Libsyn Directory

Vaccine Safety

Release Date: 05/13/2025

PodcastDX

Lung cancer is the third most common cancer in the U.S. It’s caused by harmful cells in your lungs growing unchecked. Treatments include surgery, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, radiation and targeted drugs. Screening is recommended if you’re at high risk. Advances in treatments have caused a significant decline in lung cancer deaths in recent years. Lung cancer is a disease caused by uncontrolled cell division in your . Your cells divide and make more copies of themselves as a part of their normal function. But sometimes, they get changes (mutations) that cause them to keep making...

Home Eye Safety

PodcastDX

Did you know that about half of all eye injuries happen right at home? Home activities that can injure your eyes include: Cleaning. Chemicals like bleach in household cleaning products cause 125,000 eye injuries each year. Home Improvement. Screws, nails and hand tools can launch into the air—and into your eyes. Power tools can also send wood chips or other substances flying into the air. Yard Work. Lawn mowers, trimmers and even shovels can throw dirt and debris into the air. Branches, twigs and thorns can also be dangerous. Unfortunately, only about three out of 10 people wear...

Change the Outcome with Nutrition & Exercise

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This week we discuss changing the outcome of your health with nutrition & exercise. Our guest today is Dr. James Thompson, the author of Fearless Wellness and a passionate advocate for transformational change. He completed medical training 35 years ago and has dedicated my career to empowering others to live healthier, more fulfilling lives. He experienced a life-changing event in 2012 and participated in a 2 with my church community. Though the three-week diet, equivalent to a whole food plant-based diet, was intended to emphasize prayer, the impact of the food intrigued...

Dangers of Impaired Driving

PodcastDX

This week we discuss the dangers of impaired driving. Impaired driving poses significant dangers, leading to thousands of fatalities and injuries each year due to reduced coordination, judgment, and reaction times. Definition and Causes Statistics Effects of Impairment Preventive Measures Conclusion Impaired driving is a serious public safety issue that leads to numerous preventable deaths and injuries each year. By understanding the dangers and implementing effective preventive measures, we can work towards reducing the incidence of impaired driving and...

Falls Prevention

PodcastDX

Falls are a threat to the health of older adults and can reduce their ability to remain independent. However, falls don't have to be inevitable as you age. You can reduce your chance of falling or help a loved one prevent falls. There are proven ways to reduce and prevent falls, even for older adults. We identify older adults as anyone 65 years and older. Physical changes and health conditions — and sometimes the medications used to treat those conditions — make falls more likely as you age. In fact, falls are a leading cause of injury among older adults. Still, fear of falling doesn't...

BiPolar Revisited

PodcastDX

Due to a scheduling glitch we are doing a rerun today of an episode Paris Scobie did with us earlier this year. Paris is a Mental Health Speaker, Host of the top 1% globally ranked podcast, , & Best-Selling Author of her memoir, . Paris launched Live Well Bipolar to use her lived experience to help others overcome the shame, fear and isolation that can so often accompany living with bipolar. She shares how she went from being a patient struggling from inside the walls of a psychiatric hospital newly diagnosed with bipolar to returning to work at this same hospital years later....

Working as an Autistic adult

PodcastDX

This week we discuss strategies autistic adults can use as employees. Temple Grandin PhD is our distinguished guest this week. Her website gives a great explanation of her theory on how best to prepare autistic children for a more independent life and active social integration through employment. She emphasizes that in earlier generations, (Temple grew up in the 1950s) activities such as newspaper delivery provided young people with formative work experiences. She suggests that, in the absence of such opportunities today, parents can help children build similar skills...

Bartonella

PodcastDX

Bartonella is a genus of Gram-negative bacteria. It is the only genus in the family Bartonellaceae. Facultative intracellular parasites, Bartonella species can infect healthy people, but are considered especially important as opportunistic pathogens. Bartonella species are transmitted by vectors such as fleas, sand flies, and mosquitoes. At least eight Bartonella species or subspecies are known to infect humans. Bartonella henselae is the organism responsible for cat scratch disease. History Bartonella species have been infecting humans for thousands of years, as...

