Chickenpox

Chikungunya To Chickenpox: How Did The Most Famous Diseases Get Such Strange Monikers?

Posted by

0


Humans like to name things — it’s just what we do. Even a crippling, horrific disease has a moniker to go by. Some diseases such as measles and chickenpox have become such household names that many don’t even stop to think of the origins of the words. Well, you, my curious reader, I just so happen to have the answer to your question.

bacteria

What They Do To The Body

Many diseases are aptly named after what they do to the body. This is particularly true for many ancient diseases that were named in a time before science could tell you any more about an illness than what you could see with your eyes.

For example, take the ever-popular chickenpox. Many incorrectly assume that, like the more recent “bird flu,” the name has to do with how our ancestors believed the viral infection was spread. Chickenpox has been observed for centuries, and although there is no concrete evidence as to who originally named the virus and why, researchers have some clue about its roots. Interestingly though, this evidence was set forward by linguists, not biologists.

According to Mental Floss, the Old English word for the verb “to itch” was giccan. It’s easy to see how over the centuries giccan could have gotten misheard as “chicken.” In an essay onThe Informed Parent, Dr. Louis P. Theriot, a pediatrician at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center in California, presents another hypothesis for the common virus’s moniker, explaining how some believe the name comes from chickenpox lesions’ resemblance to what one would expect to see if a child had been pecked with the bills of chickens.

Even more interesting, in other parts of the world, chickenpox is named after the chickpea. For example, in many Arab countries the childhood disease is known as “hummus,” and in Spain it’s known as “garbanzo,” both names associated with the chickpea. It’s easy to see how the chickenpox resembles the chickpea in size, shape, and color, and some have speculated that the English name is actually more closely related to this legume rather than the farmhouse bird.

The measles has a similar story behind its name, thought to come from the Dutch wordmasel, which means “blemish,” Medical News Today reported. However, like the chickenpox, this meaning is speculative and the true roots of the name have been lost intime.

You’ve probably heard the disease chikungunya in the news, too, especially after Lindsay Lohan became recently infected. Chikungunya derives from the Kimakonde word meaning “to become contorted,” which refers to the stooped appearance that the joint pain causes in sufferers. The Kimakonde people live in modern day Tanzania and northern Mozambique, both areas historically afflicted by chikungunya epidemics.

Geographic Locations

Other disease names come from areas where either the disease is believed to be derived from or where the disease most heavily afflicts. One of the most popular of these is Africa’sEbola virus. Ebola is barely over 38 years old, which means that much of the world’s population remembers its discovery and how its name was chosen.

Dr. Peter Piot and his colleagues named Ebola over a bottle of Kentucky bourbon. By this time, the virus had already killed hundreds, and doctors needed a name for the invisible force they were so desperately fighting. The virus had originated in the town of Yambuku in Zaire, but the scientists feared that by naming the virus after the tiny village, the villagers would run the risk of being alienated. Instead, they named the virus after a river that followed near the village. The Ebola River, which means Black River in the local language “seemed suitably ominous,” wrote Piot, as reported by LiveScience.

Other diseases whose names have geographic roots include the West Nile Virus, which turned mosquitoes from annoying pests to life-threatening enemies for many Americans; the Coxsackie viruses, the most common of all hand foot and mouth diseases, named after none other than Coxsackie, N.Y.; and Marburg Virus, named after a town in Germany.

How You Catch Them

It would seem that a clever way to name a virus would be to describe how one would catch it. This way unknowing victims could be forewarned as to how best to protect themselves. Such was the idea of those who named malaria. Unfortunately, the name-givers were completely wrong in their idea of how the virus spread, but many centuries later the name has stuck.

Malaria comes from the Italian phrase mala aria, which translates to “bad air.” The name can be traced back to the ancient Greeks and Romans, who believed the disease was caught through the inhalation of foul-smelling air.  Today we know this is wrong. In 1880, Dr. Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran discovered the parasite responsible for the disease, and a decade or so later Dr. Ronald Ross found that the mosquito in turn spread this virus among the human population. By then, however, it was too late; the phrase malaria was too ingrained in the mind to be changed to a more accurate descriptor.

