Can your kids be too clean? Increases in allergies suggest so. But how much dirt is too much? A pediatric allergist explains the fascinating reasons the immune system needs dirt for training.
If you’re going overseas with your little one, you can vaccinate them against measles early. But they’ll still need their regular jab when they turn one.
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Babies are normally vaccinated against measles at 12 months old. But doctors are now suggesting having the shot as early as six months might be worthwhile for youngsters traveling overseas.
You might feel terrible. But your runny nose, sore throat and aches are signs your body is fighting the flu virus. And that’s a good thing.
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The 2018-2019 flu season was less deadly than the last. But the pattern of infection was unusual, thanks to the various strains circulating and the way flu shots work over time.
Tennis player Venus Williams may have Sjögren’s syndrome but here she was, earlier this year, competing in the Miami Open.
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Joanna Groom, WEHI (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research)
The cornerstone of our adaptive immune system is the ability to remember the various infections we have encountered. Quite literally, if it doesn’t kill you, it makes your immune system stronger.
Flea, the bass player with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, suffered from chronic fatigue syndrome.
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Tonsil tissue is particularly important in the first six months of life. After this, our lymph glands take over most of the work and the tonsils are essentially out of a job.
By the time they turn one, half of Australian babies have had a course of antibiotics.
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There may be additional long-term health harms from antibiotic exposure in early life and before birth, including an increased risk of infection, obesity and asthma.
A microscopy image of Aspergillus fumigatus fungus, one of the biggest killers of patients with weak immune systems.
Mark Stappers/Kevin Mackenzie
Fungi perform a vital role in the biological cycle, but pose an increasing danger to human health – invasive fungal infections kill three times more people than malaria.
The immune system has to establish which cells belong to us and which are foreign, no mean feat.
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Director, Children’s Health and Environment Program and World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Children’s Health and Environment, The University of Queensland