Not at all. Adults are in need of vaccines to protect them from a variety of communicable diseases, including pneumonia, HPV and hepatitis. Which are best to receive varies with age and a number of other risk factors, such as where you travel, previous exposure and the current status of your immune system. Review this information from the Mayo Clinic to determine what you need now and what to get later.
Wesleyan Students: Contact Health Services at 860.685.2470 to set up your appointment during the academic year to ensure you have the vaccines you need, especially if you plan to study abroad.
Worried that antibiotic resistance will make you vulnerable to all sorts of infections? It’s important to understand how drug resistance occurs before you start worrying your pretty little head about it. Read this from the New York Times…
People can be forgiven for wondering what difference it makes how we kill microorganisms. After all, soap or bleach kills bacteria, and so does penicillin. So why does it matter exactly how you kill them?
It does matter, and the reason for the consequences of killing bacteria with penicillin or killing them with Ivory has to do with evolution. Furthermore, I suspect that part of the confusion in the mind of the public lies in the use of euphemisms like “develop” and “change through time,” rather than what we really mean, which is evolve.
Bacteria don’t “develop” resistance, as if it were a muscle nurtured by going to a microbial gym. read full article…
Check out information about Infection Control at Wes.
From He’s Fit…
Despite your best efforts to remain in good health, you are bound to get sick at some point. You are human, after all. When that dark day does come, some people stay in bed. Others, however, attempt to train anyway, which begs the question – is it okay to train while you are sick? 
The first consideration should be courtesy and public safety. If you belong to a public gym, it would probably be a good idea not to work out, as you are putting your unknowing fellow patrons at risk of getting sick. Courtesy and safety aside, you must assess yourself – where are your symptoms located? If they are above the neck – runny nose, sinus problems, sore throat, etc. Then, exercising may prove beneficial, as it can clear the sinuses and increase blood circulation.
If your symptoms are below the neck – body aching, diarrhea or nausea for example, stay in bed. Symptoms below the neck can indicate a nastier virus – like the flu – which is hard on the immune system. You should never exercise if you have an infection. The addition of exercise makes it worse, as your body needs to use the energy to fight the infection.
Also be mindful of your temperature. If you have a fever, the above the neck rules are null and void – do not train. Your temperature is already elevated due to having the fever, and exercising will only raise it more. Not good.
Remember to exercise caution and courtesy when you are sick. You don’t want to make your situation worse, nor do you want to take anyone else of the action.
The Mayo Clinic, in answering a question from a male reader named John, indicates that it is possible – though relatively uncommon – for a man to contract a genital yeast infection through sexual activity. Read on…
Q: Can I get a yeast infection from my girlfriend? I thought only women got yeast infections.
A: It’s possible for a man to contract a genital yeast infection if he has unprotected sexual intercourse with a partner who has a genital yeast infection. However, just because your girlfriend has a yeast infection doesn’t mean you will get one too. Sexual transmission of yeast infections is uncommon.
Many people are under the impression that only women get genital yeast infections, but men get them too. Prolonged antibiotic use increases the risk of a yeast infection. Also, men with diabetes or impaired immune systems, such as those with HIV, are more susceptible to yeast infections.
Signs and symptoms of a male yeast infection include a reddish rash, itching or burning at the tip of the penis. Fortunately, most male yeast infections are easily treated with an over-the-counter antifungal treatment, such as Monistat (yes, men can use it too). Apply the medication directly to the affected skin twice daily for a week. If the rash doesn’t go away, or if it recurs frequently, consult your doctor.
If you and your partner have symptoms of genital yeast infection, it’s important that you both be treated. Otherwise, you may keep reinfecting each other. Also, it’s generally recommended that you refrain from sexual contact until all signs and symptoms of the infection are gone.
From the New England Journal of Medicine…
Perspective by Tadataka Yamada, M.D.
The recent failure of another potential vaccine against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) underscores the enormous challenges of tackling diseases whose heaviest burden falls on the developing world. A quarter of a century after the first report of AIDS, our knowledge about how an HIV vaccine might work is still distressingly limited. It seems clear that neither current dogma nor traditional thinking is likely to get us to the next step. Truly creative ideas will be required. I must confess to having learned the hard way that embracing new thinking, as difficult as it may be, is crucial for the advancement of science and medicine.