While a doctor may put down the “rhinovirus” as the cause of your stuffy nose and sore throat, we all know that when you call in to work sick, you’ll tell your boss you have “the cold.” The cold is actually a quite general term that is used for many respiratory tract infections. Such as in the case of malaria, before humans realized that the cold was caused by a virus, they named the illness after what they believed caused it. This time, however, it wasn’t foul-smelling air, but rather cold air.

Amazingly, people believed this old wives’ tale up until 1968, when a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine found “no effect of exposure to cold on host resistance to rhinovirus infection and illness that could account for the commonly held belief that exposure to cold influences or causes common colds.” Why is it then that colds occur more in colder weather? This is because, while the cold doesn’t “cause” the rhinovirus, it does affect how our body responds to the infection. Recent research has shown that in cold temperature our bodies are less efficient at fighting off the common cold, which is why its effects are most fiercely felt in the winter months, io9 reported.

Who ‘Discovered’ Them

Lastly, we have the class of illnesses that were named after the scientists who uncovered their existence and shared it with the rest of the world.  The diligent scientists who dedicated their lives to uncovering the cause of these ailments received the honor of forever having their name associated with a horrific and painful disease. One of the most notable is Crohn’s disease, named after Dr. Burrill B. Crohn. Crohn chose to study afflictions of the stomach after watching his father suffer with terrible indigestion for the majority of his life,The New York Times reported. In 1932, the doctor identified the cause of Crohn’s disease as localized inflammation of an area of the small intestines called the ileum. Although he gave the condition the name ileitis, it was later changed to Crohn’s disease in recognition of his work.

Another condition named for its discoverer is Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Hodgkin’s lymphoma is a type of blood cancer that starts in the white blood cells, called lymphocytes. It was first described by Dr. Thomas Hodgkin’s more than 175 years ago. In 1832, he published a paper where he described a pattern of disease that afflicted both the lymph nodes and the sleep. Rather than brush it off as an infection, which most doctors in this time did, Hodgkin theorized that the condition was a disease all on its own. However, it wasn’t until some time later that a second man, Dr. Samuel Wilks backed Hodgkin’s theory and proved that the disease he described was actually a type of cancer. Wilks went on to name the disease after its discoverer in 1965, merely a year before Hodgkin himself died.

Chickenpox (Varicella) Vaccine: This Is Why a Shingles Epidemic is Bolting Straight at the U.S..

Posted by

0


Diane Murphy, MD, is the Director of the FDA’s Office of Pediatric Therapeutics (OPT). The mission of OPT is to enforce a Congressional mandate that assures access for children to innovative, safe and effective medical products.

Historically, many medical products have not been tested for use in children, leading to an increase in adverse events and the use of ineffective products.

medical-syringe-11.2

Murphy notes that young children and neonates require the development of a new directional endpoint that can better help us to not treat children with our best guess, but with knowledge.

 

 

Dr. Mercola’s Comments:

 

It’s now been fifteen years since Merck’s chickenpox (varicella) vaccine was approved for market.

What had always been regarded as a relatively benign childhood illness was suddenly reinvented in the 1990s as a life-threatening disease for which children must get vaccinated or face dire health consequences.

But wait—Merck to the rescue!

As is true with many new and potentially unnecessary medical interventions used on a widespread basis, there are often unintended consequences. The chickenpox (varicella) vaccine is a perfect example.

By trying to prevent all children from experiencing chickenpox naturally, this policy may have actually created a NEW epidemic—not in children but in adults, especially elderly adults.

Vaccinating children for chickenpox may very well be causing a shingles epidemic.

Chickenpox—Another False Epidemic

Before the live virus chickenpox vaccine was licensed in the United States in 1995, most children acquired a natural, long-lasting immunity to chickenpox by age six. For 99.9 percent of healthy children, chickenpox is a mild disease without complications.

