ADULT IMMUNIZATIONS

PUBLIC HEALTH AND

IMMUNIZATIONS

VACCINES: SIDE EFFECTS

LET’S TALK FLU SHOTS

RECIPES

Getting vaccinated WHY IT’S IMPORTANT TO YOUR HEALTH

AUGUST 2017

IN THIS EDITION:

The Importance of ImmunizationsNational Immunization Awareness Month encourages us to focus on the importance of immunizations, the side effects of vaccines, debunking some myths, highlighting the need for flu shots, and sharing some information about disease elimination. We hope you find your newsletter interesting and informative. And, when you’re done reading – take action!

HEALTHY LIVING

Could polio be the next eliminated

disease?see page 4for details

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says you never outgrow your need for immunizations. What you need to be vaccinated for varies by your previous vaccination record, age, lifestyle, health, high-risk medical conditions (perhaps due to your job or hobbies), and travels or plans for travel.Many associate vaccinations only with childhood or children (and the prevention of measles, mumps, and the flu). However, if you were vaccinated as a child, the protection you received from that vaccine does eventually wear off, so it may be time for a booster. The CDC suggests all adults need immunizations to help prevent them from getting and spreading serious diseases that may result in poor health, absence from work, death, unexpected medical bills, and not being able to care for themselves or those around them. It’s always best to check with your own physician to be sure your specific circumstances are considered.Some common recommended adult vaccinations include:• Seasonal flu vaccination every year.

This is especially important for those with chronic health conditions, older adults, and women who are pregnant. Adults over 65 are recommended to get a pneumonia vaccination, as well.

• The Tdap (Tetanus) vaccine is recommended for those who did not receive it as a child. It’s generally given for tetanus (lockjaw), diphtheria, and pertussis (whooping cough). All are serious diseases, and although tetanus and diphtheria are rare in the U.S. , whooping cough can cause severe coughing spells, difficulty breathing, vomiting, and disturbed sleep. It can also lead to pneumonia, weight loss, and rib fractures.

• A Tdap booster is recommended every 10 years. Women should get a Tdap vaccination whenever they are pregnant – preferably between 27 and 36 weeks.

• Adults over age 60 should get a shingles vaccine, even if you’ve already had shingles.

• The HPV (human papillomavirus) vaccine is recommended for children 11-12, but can be administered up to age 21 for men and 26 for women, to protect against several cancers that can be caused by a sexually transmitted infection.

If you have any of the conditions listed below, talk to your doctor or other health care professional to find out whether additional vaccines – or no vaccines – are appropriate based on your health status.

• Asplenia• Diabetes (Type 1 and Type 2)• Heart disease, stroke, or other

cardiovascular disease• HIV infection• Liver disease• Lung disease including asthma• Renal disease• Weakened immune system (due to

cancer, a transplant, or other condition)Check out a list of recommended vaccinations by age and health condition at https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/schedules/downloads/adult/adult-schedule-easy-read.pdf.Going on a trip? Check out this list of recommended vaccinations for your destination: https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/list.

(Sources 1-4)

Adult Immunizations: What You Should Know

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QUICK TIPSLet’s Talk Flu ShotsIt may only be August, but flu season will be here before you know it. Your best protection against the flu is a seasonal flu vaccination, which can reduce your risk for contracting the flu, missing work, or passing along the flu virus to a child or older adult. Should you be vaccinated? Since 2010, the CDC has recommended everyone six months of age and older get an annual seasonal flu vaccination. Talk with your health care provider about the vaccination if you have an egg allergy, a history of adverse reaction to the vaccine, or a moderate to severe illness with a fever.Watch for information about vaccination sites at work or in your community.

(Sources 8-11)

Public Health and Immunizations Most of us lead busy lives and want to do what’s necessary to avoid getting sick. (Those of us who don’t object to the idea probably are only looking for a good reason to stay home from work or school.) Getting the CDC’s recommended vaccines can help give you peace of mind that you’ve taken necessary precautions against serious future disease.

While the shots may hurt for a second, that discomfort is a small price to pay for what you could avoid down the line, like a life-threatening condition such as tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), polio, liver cancer, or cervical cancer – or more common conditions like hepatitis B, measles, and the flu.

