Anti-vaccination activists, including the US Health and Human Services Secretary, decry the risk of vaccination. In two recently developed vaccines the emerging story is that there is risk in not being vaccinated. Analysis of large data sets shows that over the last 20 years, those vaccinated with the HPV vaccine have a lower incidence of cervical, penile and anal cancers, as they should. But they also show lower incidence of other cancers as well, such as lung, blood and nervous system cancers. The shingles vaccines seem to have protective effects against dementia, heart disease and stroke. All of thse findings suggest that broader vaccination may have public health benefit. More importantly, these may be strategies against vaccine hesitancy, as families don't remember the sourge of polio and measles, but they likely know someone with cancer or dementia. These findings could be a way to nucleate a shift in vaccine perception among evidence deniers.
HPV and Other Cancers: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1043661825002762
Shingles vaccine and dementia: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-08800-x
Shingles vaccine and cardiovascular disease: https://academic.oup.com/cid/advance-article/doi/10.1093/cid/ciaf440/8229580
Singles vaccine and cardiovascular disease: https://academic.oup.com/eurheartj/article/46/30/2991/8124786
What is Talking Biotech with Dr. Kevin Folta?
Talking Biotech is a weekly podcast that uncovers the stories, ideas and research of people at the frontier of biology and engineering.
Each episode explores how science and technology will transform agriculture, protect the environment, and feed 10 billion people by 2050.
Interviews are led by Dr. Kevin Folta, a professor of molecular biology and genomics.