Infectious Diseases

Children are bound to come down with the occasional sniffles, cold or other viral bugs, but with influenza, whooping cough and other illnesses affecting people ...

It’s a common scenario, especially for smokers. A cough that just doesn’t go away. Chronic bronchitis. It’s defined as a cough that persists for more than ...

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: I am 28 and healthy. I have never gotten a flu shot and have never had the flu. Do I really need a flu vaccination? My employer is recommending it for everyone, but I am hesitant. I have heard some people get sick from the actual vaccination.   ANSWER: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now recommends that everyone 6 months of age or older be vaccinated every year against influenza. Being young and healthy does not protect you against getting the flu. Even someone like you, who has not had influenza in the past, should still get an annual flu vaccine. In some cases, people may develop minor flu-like symptoms after getting the vaccine. But the flu vaccine cannot give you the flu. Influenza is a viral respiratory infection that tends to come on suddenly. The influenza virus is a systemic virus. That means it circulates throughout the body in the bloodstream. Symptoms typically include fever, aching muscles, chills, sweats, headache, feeling tired and weak, coughing and nasal congestion.

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Whooping cough, or pertussis, is making headlines, nearly all of them bad news. At least 18 children have died in recent months in what the U.S. government calls the highest infection rate in 70 years. And the problem is global, with similarly increasing rates reported overseas. While preventing the disease is in part up to medical experts, everyone can take some basic steps, such as getting vaccinated and staying home when ill, says Gregory Poland, M.D., an infectious diseases expert and advisor to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Journalists: For multimedia resources and membership, visit the Mayo Clinic News Network. Pertussis is a contagious respiratory disease that is particularly difficult for infants, young children, pregnant women and the elderly, but can affect anyone. The characteristic "whoop" occurs about two weeks after what appear to be cold symptoms. The whoop refers not to the actual barking cough, but to the intake of air after the cough. "In the U.S., well over 18,000 cases have now been documented — outbreaks larger in scope than in the last 50 or more years — and these are certainly just the tip of the iceberg," says Dr. Poland. If not recognized and treated, pertussis may provoke severe headaches, vomiting, extreme fatigue, chronic coughing for up to three months and in extreme cases broken ribs and other serious consequences. If you hear the whooping sound or experience vomiting along with these symptoms, you should seek medical help. Dr. Poland says a range of factors could be causing this year's upsurge in whooping cough — in some cases a 1,000 percent increase over two years ago.

Whooping cough (pertussis) continues to make headlines, as the U.S. government is calling the latest outbreak the highest infection rate in 70 years. There are increasing rates ...

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: My sister-in-law has chosen not to vaccinate her children. She believes they don’t need the vaccinations in the first place, and that vaccines actually do more harm than good. I know this can’t be true. What are the facts behind the safety and effectiveness of vaccinations? Isn’t it putting other kids at risk when some choose not to vaccinate?   ANSWER: Yes, you are exactly right. Not immunizing a child puts that child — as well as siblings, parents, friends and other people he or she may come in contact with — at risk. The childhood vaccines recommended in the United States have been proven safe and effective. They protect children from a variety of serious and sometimes fatal diseases, including diphtheria, measles, meningitis, polio, tetanus and whooping cough. Unless there is a valid medical contraindication, opting out of vaccines is a mistake.  The idea that vaccines are not needed because a child’s natural immunity provides enough protection is common among people who choose not to vaccinate their children. Although a natural infection may provide more complete immunity than a series of vaccinations, there’s a big price to pay. To become immune naturally, you have to get the infection first. With the infection comes the very real risk of severe and sometimes permanent complications, including hospitalization and death.

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: Is it true that adults should be vaccinated against pertussis? I thought that was a childhood disease. Hasn’t it basically been eliminated in the United States?   ANSWER: Now more than ever, it is important for everyone — including adults — to be vaccinated against pertussis. There is an effective vaccine against pertussis, also known as whooping cough. But the immunity generated by the vaccine weakens over time. When enough people in the population become susceptible to infection, an epidemic can occur. These epidemics are not as severe as was seen in the pre-vaccine era, but they still affect a lot of people.   Pertussis is a highly contagious bacterial infection that causes a severe, hacking cough. The coughing spells can be followed by a high-pitched intake of breath that sounds like a “whoop” and gives the disease its name. Coughing spasms can cause extreme fatigue and vomiting and make breathing difficult. In babies, the disease can be very serious because their airways are tiny and they may have trouble breathing in enough oxygen during coughing spells. Severe coughing spells can also generate small hemorrhages in the eyes and brain. 

                                             West Nile virus transmission cycle West Nile virus is an infection transmitted by mosquitoes. If you become infected with West Nile virus, you may not experience ...

MEDIA ADVISORY: Mayo Clinic Infectious Disease Expert Offers Tips on Avoiding Illness in Crowds Massive crowds from around the globe are converging on London during the Olympics, ...