In the U.S., vaccines have dramatically reduced the incidence of many infectious diseases that killed or harmed infants, children, and adults in the past. While measles, mumps, rubella, meningitis, influenza, and rotavirus have been virtually eliminated domestically, these health conditions still pose a problem elsewhere around the globe in areas with lower vaccination rates.

Why Vaccinate? Getting vaccinated helps protect you – and others in your community, through the “community immunity” theory. When enough people in a community are vaccinated against contagious diseases, others are protected because of the reduced risk.

If we were to stop vaccinating, that could lead to the return of diseases that are almost unknown (after generations of vaccinating). While it may start small, it could lead to diseases being spread more easily – and to more people – in the future.

History offers a recent example: Before 2000, measles had been almost eliminated in the U.S. However, an outbreak in 2005

was traced to one unvaccinated American who was infected during a visit to Europe. The traveler returned to the U.S. and inflected a group of children who had not been vaccinated.

Here are some findings on vaccine theories:

Do vaccines cause autism? The theory that immunizations can cause autism dates to a 1997 study published in The Lancet medical journal. It suggested measles, mumps, and rubella vaccinations were increasing autism among British children. More recent research supports the idea that autism develops prior to birth, in utero, and well before a baby begins to receive vaccinations.

Do vaccines cause the condition they’re designed to prevent (e.g., the flu shot

will give you the flu)? While vaccines can sometimes cause symptoms resembling an infection, those occur in fewer than one in one million cases and reflect the body’s immune response to the vaccine, not the presence of disease.

To learn about other vaccination myths, visit http://www.publichealth.org/public-awareness/understanding-vaccines/vaccine-myths-debunked/.

Talk with your doctor about which vaccinations make sense for you and your family, and any concerns you may have about specific vaccines.

(Sources 5-7) Check out the immunity-boosting recipes on page 5!

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Any vaccine has the potential to cause side effects. For most patients, and for most vaccines, the side effects are minor. Perhaps redness or a sore arm (in the injection area) or a low-grade fever. Those will likely go away after a few days. The risk of serious harm from a vaccine is extremely low. Medical professionals are trained to deal with severe allergic reactions, which, again, are not common. The greater risk, some say, is not having an immunization, and being exposed to a condition shared by someone else who is not vaccinated.

Below are some common vaccine reactions:Children: After receiving a vaccination, your child may develop flu-like conditions, including upset stomach, vomiting, loss of appetite, headache, fatigue, or mild fever. These are common. If, however, your child has a serious reaction or anaphylaxis (including itching, rash, or swelling of the face near the mouth),

difficulty breathing, or low blood pressure, you should contact your doctor. Seizures, high fever, joint pain or stiffness, and pneumonia are causes of concern, too, and you should immediately contact a physician, Urgent Care, or the emergency department of your local hospital. Teens and Adults: While most adults have no reaction to vaccines, some conditions can trigger common reactions. Flu shots will not give you the flu; however, it is impossible for researchers to determine with 100% certainty which strains of the flu will circulate in a given year, so you can still get the flu after receiving a flu vaccine. If you do get the flu after getting the vaccination, your illness may be milder than it would have been if you weren’t vaccinated. Minor side effects of the flu shot include soreness, redness, or swelling at injection site, low-grade fever, or minor aches. If you have an egg allergy, talk to your doctor about whether or not the flu shot is right for you.

For hepatitis A and B vaccines, minor reactions include soreness or redness in the shot area, elevated temperature, headache, and fatigue. Other reactions may include dizziness, fainting, shoulder pain (that becomes more severe or longer-lasting than routine soreness after an injection), or a severe allergic reaction (estimated at one in one million doses).The HPV vaccination often causes mild or moderate reactions, including soreness in the injection area, redness or swelling, mild fever or moderate temperature, or headache. More serious reactions may include dizziness, extreme shoulder pain, ringing in the ears, or a severe allergic reaction (about one of every one million vaccinations). For more information on vaccination risks, talk to your doctor or pharmacist, and visit https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/index.html.

(Sources 12-15)

FUN FACTVaccines and Disease EliminationAn epidemic of German measles (rubella) occurred in the mid-1960s, infecting 12.5 million Americans. Tragically, it killed 2,000 infants and caused 11,000 miscarriages. In the past five years, thanks to immunizations, just 15 cases of rubella have been reported to the CDC. Polio could be next, with more than 80 percent of the world’s children now immunized against the virus – and a decrease in polio cases by 99 percent since 1988, from an estimated 350,000 cases then to only 37 cases reported in 2016.