It is estimated there were about 3.7 million cases of chickenpox annually in the U.S. before 1995, resulting in an average of 100 deaths (50 children and 50 adults, most of whom were immunocompromised). This hardly represents a dire, life-threatening epidemic that requires mass vaccination of all children!

Chickenpox is caused by the varicella zoster virus, which is a member of the herpesvirus family and is associated with herpes zoster (shingles). Chickenpox is highly contagious but typically produces a mild disease characterized by small round lesions on your skin that cause intense itching. Chickenpox lasts for two to three weeks, and recovery leaves a child with long lasting immunity.

Half of all cases of chickenpox occur in children ages five to nine. Before the vaccine was licensed in 1995 and states started passing laws mandating that children get it to attend school, it was estimated that only 10 percent of Americans over the age of 15 had not had chickenpox.

Up to 20 percent of adults who get chickenpox develop severe complications such as pneumonia, secondary bacterial infections, and brain inflammation (which is reported in less than one percent of children who get chickenpox). Most children and adults who develop these serious complications have compromised immune systems or other health problems.

Although chickenpox is typically not dangerous, there is a related disease that is more of a cause for concern: shingles.

Chickenpox’s Evil Cousin: Shingles

Chickenpox and shingles are related. They are caused by similar viruses, both in the herpesvirus family. After you recover from chickenpox, the virus can remain dormant (“asleep”) in your nerve roots for many years, unless it is awakened by some triggering factor such as physical or emotional stress. When awakened, it presents itself as shingles rather than chickenpox.

Shingles is marked by pain and often a blister-like rash on one side of your body, left or right. Other symptoms can include headache and flu-like symptoms. Shingles typically runs its course in three to five weeks.

Although very painful, most people who get shingles will recover without serious complications and will not get it a second time. However, in people with weakened immune systems, shingles complications can be severe or life threatening. The most common complication is postherpetic neuralgia, or PHN, where the pain may last for months or even years after the rash has healed. The pain is caused by damaged nerve fibers, which then persist in sending pain messages to your brain.

Other less frequent complications include bacterial skin infections, Hutchinson’s sign, Ramsay Hunt Syndrome, motor neuropathy, meningitis, hearing loss, blindness, and bladder impairment.

A person with shingles can infect someone who hasn’t had chickenpox, who may then develop chickenpox rather than shingles.

If you do develop shingles, as I mentioned earlier this summer, you can use topical honey to treat shingles symptoms and it appears to work better than the drugs.

Chickenpox is Nature’s Way of Protecting You from Shingles

Nature has devised an elegant plan for protecting you from the shingles virus.

After contracting and recovering from chickenpox (usually as a child), as you age, your natural immunity gets asymptomatically “boosted” by coming into contact with infected children, who are recovering from chickenpox. This natural “boosting” of natural immunity to the varicella (chickenpox) virus helps protect you from getting shingles later in life.

This is true whether you are a child, adolescent, young adult, or elderly—every time you come into contact with someone infected with chickenpox, you get a natural “booster shot” that protects you from a painful—and expensive—bout with shingles.

In other words, shingles can be prevented by ordinary contact, such as receiving a hug from a grandchild who is getting or recovering from the chickenpox. But with the advent of the chickenpox vaccine, there is less chickenpox around to provide that natural immune boost for children AND adults.

So as chickenpox rates have declined, shingles rates have begun to rise, and there is mounting evidence that an epidemic of shingles is developing in America from the mass, mandatory use of the chickenpox vaccine by all children.

As hard as scientists try to come up with ways to “improve” human biology, they just can’t outsmart Mother Nature.. In trying to tinker with the natural order of things, we tend to destroy processes that nature has masterfully orchestrated to keep us healthy.

This dance between chickenpox and shingles is a perfect example.

Vaccine Protection is Only Temporary

The chickenpox (varicella) vaccine is made from live, attenuated (weakened) varicella virus. But chickenpox vaccine provides only TEMPORARY immunity, and even that immunity is not the same kind of superior, longer lasting immunity that you get when you recover naturally from chickenpox.

