Rx4Prevention

15/08/2025

We so agree with the American Medical Association: https://bit.ly/45MCNJL

08/08/2025

Welcome to Science Friday at Rx4Prevention. Let's talk today about mRNA vaccines: the ugly and the very, very good.

The mRNA vaccine has hit the headlines in the past week or so. On the downside, the Department of Health and Human Service canceled millions of federal dollars devoted to mRNA vaccine research.

But the upside is very good indeed.

Ironically, also this week, news broke that a University of Florida research team inched one step closer to developing an mRNA vaccine to fight cancer.

By using a mouse model, researchers found a way to accelerate the immune system — spurring it to respond to a tumor as if the body was fighting a virus.

That’s even better news, as a future vaccine would not be specific to any particular tumor, but could lead to wide-ranging cancer treatment.

“It could potentially be a universal way of waking up a patient’s own immune response to cancer,” said the research paper’s co-author. “And that would be profound if generalizable to human studies.”

Spurred on by this exciting discovery, the research team is fine-tuning formulations and will shift to human clinical trials as quickly as possible.

07/08/2025

07/08/2025

Rx4P's Summer 2025 meeting: learning, discussing, eating, and a wee bit of shenanigans...what a great team!

02/08/2025

This week’s Sci Fri is short. But it’s anything but sweet.

Cases of the latest Covid strain, “nimbus,” in the US are on the rise. Data from the Center for Disease Control show cases are growing in 25 states and are likely growing in 12 more.

Why the increase? As viruses mutate, natural and vaccine immunity provide less protection over time.

This week’s Sci Fri is short. But it’s anything but sweet.
Cases of the latest Covid strain, “nimbus,” in the US are on the rise. Data from the Center for Disease Control show cases are growing in 25 states and are likely growing in 12 more.

Why the increase? As viruses mutate, natural and vaccine immunity provide less protection over time.

Vaccine vigilance remains the key to containing Covid. In Iowa, full vaccination rates are woefully low – around 15 percent, according to the July 2025 report from Iowa’s HHS.

Therein lies the beauty of Rx4Prevention’s comprehensive services. Not only does the Rx4P team provide on-site vaccinations at senior centers and work sites, they offer screenings to assess immunity levels.

29/07/2025

Agreed.

29/07/2025

Meet Kyle Erkel from Rx4Prevention, shown here with his wife, Sherri.

Kyle is a proud grad of the University of Iowa College of Pharmacy, graduating six years ago.

What does Kyle like best about working with Rx4Prevention?

"The people I work with are amazing and care deeply about patient care. It’s like a family and something I cherish and enjoy."

A little known fact about Kyle: he's met three US Presidents (Carter, Bush -- the original -- and Clinton).

26/07/2025

It's Science Friday and time to say s'long to thimerosal.

Starting this fall, flu shots will no longer contain thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative used in influenza vaccine vials.

In past seasons, manufacturers added thimerosal to vaccine to prevent the growth of germs potentially caused by syringes inserted into vials. This year, however, vaccine manufacturers will provide to pharmacies such as Rx4Prevention one-dose syringes (filled with vaccine but not the preservative).

Is this change a necessary one? Efforts to remove thimerosal from childhood vaccines began as far back in 1999. Fears – unfounded yet persistent – focused on thimerosal use and the development of autism.

Numerous well-conducted studies have concluded that thimerosal in vaccines does not lead to autism. Even after the preservative was removed from almost all childhood vaccines, autism rates have continued to rise regardless.

This likely portrays a case where political biases outweigh scientific data; that said, here is the bottom line: be sure to get your flu shot.

25/07/2025

Go Jenny go! Ragbrai 2025

18/07/2025

Welcome to Sci Fri at Rx4Prevention.

With Summer 2025’s potential to be the worst tick season in years, we wonder: why do our canine friends have a vaccine for Lyme Disease, yet humans do not?

In fact, a vaccine for humans was approved in 1998. It wasn’t very widely used, and even less so when reports emerged linking it to an autoimmune arthritis. Sales tanked, and the vaccine was pulled from the market. Later research showed the vaccine did not cause arthritis.

Luckily, researchers have taken up the challenge again, although a market-ready vaccine won’t be available for at least a year or two. Several obstacles slowed its development:

1. Technology: Out of an abundance of caution, scientists needed to find a way to remove the part of the vaccine that might have caused autoimmune arthritis.

2. Economics: Given the poor financial outcome of the 1998 Lyme Disease vaccine, manufacturers are proceeding with caution. Clinical trials are expensive, and developers need to carefully assess their investment:success ratio.

3. The bacteria / illness itself: Chronic Lyme Disease remains a mystery. There is currently no diagnostic test for chronic Lyme Disease, and as such, results from clinical trials may provide ambiguous results.

4. The vaccine works differently against the bacteria, as compared with other current vaccines. This sets up a learning curve for scientists.

Until the vaccine hits the market, practice safe hiking!

11/07/2025

Happy Science Friday! Today, let's take a look at clinical trials for new vaccines.

Fresh off the lab bench, new vaccines must pass rigorous testing to make sure they are both safe and do what they’re supposed to do. The clinical trial for vaccines is segmented into four phases:

Phase 1: Small groups (20-100) of people get the trial vaccine. During this phase, researchers are carefully assessing safety, any side effects, and how well the vaccine works to trigger an immune response.

Phase 2: Next, the clinical trial expands to hundreds of participants. Researchers match recipient ages and include diverse backgrounds to identify any possible group differences.

Phase 3: Now, testing expands to thousands of people to confirm how well the vaccine works, monitor common (and less common) side effects, and collect information to support safe use in people.

Phase 4: After the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approves (or "licenses") a vaccine for public use, evaluation continues, just to ensure the new vaccine is safe and effective over time.

Our team celebrates new technology and its rigorous evaluation for safer, more effective, longer-lasting vaccines that safeguard against preventable diseases.

04/07/2025

It's Science Friday at Rx4Prevention. Today, we're exploring a new, better flu vaccine on the horizon.

Cutting-edge vaccine technology is showing great promise against influenza in seniors.

A more effective vaccine is welcomed news for the elderly, as influenza remains a deadly illness. Since October 2024, the Center for Disease Control estimates that as many as 130,000 died from flu.

The new vaccine, called mRNA-1010, was tested in a Phase 3 study in adults aged 65 and older. Results are better than standard-dose flu vaccines, providing 27.4 percent more protection.

Moderna, developer of the new vaccine, states that mRNA-1010 is developed using the same technology as the Covid vaccines.

“An mRNA-based flu vaccine has the potential advantage to more precisely match circulating strains, support rapid response in a future influenza pandemic, and pave the way for COVID-19 combination vaccines,” a scientist from Moderna reported.

Phase 3 status means that the new vaccine has advanced beyond laboratory development and initial proof of effectiveness and is currently being tested in a large group of participants, typically ranging from 300 to 3,000 individuals.