As a gastroenterologist, I was one of the many who believed as gospel truth that peptic ulcers were caused by gastric acid. When two scientists from Australia came along and argued that it was actually a bacterium, Helicobacter pylori, that produced ulcers, those of us in the “Acid Mafia” rejected their claims out of hand. But Robin Warren and Barry Marshall persisted. Marshall even drank a solution of H. pylori, became ill, took antibiotics, recovered, and wrote a paper about it, just to get others in the field to pay attention. You know the ending to this story — these scientists were proved right and went on to win a Nobel Prize in 2005.
New ideas should not have to battle so hard for oxygen. Unfortunately, they must often do so. Even if we recognize the need to embrace new thinking — because one never knows when a totally radical idea can help us tackle a problem from a completely different angle — it takes humility to let go of old concepts and familiar methods. We have seemed to lack such humility in the field of global health, where the projects related to diseases, such as HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis, that get the most funding tend to reflect consensus views, avoid controversy, and have a high probability of success, if “success” is defined as the production of a meaningful but limited increase in knowledge. As a result, we gamble that a relatively small number of ideas will solve the world’s greatest global health challenges. That’s not a bet we can afford to continue making for much longer.
read full article…
From Medical News Today…
Millions of Americans took the advice to get a flu shot this season, but many are still becoming infected with the flu. This flu season is lasting longer than initially expected and has introduced unforeseen new strains of the virus, making other flu prevention steps even more important. Today, the Visiting Nurse Associations of America (VNAA) and The Clorox Company launched the inFLUenza Resource Center, an online resource with tips and tools needed to help protect families and help prevent the spread of the flu virus.
“While it is important to get vaccinated to protect yourself from contracting influenza, there are many common sense actions you can take to help protect your family and help prevent the spread of the flu virus,” stated Shelley Ludwick, Clinical Director of the Visiting Nurse Associations of America. “Our new inFLUenza Resource Center includes easy tips to help you protect your family.”
read full article…
Visit WesWELL’s Cold & Flu Prevention website.
Check out the online Self Care Guide for treatment suggestions.
As an alternative to cough medicine, consider honey, reports the University of California, Berkeley Wellness Letter.
A recent study from Pennsylvania State University of children (2 and older) with colds found that a teaspoon of honey at 
bedtime worked better than a cough suppressant (artificially honey-flavored) or no treatment. Never give honey to infants less than a year old, however, since it may contain botulism spores, which can be fatal to babies. Some researchers theorize that any sweet liquid preparation may help reduce coughing.
And if you drink tea, the Wellness Letter also reports that adding lemon helps preserve tea’s antioxidants, according to a study from Purdue University. Tea - particularly green tea - is rich in catechins, antioxidants linked to reduced risk of heart disease and cancer. When researchers looked at the effects of milk, citrus juices and other added ingredients on catechin levels in tea during simulated digestion, they found that lemon juice preserved nearly 80% of the catechins. Normally, these substances are fairly unstable and most break down before the body can absorb them.
From WebMD…
Even after suffering 10 days with a head cold, antibiotics won’t help your stuffy sinuses get better.
Antibiotics don’t help virus infections, the cause of most head colds. But after an adult patient has suffered stuffy sinuses for a week to 10 days, most doctors offer antibiotic treatment in case a bacterial infection has set in. Doctors may offer antibiotics even more promptly if the sinus infection is dripping thick green phlegm into the throat.
But nasty snot or not, antibiotics aren’t likely to help, find Jim Young, PhD, of University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland, and colleagues. read full article…
WesWELL offers a free online health assessment that provides you with a personalized report on a variety of aspects of health and well-being called Ping My Health. It’s completely confidential, plus offers the chance to win an iPod or $150 cash, just for participating!
Check it out here.
From WebMD…
Scientists may have found a chink in the armor of the flu virus. Their discovery may lead to new flu treatments.
Researchers today reported that in winter, even the flu virus wears a coat, and it’s a coat that helps the virus spread through the air. Tinkering with that coat might disarm the flu virus.
“Now that we understand how the flu virus protects itself so that it can spread form person to person, we can work on ways to interfere with that protective mechanism,” Duane Alexander, MD, director of the National Institute on Child Health and Human Development, says in a news release.
Here’s a quick look at the new findings on the influenza virus.
read full article…