It’s important to realize that naturally acquiring a case of chickenpox is the ONLY way you can establish longer lasting immunity that will protect you until you come in contact with younger children with chickenpox and are asymptomatically boosted, which will not only reinforce your chickenpox immunity but will also help protect you against getting a painful case of shingles later in life.

When the chickenpox vaccine was licensed for public use in 1995, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) estimated it was 70 to 90 percent effective in preventing disease. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) later reported, “The effectiveness of the vaccine is 44 percent against disease of any severity and 86 percent against moderate or severe disease.”

But the vaccine may be LESS effective than that—around 40 percent—according to an investigation of a chickenpox outbreak among 23 children at a New Hampshire daycare center. The outbreak began with a child who had already been vaccinated.

And a Washington Post article reported that, in another outbreak, 75 percent of the children who came down with chickenpox had previously been vaccinated for it!

It is also interesting to note that most 10 year-old children with no known history of chickenpox are actually immune.

A study in Quebec, Canada, involving 2,000 fourth graders was done to determine the proportion of children who would need to be vaccinated in a “catch-up” program.

Of the youngsters with negative or unknown chickenpox histories, 63 percent had antibodies against the virus, presumably from having had such a mild case that they didn’t even realize they had it. This isn’t terribly surprising given that healthy children occasionally have minimal symptoms (such as a low fever and headache), without manifestation of blisters, indistinguishable from a mild case of the flu.

Bottom line is, the vast majority of children who do NOT get the chickenpox vaccine wind up immune to chickenpox anyway.

The Chickenpox Vaccine Itself Can Cause Injury or Death

As is true with most vaccines, mass use of the chickenpox (varicella) vaccine has been followed by many reports of serious reactions, injuries and deaths.

Before consenting to your child’s receiving this vaccine, consider the following:

  • Between March 1995 and July 1998, the federal Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) received 6,574 reports of health problems after chickenpox vaccination. This translates to: one in 1,481 chickenpox vaccinations is followed by an adverse health event.
  • Four percent of reported adverse events (about 1 in 33,000 doses) involves  serious health problems such as shock, encephalitis (brain inflammation), and thrombocytopenia (a blood disorder)
  • 14 of the 6,574 chickenpox vaccine adverse event reports ended in death
  • As a result of the reported vaccine reactions, 17 warnings for adverse events were added to the manufacturer’s product label AFTER the vaccine was licensed and being used on a mass basis (including cellulitis, transverse myelitis, Guillain-Barre syndrome, and shingles)
  • There have been documented cases of accidental transmission of varicella vaccine strain virus from a vaccinated child to household contacts, including transmission to a pregnant woman
  • Adverse vaccine events are notoriously underreported—by as much as 90 percent, according to some experts—making the safety profile potentially even worse than the above statistics would suggest

The chickenpox vaccine may be even more risky when combined with other vaccines, like MMR.

According to Barbara Loe Fisher of the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC):

“We have been getting reports from parents that their children are suffering high fevers, chickenpox lesions, shingles, brain damage and dying after chicken pox vaccination, especially when the vaccine is given at the same time with MMR and other vaccines.”

Many questions remain unanswered.

For example, will a young pregnant woman, who got varicella vaccine as a child instead of recovering from natural chickenpox, pass on vaccine induced antibodies to her newborn baby like mothers used to pass on natural maternal antibodies to chickenpox to their newborns?

This is one of many questions about mass use of chickenpox vaccine that is being debated today.

The Birth of an Epidemic

Now, 15 years into the mass use of chickenpox (varicella) vaccine , there are signs a shingles epidemic is underway.

This is not surprising when you consider that the mechanism keeping shingles largely at bay has been drastically reduced, if not eliminated because older children and adults are no longer coming into contact with younger children experiencing chickenpox and there is less and less natural “boosting” of immunity occurring in our population.

