You have narrowed down your destinations, and you are ready to pin down a location for your much long-overdue vacation. Once you decide on a spot, everything becomes exciting up until that moment when you leave for your trip abroad. There is a flurry of packing, making sure you have your passports, medicines and more. But, there are a few things that you don’t want to forget about, and those are making sure that your vaccinations are up-to-date and finding out if you have to have any to enter the country of your choosing.

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Today, when we think about vampires, our minds conjure up images like those a la Edward from the Twilight book and movie franchise. We have romanticized the image of the vampire, which is far removed from the origins of the original vampire myth that took hold of Eastern Europe during the Great Vampire Epidemic from 1725 to 1755.

The rumors of vampires spread far and wide. Disease began taking hold of the Eastern European region, and as was the culture at the time, blamed the illnesses on supernatural causes. This was a time when knowledge of things like viruses and bacteria was relatively unknown.

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Hajj is a very personal journey for many Muslims. It is meant to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and every Muslim is meant to make the pilgrimage once in their life. Pilgrims come to pray near the holy city of Mecca. It takes place once a year. But in order to enter the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, several vaccinations are required for each person coming in. It is estimated that around 2-3 million people make the annual trip.

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As we battle a global pandemic, there is another respiratory illness that we also need to be vigilant about. Everybody knows the importance of an annual influenza vaccination. But, can the flu shot do more than help prevent you from getting the flu? A study done by the University of Miami has shown some promise in protecting against certain conditions that are associated with COVID-19.

In the study, published in the peer-reviewed publication PLoS One has found that getting your annual flu vaccine could protect you against other sicknesses that can accompany COVID-19. While it cannot prevent coronavirus, and should not be used as a replacement for the COVID-19 vaccine, this new study provides promising evidence of reduction of long-term symptoms of the virus.

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A virus is a pathogen that can cause an individual to develop an illness. A disease is a physical condition that causes the body to change its normal composition. A virus can cause a disease which in turn can cause someone to become sick.

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