Tag: Vaccines

Get Your Flu Shot for National Influenza Vaccination Week

This week is National Influenza Vaccination Week in the US.  Established by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2005, this week highlights the importance of continuing flu vaccination through the holidays and beyond. Vaccines against the flu are the best defense against the virus and developing flu-related complications.   The CDC holds National Influenza Vaccination Week in December as vaccinations tend to drop quickly after the end of November, leaving some vulnerable during the holiday season. Going on vacation or having relatives visiting from afar can expose people to different strains of the flu than what they […]

National Immunization Month

The last week of April was World Immunization Week, but August is National Immunization Awareness Month for the US. This is the time of year when children and teenagers are heading back to school, infants are entering preschools or day care programs, and many adults are heading into college or continuing their careers in the work force. Regardless of the situation, the need for getting vaccinated is important to be aware of year round.   According to Marvin M. Lipman, MD, Consumer Reports’ chief medical advisor, “Each year, at least 30,000 people die from complications related to vaccine-preventable diseases.” The onset […]

World Immunization Week

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 1 in 5 children are missing routine immunizations. With nearly 20% of the world’s population at risk for diseases such as measles, whooping cough, and other preventable diseases, there are close to 1.5 million deaths annually that could be averted. As part of World Immunization Week, we at NeedyMeds want to spread awareness on the importance of vaccinations and the resources available for those in need.   In a previous blog post, we shared a graph that compared the morbidity of illnesses from the years before the vaccine was developed to the year […]

Measles: Symptoms and Available Resources

Measles was declared eliminated from the United States in 2000. However, measles can still infect people when brought in from foreign visitors or unvaccinated Americans while traveling abroad. The recent outbreak at a popular vacation spot in southern California can have far-reaching effects, though these effects are easily countered with the proper medical precautions.   Measles is a virus that presents with high fever, cough, runny nose, and red/watery eyes. Two to three days after initial symptoms, tiny white spots may appear inside the mouth followed by a rash covering the face, neck, body, arms, legs, and feet appearing one […]

Five More Useful Mobile Apps

A few weeks ago we posted about Five Useful Mobile Apps that we believe could be very useful to our readers. Since then we have received some recommendations from our readers and have found five more free smartphone apps we think our readers could benefit from. There is an app here for everyone – from expecting mothers and parents of young children to patients on Medicare.  Click on the screenshots for larger images.   Clinical Tests and Procedures Have a medical procedure coming up and looking for more information? The Clinical Tests and Procedures App, released by Omesoft in January […]

About Us

Welcome to the NeedyMeds Voice! We look forward to presenting you with timely, provocative pieces on healthcare reform, patient advocacy, medication and healthcare access, and other health-related news. Our goals are to educate, enlighten, and elucidate; together, we will try to make sense of the myriad and ongoing healthcare-related changes in the U.S. today.