The natural “herd” immunity to chickenpox among Americans is being lost and we are becoming vaccine dependent. PLUS a shingles epidemic is taking shape.

Research done by Gary S. Goldman, Ph.D. who served for eight years as a Research Analyst with the Varicella Active Surveillance Project in Los Angeles County with funding from the CDC, revealed higher rates of shingles in Americans since the government’s 1995 recommendation that all children receive chickenpox vaccine.

According to an article describing his work:

“Dr. Goldman’s findings have corroborated other independent researchers who estimate that if chickenpox were to be nearly eradicated by vaccination, the higher number of shingles cases could continue in the U.S. for up to 50 years; and that while death rates from chickenpox are already very low, any deaths prevented by vaccination will be offset by deaths from increasing shingles disease. (Emphasis mine)

Goldman was so concerned about an epidemic of shingles that he has co-written a book on the matter, entitled The Chickenpox Vaccine: A New Epidemic of Disease and Corruption.

Dr. Goldman isn’t the only one who is concerned about a potential shingles epidemic.

A team at Britain’s Public Health Laboratory Service (PHLS) found that adults living with children enjoy higher levels of protection from shingles. They stated that, although chickenpox can be life threatening for the immune compromised, thousands of elderly people could also die from the complications of shingles. PHLS called for a re-evaluation of the policy of mass chickenpox vaccination in the U.S., as well as other countries implementing this practice.

For decades, shingles was thought to increase with age as older individuals’ immune systems weakened. However, research suggests this phenomenon is more a result of the fact that older people receive fewer natural boosts to immunity as their contacts with young children decline.

In fact, the effectiveness of the chickenpox vaccine itself depends on natural boosting, so as chickenpox disease rates decline, so will the effectiveness of the vaccine.

Are These Predictions Coming True?

Absolutely.

The incidence of adult shingles has increased by 90 percent from 1998 to 2003, following the release of the chickenpox vaccine for mass use. Shingles results in three times as many deaths and five times as many hospitalizations as chickenpox, andaccounts for 75 percent of all medical costs associated with the varicella zoster virus.

Even children are beginning to come down with shingles, as evidenced by school nurse reports since 2000, which was one of the concerns prompting Dr. Goldman to warn the CDC that it may be bringing about a shingles epidemic.

Prior to chickenpox vaccination, shingles was seen only in adults.

All evidence points to the fact that we have traded a relatively mild illness (chickenpox), which does NOT involve complications for 99.9 percent of healthy children, for a more serious illness in our elderly (shingles) that has the potential for compromising the health of an entire population.

Another peer-reviewed article by Dr. Goldman presents a cost-benefit analysis of the chickenpox vaccination program, with disturbing findings. chickenpox (varicella) vaccine would have to be universally used for at least 50 years to demonstrate a cost benefit, due to the substantial additional medical cost of a shingles epidemic. This is CLEARLY not worth it, when chickenpox disease presented such minimal risk to society in the first place!

What do you think was the CDC’s answer to a potential shingles epidemic, when presented with Goldman’s findings?

Another vaccine—of course.

Merck – the pharmaceutical giant that makes the chickenpox vaccine – rides in on their white horse with the very answer the CDC was hoping for: A shingles vaccine! Yes, shingles vaccine was developed by the same manufacturer who markets and is the sole source of chickenpox vaccine in America.

What an incredible profit-making scheme – the same drug company that profits from mass, mandatory use of the chicken pox vaccine also profits from sales of a shingles vaccine in a market created by the chickenpox vaccine!

Sound the Horns! Merck “to the Rescue”—Again!

The FDA approved Merck’s shingles vaccine (Zostavax) for use in people age 60 and older in May of 2006. So they have come out with a vaccine (shingles) to reverse the damages to your health caused by their earlier vaccine (chickenpox).

Sound familiar?

It is very much like the polypharmacy used to “treat” chronic disease. You get a drug to supposedly make you better, but it causes adverse side effects, so you are given another drug to treat those side effects. Then, THAT drug creates more problems, and pretty soon, no one can tell what’s causing what, and down the drain of poor health you go.

