Tetanus is a life threatening disease caused by spores of the bacteria Clostridium tetani. According to the Mayo Clinic, this is a serious disease that can cause stiffness of your jaw muscles, lead to severe muscles spasms, make breathing...
Pertussis, also called whooping cough, is a disease that causes severe, violent coughing fits. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advise that pertussis is quite contagious, and is spread through close contact with an...
Soon after birth and throughout the first year, an infant receives numerous vaccinations. Most of these have minimal side effects but the most common are similar to the flu. The benefit of the vaccines are said to outweigh the risk of such side...
Vaccinations are common during childhood but they're also somewhat controversial. According to KidsHealth website, some parents fear the effects of vaccine in the body and as a result question the idea of vaccinating their children. If you're...
You can use body piercing as a way to highlight certain parts of your body, to decorate your body or to draw attention to yourself. However, one unwanted side effect of a new piercing can be the formation of keloid scarring -- raised, discolored...
The cervical cancer vaccine, Gardasil, has the amazing ability to prevent cancer from occurring. Researchers developed the vaccine because of statistics which show that cervical cancer affects approximately 10,000 women a year in the US....
Honey and aloe vera are full of healthful nutrients and antimicrobial compounds. Honey's sweet taste makes it a popular, low-calorie substitute for sugar, while aloe vera is commonly used as a topical cream to treat cuts, burns or scrapes. Beyond...
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia reports that "influenza hospitalizes and kills more people in this country [the U.S.] than any other vaccine-preventable disease." Yearly estimates average nearly 200,000 people admitted to hospitals, and...
As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention explains, vaccines work to stimulate the body's immune system. When a person gets infected by a virus, the body creates antibodies that are used to fight off that virus. Once the virus has been...
Attenuvax is the brand name of the measles virus vaccine. It can be administered to children from 1 year to 15 months for age, according to the Mayo Clinic. It should be administered at least twice at different ages to prevent the infection....
The bacteria Streptococcus pneumoniae causes potentially serious illnesses, including pneumonia, middle ear infections, meningitis and bacteremia (infection of the blood), and according to the World Health Organization (WHO) causes nearly 1...
The pneumonia vaccine works by introducing the body to a small quantity of the bacteria responsible for the illness. MayoClinic.com reports that the bacteria helps the body build antibodies to defend itself against future exposure to the illness....
Pneumococcal disease is one of the primary causes of bacterial meningitis, according to FamilyDoctor.org. This infection affects the brain and surrounding tissues. The pneumococcal conjugate vaccine helps prevent this disease and is administered...
Your immune system regulates your body's response to infections. A poor immune system can leave you more susceptible to a wide range of infections and illnesses. Several over-the-counter herbal and vitamin supplements can help to enhance and boost...
According to the Rotavirus Vaccine Program, more than 500,000 children throughout the world die each year because of complications from the rotavirus. An estimated 111 million cases are believed to occur each year throughout the world, with 25...
The swine flu, or H1N1, is a respiratory infection that causes fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills, fatigue, diarrhea and vomiting, according to the Mayo Clinic. The severe complications of swine flu include pneumonia,...
According to a 2008 article in the journal "Vaccine", influenza strains are constantly evolving and mutating through two processes known as "antigentic shift" and "antigenic drift" genes. Therefore, laboratories around the world routinely collect...
Cervical cancer affects the tissues that line the cervix. It is often caused by one of several strains of human papillomavirus (HPV). There is one vaccine currently approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the vaccination against four...
More than 250,000 people are infected with hepatitis B virus in the U.S. every year. Infection is most common in young adults who are sexually active or work in hospitals and medical laboratories. Hepatitis B virus damages liver cells, causing the...
There are currently two vaccines approved for use in preventing meningococcal meningitis which is caused by the bacteria Neisseria meningitidis. The vaccines are the meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MCV4) and the meningococcal polysaccharide...
Prostate cancer affects more than 233,000 men in the United States each year. Advanced prostate cancer is commonly treated with hormone therapy, as the male hormones feed the cancer, allowing it to spread. Many times the cancer will respond to...
The seasonal flu vaccine comes in two forms--an injection or shot and a nasal spray or nasal mist. Each year, nasal sprays are updated to contain specific strains of the flu virus public health officials expect to see in the upcoming flu season,...
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the flu vaccine is effective in 70 to 90 percent of healthy adults under 65 years of age, providing that the flu strain matches the flu shot composition. The vaccine administered...
You can buy Himalayan pink salt much like ordinary table salt or purchase it in blocks or slabs. One novel product that uses this salt is a lamp that has an outer shell of large pink salt crystals. Producers and promoters of these lamps claim that...
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the seasonal flu accounts for over 200,000 hospitalizations and 36,000 deaths each year. Getting vaccinated against the flu each year is the single best thing people can do to...
Fevers are a common symptom in children of all ages. "Webster's New World Dictionary" defines fever as "an abnormally increased body temperature." Normal temperatures range from 97 degrees Fahrenheit to 99 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the Mayo...
Rabies causes certain death in humans unless they receive medical treatment to decrease the chance of infection. People are exposed to rabies through the saliva of a rabid animal, usually raccoons, foxes, skunks, bats or other wild animals,...
Influenza (the flu) is caused by the influenza virus. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), 5 to 20 percent of Americans are infected by the virus every year, causing about 200,000 hospitalizations and 36,000 deaths. The virus...
All vaccines carry a risk of side effects. Most of these are mild and resolve within a week of administration. Some vaccines are mandatory during childhood; others are optional but advised for certain age groups or health conditions. Some vaccines...
Hepatitis B is liver inflammation that results from a DNA virus. Learn more about hepatitis B, including symptoms and treatments, in this video.