(Sources 16-18)

Vaccines: Side Effects and What to Expect

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RECIPES OF THE MONTH

1. Place cottage cheese or yogurt in a small bowl.2. Top with fruit and sprinkle with wheat germ.

BREAKFAST PARFAIT LEMON-GINGER CASHEW STIR FRY

1. https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/adults/rec-vac/index.html2. https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/schedules/easy-to-read/adult.html3. https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/should-not-vacc.html4. https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/vis/vis-statements/tdap.html5. https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/adults/reasons-to-vaccinate.html6. https://newsinhealth.nih.gov/issue/oct2011/feature27. http://www.publichealth.org/public-awareness/understanding-vaccines/

vaccine-myths-debunked/8. https://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/keyfacts.htm9. https://www.vaccines.gov/diseases/flu/index.html10. http://www.healthline.com/health/flu-complications#overview111. https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/publication/flu

12. https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-gen/side-effects.htm13. http://www.aboutkidshealth.ca/En/HealthAZ/HealthandWellness/

RoutineHealthCare/Pages/common-vaccine-side-effects.aspx14. https://healthychildren.org/English/safety-prevention/immunizations/Pages/

Vaccines-And-Side-Effects-The-Facts.aspx15. https://www.vaccines.gov/basics/safety/side_effects/index.html#16. https://www.unicef.org/pon96/hevaccin.htm17. https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-gen/whatifstop.htm18. http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs114/en/19. http://www.eatingwell.com/recipe/249313/breakfast-parfait/20. http://www.foodmatters.com/recipe/lemon-ginger-cashew-stir-fry

Sources:

1. Prepare all ingredients ready to stir fry. Heat wok or frying pan over medium-high heat until hot, then add sesame oil.

2. Add all vegetables, garlic, and onion and stir-fry 2-3 minutes. You want to keep the veggies nice and crisp.

3. Add in grated lemon zest, lemon juice, ginger, honey, tamari, and 1 Tbsp of water. Add in another Tbsp of water if needed.

4. Once cooked, stir in cashews. Serve with zucchini noodles.

(Source 19) (Source 20)

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Immunity-Boosting Recipes

¾ cup low-fat cottage cheese or low-fat plain yogurt1 cup pineapple chunks, papaya chunks or cling peaches2 tsp. toasted wheat germ

1 tsp. sesame oil1 garlic clove, crushed1 onion, diced1 red bell pepper (capsicum), cut into strips1 cup of bok choy, roughly choppedRind of 1 lemon, gratedJuice of 1 lemon

1 Tbsp. fresh ginger3 Tbsp. honey3 Tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce2 Tbsp. water2 Tbsp. cashews1 zucchini, spiralized into noodles (“zoodles”)

Per serving (1 parfait) : 247 Calories; 3 g Fat (2 g Sat); 3 g Fiber; 40 g Carbohydrates; 20 g Protein; 26 mcg Folate; 15 mg Cholesterol; 34 g Sugars; 0 g Added Sugars; 395 IU Vitamin A; 17 mg Vitamin C; 331 mg Calcium; 1 mg Iron; 632 mg Sodium; 479 mg Potassium, Calcium (33% daily value), Vitamin C (28% daily value)

Per serving* (2 servings): 251 Calories, 7 g Total Fat, 1.2 g Saturated Fat, 0 g Trans Fat, 0 mg Cholesterol, 328 mg Sodium, 681 mg Potassium, 47.5 g Total Carb, 4.5 g Dietary Fiber, 36.8 g Sugars, 5.3 g Protein, Vitamin A (125% daily value), Vitamin C (280% daily value), Calcium (7% daily value), Iron (11% daily value)

*Nutrition values estimated; source: https://www.verywell.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4129594.

The Monthly Healthy Living newsletter is developed and written using industry-leading resources, research updates, and case studies. The content is provided for informational purposes only; we are not engaged in the practice of medicine, and the foregoing is not intended as medical advice nor is it intended to replace any medical opinion from medical professionals. We recommend you consult with your physician or a health professional regarding any issues contained herein.