Scientific American Health & Medicine, February/March 2022
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Vaccines remain the strongest protection against severe illness and death from COVID, even as the Omicron variant runs like wildfire through the U.S. population. In fact, as Ewen Callaway reports, a booster shot of the Pfizer vaccine is holding strong against serious cases of the disease according to early reports (see “Omicron Is Likely to Weaken COVID Vaccine Protection—but Boosters Could Restore It”). Vaccines are also the best bet for protecting children and help to reduce transmission (see “The Benefits of Vaccinating Kids against COVID Far Outweigh the Risks of Myocarditis”). The take-home message is that the vaccines work and that as many of us who can get them should.
Also in this issue, reporter Natalie Healey takes a close look at one of the long-held beliefs about hearth health (see “Is There More to a Healthy-Heart Diet Than Cholesterol?”). And a growing list of successful treatments is coming out of gene therapy, as journalist Jim Daley writes (see “Four Success Stories in Gene Therapy”). As always, here’s to your health.
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