Fetal Tissue Remains Essential, Medical Researchers Say
BOSTON (AP) — The furor on Capitol Hill over Planned Parenthood has stoked a debate about the use of tissue from aborted fetuses in medical research, but U.S. scientists have been using such cells for decades to develop vaccines and seek treatments for a host of ailments, from vision loss and neurological disorders to cancer and AIDS.
Anti-abortion activists set off the uproar by releasing undercover videos of Planned Parenthood officials that raised questions of whether the organization was profiting from the sale of fetal tissue. Planned Parenthood has denied making any profit and said it charges fees solely to cover i...
Source: WBZ-TV - Breaking News, Weather and Sports for Boston, Worcester and New Hampshire - August 11, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: nealjriley Tags: Health Local News fetal tissue Massachusetts General Hospital planned parenthood Source Type: news
Chickenpox vaccination does increase shingles cases, but mainly in young adults
(eLife ) Re-exposure to chickenpox virus boosts immunity to shingles for a tenth of the time previously thought. So although vaccination increases shingles cases in 31-40 year olds, in the longer term the benefits outweigh the risks. (Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases)
Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases - August 11, 2015 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: news
Mayo Clinic Q and A: Vaccine recommended for older adults even if they’ve had shingles
DEAR MAYO CLINIC: I am a healthy 78-year-old man and have never had shingles or the shingles vaccine. I did have chickenpox when I was a child. Is the shingles vaccine something you would recommend for someone like me? What are the side effects of the vaccine? ANSWER: Once you have had chickenpox, the virus [...] (Source: News from Mayo Clinic)
Source: News from Mayo Clinic - July 25, 2015 Category: Databases & Libraries Source Type: news
How catching chickenpox from a sibling makes it worse
Maria Lally's daughter Rosie, 2, from Surrey (pictured in pink) contracted chickenpox and hospitalised after developing an infection. Her sister Sophia, 5, breezed through it. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Source: the Mail online | Health - July 21, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Novel method identifies children with rheumatic disease eligible for life-saving vaccine
New results have shown that the chickenpox vaccine can be effective and safe even in children with pediatric rheumatic disease receiving immunosuppression treatment. By using a checklist to pre-screen children, the investigators were able to identify diverse patient groups suitable for vaccination, protecting them from a potentially life-threatening infection. (Source: ScienceDaily Headlines)
Source: ScienceDaily Headlines - June 12, 2015 Category: Science Source Type: news
Novel method identifies children with rheumatic disease eligible for life-saving vaccine
(European League Against Rheumatism) The results of a study presented today at the European League Against Rheumatism Annual Congress (EULAR 2015) Press Conference showed that the chickenpox vaccine can be effective and safe even in children with pediatric rheumatic disease receiving immunosuppression treatment. By using a checklist to pre-screen children, the investigators were able to identify diverse patient groups suitable for vaccination, protecting them from a potentially life-threatening infection. (Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health)
Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health - June 12, 2015 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: news
Experimental new vaccine may help in the fight against shingles
If you had chickenpox as a child, the virus that caused it can re-emerge later in life — out of the blue — to cause shingles. This condition, also known as herpes zoster, consists of a rash on one side of the body, often accompanied by excruciating pain. The rash typically goes away in about a month, but in some people, the pain lingers for weeks, months, or even years. This chronic pain is called post-herpetic neuralgia.
The virus that causes chickenpox, known as varicella-zoster, doesn’t necessarily disappear from the body after the chickenpox rash fades away. Instead, the virus can go into hiding, taking up re...
Source: New Harvard Health Information - May 4, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Gregory Curfman, MD Tags: Vaccines HZ/su shingles varicella-zoster Zostavax Source Type: news
How chickenpox virus can cause a stroke in an HIV patient
Varicella-zoster virus causes chickenpox in children and shingles in older adults. The virus typically remains dormant in patients with healthy immune systems, but can reactivate if the immune system is compromised. Patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) can, in rare cases, experience bleeding on the brain that causes a type of stroke called intracerebral hemorrhage. (Source: ScienceDaily Headlines)
Source: ScienceDaily Headlines - May 4, 2015 Category: Science Source Type: news
Boy, 3, dies from meningitis North Middlesex Hospital doctors mistook for chickenpox
Armagan Denli, three, died in North Middlesex Hospital, London, on April 19 from meningitis. His parents claim if doctors had not mistaken the infection for chickenpox he would still be alive. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Source: the Mail online | Health - May 1, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Video reveals what happens when an ADULT gets chickenpox
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT. A 32-year-old man from London uploaded a video showing a horrific case of adult chicken pox in which his entire body is covered in angry fluid-filled pustules. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Source: the Mail online | Health - April 30, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Shingles: Not Just A Band of Blisters
Shingles (herpes zoster) is a common condition in which the virus that causes chickenpox (varicella-zoster virus) reactivates after years of lying dormant in your body. As the virus reactivates, it causes pain and tingling and eventually a rash of short-lived blisters. "Shingles normally isn't a serious condition, but in some people the rash can cause [...] (Source: News from Mayo Clinic)
Source: News from Mayo Clinic - April 1, 2015 Category: Databases & Libraries Source Type: news
Layton Boys-Hope dies from chickenpox he caught from his brother
Layton Boys-Hope, one, of Sunderland, woke up from a nap with a high temperature and trouble breathing after being ill with chickenpox. He died of a cardiac arrest in hospital the next day. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Source: the Mail online | Health - March 10, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
New condition linked to chickenpox, shingles virus
The virus that causes chickenpox and shingles may be related to a serious blood vessel problem later in life (Source: Health News: CBSNews.com)
Source: Health News: CBSNews.com - February 19, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Born with “bubble boy” disease, 4-year-old has normal life after gene therapy
Seated in an exam room on the sixth floor of Boston Children’s Hospital, Sung-Yun Pai, MD, speaks mother-to-mother—not doctor to patient’s mother—with Marcela Caceres, who has just asked whether she should take extra precautions if her 4-year-old son Agustin is exposed to chickenpox. The answer is no. “I’m a mother too, and a good mother also knows when to back off,” Pai tells her. “It’s important for him to have a normal life.”
“It’s hard for me to really accept that that’s the case,” Caceres says, “but I’m working on it.”
If Caceres has trouble shedding her instinct to over-protect, it...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - February 11, 2015 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Guest Blogger Tags: Cancer Our patients’ stories Source Type: news
Measles Outbreak, Measles Vaccine: Top Questions Answered
By: Tia Ghose, Rachael Rettner and Tanya Lewis
Published: 02/06/2015 10:17 AM EST on LiveScience
The U.S. measles outbreak now includes at least 102 infected people in 14 states. Most of the cases have been tied to Disneyland in Southern California. The outbreak has many people wondering why a disease that was eradicated from the United States in the year 2000 is now infecting so many people, and what role vaccination requirements may have had in the outbreak. We asked experts to explain how the vaccine works and why the outbreak is happening now. Why is the outbreak happening now? Most of the cases of measles reporte...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - February 9, 2015 Category: Science Source Type: news
