate nutrition and fluids to prevent dehydration.
Vitamin A supplementation is recommended by the World Health Organization and the CDC.
An antiviral drug, ribavirin has been used to treat severe life-threatening cases. It has not been studied in controlled trials, so the FDA has not approved its use.
Most of those infected recover uneventfully but there can be serious complications including pneumonia and encephalitis (inflammation of the brain).
Preventing measles and other exanthems
After the measles vaccine was introduced in 1963 the number of reported cases was reduced by 99%. In 2000 measles was declared no longer endemic (occurring routinely) in the United States. U.S. public health officials consider an outbreak a major setback in the control of infectious disease.
Measles vaccine is usually administered as a “3 in 1” vaccine- the MMR, which has been vilified as a possible cause of autism, although that has been thoroughly discredited.
The other two letters in the mix stand for mumps and rubella (also known as German measles) both of which are also caused by viruses and for which no treatment exists.
No vaccine exists for roseola or Fifth Disease, but we have an effective vaccine for varicella, commonly called chickenpox.
MEASLES OUTBREAK 2025
According to KFF Health News
“Since the outbreak emerged three weeks ago, the Texas health department has confirmed 90 cases with 16 hospitalizations, as of Feb. 21. Most of those infected are under age 18.
Officials suspect that nine additional measles cases reported in New Mexico, across the border from the epicenter of the Texas outbreak in Gaines County, are linked to the Texas outbreak. Ongoing investigations seek to confirm that connection.
Health officials worry they’re missing cases. Undetected infections bode poorly for communities because doctors and health officials can’t contain transmission if they can’t identify who is infected.
“This is the tip of the iceberg,I think this is going to get a lot worse before it gets better.”
Rekha Lakshmanan, chief strategy officer for The Immunization Partnership in Houston, a nonprofit that advocates for vaccine access.
My family receives vaccines and believe any potential risk is worth the benefit. I urge you to think carefully and talk to a trusted physician before you make vaccination decisions for yourself and your children.
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