Meanwhile, you are taking a long list of drugs, and the only people truly benefiting are the pharmaceutical companies who make money each step of the way.

In the case of varicella vaccines, they are profiting from the cause of an epidemic, as well as the supposed cure…

But is it REALLY a cure? Will a shingles vaccine prevent a shingles epidemic?

Vaccines: Public Health or Profit Center

Adult vaccination programs have rarely proved successful.

The cost of the shingles vaccine itself ($200) is prohibitive, especially for many older Americans struggling to meet monthly expenses on fixed incomes. Research shows that few adults are making use of it.

And what unanticipated health effects might the shingles vaccine have on the elderly—particularly those who are immunosuppressed or already challenged with chronic illness or cancer?

The conflicts of interest between vaccine manufacturers and vaccine researchers, and government bodies entangled with both, represent another layer of trouble.

How reliable and unbiased is the vaccine information you get if it’s provided by researchers with financial ties to both vaccine manufacturers and government health agencies promoting mass, mandatory use of vaccines?

In the words of Dr. Goldman:

“When research is sponsored by agencies that promote vaccination, and reimbursed by the pharmaceutical company itself, and receive enrichment by immunizing children, my experience is that they demonstrate certain biases which allow them to continue operating as profit centers and unfortunately, at least sometimes promoting vaccination to the detriment of public health.”

Hundreds of Vaccines on the Way

U.S. public health doctors say your child should receive 69 doses of 16 different vaccines before age 18. And 145 more are on the way! Yes, believe it or not, Big Pharma has 145 more vaccines in the pipeline and most are in their final stages of approval, in clinical trials or under FDA review.

Vaccine Awareness Week: November 1 — November 6, 2010

Mercola.com & the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) have dedicated the first week of November as Vaccine Awareness Week!

In a collaborative effort to raise public awareness about important vaccination issues, Dr. Joseph Mercola and NVIC have been publishing a series of articles and interviews on vaccine topics of interest to Mercola.com newsletter subscribers and NVIC Vaccine E-newsletter readers. The article you’ve just finished reading is one of those.

Vaccine Awareness Week arose from the following shared goals:

  1. Raising public awareness about the need to take an active role in preventing vaccine injuries and deaths
  2. Protecting and expanding legal exemptions to vaccination by securing broad medical, religious and conscientious belief exemptions in all state vaccine laws
  3. Promoting the human right to voluntary, informed consent to medical risk-taking, including vaccination
  4. Raising funds for NVIC, a non-profit charity that has been working since 1982 to educate the public about vaccination and defend the ethical principle of informed consent.

Source: mercola.com

 

Vaccines for adults: Which do you need?

Posted by

0


Vaccines offer protection from various types of infections and diseases, from seasonal flu to diphtheria. Understand which vaccines adults need and when to get them.

Wonder which vaccines you need? It can be confusing, especially if you thought vaccines were just for kids. Use the list below to find out which vaccines you need now and which vaccines might be coming up — based on recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Seasonal influenza (flu)

Seasonal flu is a viral infection that affects the respiratory system. Potentially serious — even life-threatening — complications of the flu are possible.

Who needs it
The flu vaccine is recommended for all adults — unless you had a severe reaction to a previous flu vaccine or you’re currently ill. The flu vaccine is available as a shot or a nasal spray.

If you’re pregnant, choose the flu shot vaccine — not the nasal spray vaccine. If you’re age 65 or older, ask your doctor about a high-dose flu shot. Consult your doctor before getting a flu vaccine if you’ve had Guillain-Barre syndrome or you have a severe allergy to eggs.

When to have it
Get one dose of the flu vaccine every year, ideally in September or as soon as the vaccine is available.

Pneumococcal disease

Pneumococcal disease is a potentially serious infection caused by a type of bacteria called pneumococcus. Pneumococcal disease can take various forms, including pneumococcal pneumonia and pneumococcal meningitis. Pneumococcus also causes infections in the bloodstream.

