9 Comments

Well done! I had not read about the A-fib risk component. Lots of meaty information here.

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Quite a dissertation here! (chuckle)

I think pointing out risks with other vaccines is important. No vaccine is without risk but the same can be said about medication, herbal supplements, nutritional supplements, CAM (complementary alternative medicine) and even self care. Generally speaking, preventable diseases have higher risks than vaccines.

Still waiting to hear back about the aftermarket clinical trial from Pfizer and unblinded. ;(

Glad to see bit on hand washing, good preventative measure against Winter Vomiting Disease (Norovirus) as well. I think this is often mistaken for the "stomach flu" ( influenza is a respiratory disease). More than an inconvenience but can cause hospitalization and death. From the CDC:

900 deaths, mostly among adults aged 65 and older

109,000 hospitalizations

465,000 emergency department visits, mostly in young children

2,270,000 outpatient clinic visits annually, mostly in young children

19 to 21 million illnesses

I am mentioning this because we seemed to had a bad season last year. Currently no vaccine but some hope for one in near future. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1101245

Also, we seem to be getting closer to "universal" influenza vaccine.

https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/clinical-trial-mrna-universal-influenza-vaccine-candidate-begins

Imagine getting a 4 in 1 shot in the future but let's deal with the ones we have now.

Sorry for the long comment but fingers and brain kept going...getting off soap box now.

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This is so helpful, and I can tell you spent a lot time going down the rabbit holes and into the weeds as they say! I haven’t read a good synopsis plus granular details that actually matter like this presentation, so thanks for not just echoing the echo chamber.

So many RSV vaccine articles I’ve read are good but say nothing new. excellent point too about protecting the “littlest ones” with a firewall of older grandparents vaccinated, like the Tdap.

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I’ve been holding off, as I wanted to see post marketing surveillance, thanks for an excellent analysis.

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I've had seven COVID shots, flu shot every year, pneumonia vaccines, trap, Shingrix and more. So quite willing and at times eager to get vaccinated.

My primary and I discussed RSV and he recommended holding off until there was more in the field data as I am generally quite healthy.

This leads me to a question: Curious if you have any thoughts on the general lack of segmentation/stratification of us older folks? What I mean is that in the case of my wife and I(mid 70's), our physicians often comment that we are "young" for our age (we never tire of hearing that!). From what I read, much of the public health advice for those over 65 is aimed at those that are frail, live in congregate housing, and/or have chronic diseases (diabetes, etc.).

While we may enjoy hearing the we are "young" for our ages, we are still (and obviously) aging and likely don't have the immune system robustness we had when we were younger.

Simply stated: Does one size of CDC advice fit us all over 65?

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