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A study of more than 200,000 people by researchers found at least a 17% reduction in dementia diagnoses in the six years after the new recombinant shingles vaccination, equating to 164 or more additional days lived without dementia. The benefit was seen in both sexes but was greater in women, and the findings suggest that the recombinant shingles vaccine may have additional value in terms of protection against dementia. Shingles is a painful and serious condition afflicting many elderly people. It is caused by the Herpes zoster virus that can flare up in people who previously had chicken pox. After...

Is anyone else having trouble getting the new vaccination against shingles (Zostavax)? I started asking my doctor about it last fall when the CDC recommended it for most adults over age 60. The vaccination is expensive - - $150 to $200, but is good for several years. My pharmacy can get order one dose, but my doctor won't give me a prescription to bring to the pharmacy, where I guess I would pick up the vaccine - keep it frozen - - and then bring it to the doctor's office to get the injection. I am willing to pay for...

WEST POINT, Pa. (AP) -- There's a not-so-secret ingredient used to make Merck & Co.'s new vaccine to prevent cervical cancer: common baker's yeast. But there's nothing simple about the manufacture and marketing of Gardasil, the first cervical-cancer vaccine approved by regulators. The Whitehouse Station, N.J., pharmaceutical giant expects Gardasil to become one of its best-selling products, and the company is making big changes to ensure its launch is successful. Adding to the challenge is that Gardasil is one of three new vaccines Merck has launched this year. The others are Rotateq, designed to prevent rotavirus in children, and Zostavax...