Who needs it
Get the pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine — the type of pneumococcal vaccine available for adults — if:

  • You’re age 65 or older
  • You have a weak immune system
  • You have a chronic illness, including asthma, lung disease, liver disease or diabetes
  • You’ve had your spleen removed
  • You live in a long term care facility
  • You smoke

Don’t get the vaccine if you had a severe reaction to a previous dose of the vaccine or you’re currently ill.

When to have it
Get one dose of the pneumococcal vaccine at any time. Ask your doctor if you need a second dose.

Tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis

Tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis are bacterial infections. Tetanus, sometimes called lockjaw, affects the nervous system, leading to painful muscle contractions — especially in the jaw and neck. Diphtheria is a respiratory disease that can lead to difficulty breathing. Whooping cough (pertussis) causes cold-like signs and symptoms and a persistent hacking cough.

Who needs it
Get the combined tetanus toxoid, reduced diphtheria and acellular pertussis (Tdap) vaccine if you haven’t received the vaccine in the past or don’t know if you’ve received the vaccine.

The Tdap vaccine isn’t recommended if you had a severe reaction to a previous dose of the tetanus-diphtheria (Td) series or Tdap vaccine, you experienced a coma or seizures within seven days of a previous dose of the vaccine or you’re currently ill. Consult your doctor before getting the Tdap vaccine if you have epilepsy or you’ve had Guillain-Barre syndrome.

When to have it
Get one dose of the Tdap vaccine if you didn’t finish the Td series as a child or don’t know if you ever had the Td vaccine. Get a second dose four weeks after the first dose. Get a third dose six to 12 months after the second dose.If you’re due for a Td booster — recommended every 10 years — but haven’t previously received Tdap, get one dose of the Tdap vaccine at any time followed by a Td booster every 10 years.

Meningitis

Meningitis is an inflammation of the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord.

Who needs it
Get the meningitis (meningococcal) vaccine if:

  • You didn’t have the vaccine as a child or adolescent and you’re living in a dormitory for the first time
  • You travel to or work in parts of the world where meningitis is common
  • You’re joining the military
  • You had your spleen removed
  • A meningitis outbreak occurs in your community

The meningitis vaccine isn’t recommended if you had a severe reaction to a previous dose of the vaccine or you’re currently ill.

When to have it
Get one dose of the meningitis vaccine at any time — or a booster dose if you’re a first-year college student up to age 21 and first had the vaccine before age 16. Get a second dose eight weeks later if you have certain health conditions, such as HIV.

Chickenpox (varicella)

Chickenpox is a highly contagious infection that causes a red, itchy rash. Complications can include a bacterial infection of the skin, an infection in the bloodstream, pneumonia or inflammation of the brain (encephalitis).

Who needs it
Get the chickenpox vaccine if:

  • You didn’t have the vaccine as a child or adolescent or you’ve never hadchickenpox — especially if you live with someone who has a weak immune system
  • You aren’t sure whether you’ve had chickenpox
  • You’re considering pregnancy and don’t know if you’re immune to chickenpox

The chickenpox vaccine isn’t recommended if you had a severe reaction to a previous dose of the vaccine or to gelatin or the antibiotic neomycin, you’re currently ill, you’re pregnant or you have a weak immune system.

When to have it
Get one dose of the chickenpox vaccine at any time. Get a second dose at least four weeks after the first dose.

Measles, mumps and rubella

Measles, mumps and rubella are viral infections. Measles causes a red, blotchy skin rash. Complications can include ear infection, pneumonia and inflammation of the brain (encephalitis). Mumps causes swelling in the salivary glands, located below and in front of your ears. Rubella, also called German measles, causes a distinctive red rash. Rubella is most serious if it develops during pregnancy.

Who needs it
Get the combined measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine if you were born during or after 1957 and didn’t have the vaccine as a child or adolescent.