ROCHESTER, Minn. — July 25, 2012.   Massive crowds from around the globe will mingle in London during the Olympics, and that means a world-class array of germs will mix with them. Mayo Clinic infectious diseases expert Gregory Poland, M.D., offers several tips for avoiding illness when you are around lots of people, whether at the Olympics, a professional football game, convention, arena concert or other major event. MULTIMEDIA ALERT: Video clips of Dr. Poland will be available for journalists to download on the Mayo Clinic News Network. "The big ones that we're worried about in terms of the Olympics are things that are currently epidemic in certain parts of the world, including the U.S. Those would include pertussis, measles, mumps, rubella, and of course, when you have people coming from the Southern Hemisphere, this is their influenza season," says Dr. Poland, the Mary Lowell Leary Professor of Medicine and director of the Vaccine Research Group at Mayo Clinic. Whenever you're in a venue with hundreds of thousands of people gathering, particularly from all corners of the world, you automatically run increased risk, Dr. Poland says. The people around you may not have the same immunization programs or the same standards of personal cleanliness or food safety, he adds. Besides illnesses such as pertussis, measles, mumps, colds and flu, other heightened dangers in places with large numbers of people passing through include respiratory diseases such as tuberculosis; vermin such as head lice and bedbugs; food-borne sickness such as E. coli, salmonella, hepatitis A and traveler's diarrhea; and skin conditions including athlete's foot and staph infections. Dr. Poland offers these tips for sidestepping illness: Keep your vaccines up to date: The most important ones include the MMR vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella; the seasonal flu shot; and a relatively new vaccine called Tdap, for tetanus, diphtheria and acellular pertussis. Vaccination against pertussis, also known as whooping cough, is particularly important as epidemics spring up around the United States and the world, Dr. Poland says. England and other parts of Europe have also had measles outbreaks, he says. Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and hot water or alcohol-based hand sanitizer, particularly before leaving a restroom, eating or touching your face. Wash your hands for about 20 seconds, roughly as long as it takes to sing "Happy Birthday." When visiting a public restroom, use a paper towel to turn off the faucet and open the door when leaving, to avoid recontaminating your hands with the plethora of germs on public faucets and door handles. Dine carefully: If it's not cooked well, boiled or peeled, forget it. Seek out food that requires little handling when prepared. Make sure food that is supposed to be hot is served hot and food that is supposed to be cold is served cold, and make sure dishes and utensils are clean. Wear shower shoes/pool shoes when using the shower or pool in public places. Avoid swimming pools, hot tubs or whirlpools unless you are certain they are properly maintained. It's particularly hard for consumers to tell whether a hot tub or whirlpool is sanitary, and if it is not, bacterial, skin and pulmonary infections are a danger, Dr. Poland says. Don't smoke: It raises the odds you'll get Legionnaires' disease if you're exposed to the legionella bacteria, and can also make you more susceptible to respiratory illnesses in general. Don't try on hats in stores: To minimize the risk of getting head lice, if you buy a hat, seal it in a plastic bag to carry it home, then freeze it for several days or launder it before wearing. Scout for bedbugs before taking a hotel room, and once in a room, only place your luggage on wooden surfaces or in the bathtub, not on the floor, bed, chair or couch until you determine whether bedbugs are present. Be an advocate for your health: If someone near you is obviously ill, move away if you can, or ask to be reseated. If a server's hands touch your food or the rim of your glass or cup, don't be embarrassed or hesitant about asking for a new serving or moving on and eating elsewhere.

As swimming pools become the popular hangout spot for kids during the summer months, they can also become filled with germs and may cause water-related ...

ROCHESTER, Minn. — June 18, 2012.  With the hot, muggy summer season arriving, kids will be heading to the pool to cool off. While swimming is refreshing, fun and good exercise, even chlorinated pools contain many germs that can make them ill. Mayo Clinic pediatric experts warn that many swimmers may not be aware of the water illnesses associated with pools due to the germs that can linger. VIDEO ALERT: To download broadcast quality video of this report, please register for the Mayo Clinic News Network. "A swimming pool is basically a community bathtub without the shampoo," says Thomas Boyce, M.D., pediatric infectious diseases specialist, Mayo Clinic Children's Center. "Children can still get sick in a properly chlorinated pool. Chlorine does not kill germs instantly and, in fact, does not kill cryptosporidium at all, which is a common germ that causes water-associated gastrointestinal illness." Recreational water illness outbreaks peak in summer. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 21.6 percent of Americans don't know that swimming while they have diarrhea puts other swimmers at risk for water-associated illnesses. To help keep germs from entering the water, Dr. Boyce advises parents to take young children on bathroom breaks often; change their diapers in the bathroom, not poolside; and wash a toddler's bottom with soap and water before entering the water. Swimming is a great way for kids to cool off and get exercise in the summer, however, Dr. Boyce cautions that children who swallow water while they swim can be at risk for diarrhea, viral meningitis and other illnesses. Parents can keep children safe by having their children rinse off before entering the pool, not allowing children with diarrhea to swim and teaching children not to swallow the pool water that they swim in, he says.