Haemophilus influenzae H-Flu

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This week we are not featuring a guest, but will be discussing Haemophilus influenzae, or H. influenzae, a kind of bacteria. It can cause bacterial infections ranging from mild (such as bronchitis) to severe (such as septic arthritis). Treatment includes antibiotics but you may also require hospitalization depending on the severity of your condition. Haemophilus influenzae (H. influenzae) is a type of bacteria that can cause several different kinds of infections. These bacterial infections can range from mild, such as , to severe, such as . The infections typically affect children...

Haemophilus influenzae H-Flu

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Vaccination is one of the best ways to prevent diseases. Over the past 50 years, essential vaccines saved at least 154 million lives (1). During the same period, vaccination has reduced infant deaths by 40%. Together with governments, vaccine manufacturers, scientists and medical experts, WHO's vaccine safety program is constantly helping monitor the safety of vaccines. This helps ensure that vaccines are safe for you and your family.

In the United States, a number of safeguards are required by law to help ensure that the vaccines we receive are safe. Because vaccines are given to millions of healthy people—including children—to prevent serious diseases, they’re held to very high safety standards.

Every authorized or approved vaccine goes through safety testing, including:

Testing and evaluation of the vaccine before it’s licensed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and recommended for use by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Monitoring the vaccine’s safety after it is recommended for infants, children, or adults

Before a vaccine is ever recommended for use, it’s tested in labs. This process can take several years. FDA uses the information from these tests to decide whether to test the vaccine with people.

During a clinical trial, a vaccine is tested on people who volunteer to get vaccinated. Clinical trials usually start with 20 to 100 volunteers, but eventually include thousands of volunteers. These tests can take several years and answer important questions like:

Is the vaccine safe?
What dose (amount) works best?
How does the immune system react to it?

Throughout the process, FDA works closely with the company producing the vaccine to evaluate the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness. All safety concerns must be addressed before FDA licenses or authorizes a vaccine.

Once a vaccine is approved or authorized, it continues to be tested. The company that makes the vaccine tests batches to make sure the vaccine is:

Potent (It works like it’s supposed to)
Pure (Certain ingredients used during production have been removed)
Sterile (It doesn’t have any outside germs)

FDA reviews the results of these tests and inspects the factories where the vaccine is made. This helps make sure the vaccines meet standards for both quality and safety.

Once a vaccine is recommended for use, FDA, CDC, and other federal agencies continue to monitor its safety.

The United States has one of the most advanced systems in the world for tracking vaccine safety. Each of the systems below supplies a different type of data for researchers to analyze. Together, they help provide a full picture of vaccine safety.

Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS): VAERS is an early warning system managed by CDC and FDA that is designed to find possible vaccine safety issues. Patients, health care professionals, vaccine companies, and others can use VAERS to report side effects that happen after a patient received a vaccine. Some side effects might be related to vaccination while others might be a coincidence (happen by chance). VAERS helps track unusual or unexpected patterns of reporting that could mean there’s a possible vaccine safety issue that needs further evaluation.
The Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD): VSD is a collaboration between CDC and several health care organizations across the nation. VSD uses databases of medical records to track vaccine safety and do research in large populations. By using medical records instead of self-reports, VSD can quickly study and compare data to find out if reported side effects are linked to a vaccine.
Post-licensure Rapid Immunization Safety Monitoring System (PRISM), links to an external website, opens in a new tab: PRISM is part of the Sentinel Initiative, which is FDA’s national system for monitoring medical products after they’re licensed for use. PRISM focuses on vaccine safety—it uses a database of health insurance claims to identify and evaluate possible safety issues for licensed vaccines.
Clinical Immunization Safety Assessment Project (CISA): CISA is a collaboration between CDC and a national network of vaccine safety experts from medical research centers. CISA does clinical vaccine safety research and—at the request of providers—evaluates complex cases of possible vaccine side effects in specific patients.
Biologics Effectiveness and Safety (BEST) System: A system that uses multiple data sources and rapid queries to detect or evaluate adverse events or study specific safety questions.
Additional research and testing: The Department of Defense (DoD), the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and the Indian Health Service (IHS) have systems to monitor vaccine safety and do vaccine safety research. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy (OIDP) also support ongoing research on vaccines and vaccine safety. During emergencies, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, additional safety activities are utilized to help evaluate the data in quickly and with special populations. For example, a new smartphone tool called V-safe uses text messaging and surveys to check in with COVID-19 vaccine recipients after vaccination. (CREDITS)

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