The MMR vaccine isn’t recommended if you had a severe reaction to a previous dose of the vaccine or to gelatin or the antibiotic neomycin, you’re currently ill, you’re pregnant, you have a weak immune system, or you recently had a blood transfusion.

When to have it
Get one dose of the MMR vaccine at any time. Get a second dose at least four weeks after the first dose if you’re a health care worker, you travel internationally, you’re a college student, or you had a rubella blood test that shows no immunity.

Human papillomavirus

Genital human papillomavirus (HPV) is a common sexually transmitted infection. Most people who have HPV don’t develop symptoms. For some people, however, an HPV infection can lead to genital warts or, for women, cervical cancer.

Who needs it
Get the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine if:

  • You’re a woman age 26 or younger and didn’t have the vaccine as an adolescent
  • You’re a man age 21 or younger and didn’t have the vaccine as an adolescent — although men can get the vaccine through age 26, if desired

The HPV vaccine isn’t recommended if you had a severe reaction to a previous dose of the vaccine, you have a severe allergy to yeast or latex, you’re pregnant, or you’re currently ill.

When to have it
Get one dose of the HPV vaccine at any time. Get a second dose one to two months after the first dose, and a third dose six months after the first dose.

Hepatitis A

Hepatitis A is a potentially serious liver infection.

Who needs it
Get the hepatitis A vaccine if:

  • You want to protect yourself from hepatitis A
  • You have a clotting-factor disorder or chronic liver disease
  • You’re a man who has sex with men
  • You inject illicit drugs
  • You’re a health care worker who might be exposed to hepatitis A in a lab setting
  • You travel to or work in parts of the world where hepatitis A is common

The hepatitis A vaccine isn’t recommended if you had a severe reaction to a previous dose of the vaccine, you have a severe allergy to latex or you’re currently ill.

When to have it
Get one dose of the hepatitis A vaccine at any time. Get a second dose six at least six months after the first dose.

Hepatitis B

Hepatitis B is another type of liver infection. For some people, hepatitis B becomes chronic — leading to long-term liver problems.

Who needs it
Get the hepatitis B vaccine if:

  • You want to protect yourself from hepatitis B
  • You’re sexually active but not in a mutually monogamous relationship
  • You’re a man who has sex with men
  • You have close contact or sex with a person infected with hepatitis B
  • You inject illicit drugs
  • You’re receiving hemodialysis
  • You’re a health care or public safety worker who might be exposed to infected blood or body fluids
  • You live with someone who has a chronic hepatitis B infection
  • You travel to or work in parts of the world where hepatitis B is common
  • You’re age 59 or younger and have type 1 or type 2 diabetes and haven’t received the hepatitis B vaccine

If you’re age 60 or older and have diabetes, ask your doctor if the hepatitis B vaccine is right for you. The hepatitis B vaccine isn’t recommended if you had a severe reaction to a previous dose of the vaccine, you have a severe allergy to yeast or you’re currently ill.

When to have it
Get one dose of the hepatitis B vaccine at any time. Get a second dose one month after the first dose. Get a third dose at least two months after the second dose and at least four months after the first dose.

Shingles (herpes zoster)

Shingles is a viral infection that causes a painful rash. Anyone who has recovered from chickenpox might eventually develop shingles.

Who needs it
Get the shingles vaccine if you’re age 60 or older.

The shingles vaccine isn’t recommended if you’re currently ill, you had a severe reaction to gelatin or the antibiotic neomycin, you have a weak immune system or you’re pregnant.

When to have it
Get one dose of the shingles vaccine at any time.

Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib)

Hib is a bacterium that causes potentially serious infections, including pneumonia, meningitis and swelling of the piece of cartilage that covers the windpipe (epiglottitis).

Who needs it
Get one dose of the Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) vaccine if:

  • You have certain health conditions, such as sickle cell disease, leukemia or HIV
  • You had your spleen removed

The Hib vaccine isn’t recommended if you had a severe reaction to a previous dose of the vaccine or you’re currently ill.

When to have it
Get one dose of the Hib vaccine at any time.

Source: Mayo Clinic.