Harvard Health Content API

Many pregnant women are not getting recommended shots to protect themselves and their babies against whooping cough, a new study shows. The study comes from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It includes data from New York City and 16 states for the last 4 months of 2011. In all, nearly 56% of pregnant women got the Tdap vaccine. This vaccine protects against tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis bacteria. Pertussis causes whooping cough. About 14% of the women got the shot before pregnancy. Another 10% got it during pregnancy and 31% after the birth. U.S. health officials urge all pregnant women to get the Tdap booster shot. Getting it just before or during pregnancy can pass some immunity to the infant. Vaccination after the birth for the mother and other contacts also helps to protect the baby.

Support groups that encourage people to walk may help people with clogged leg arteries, a new study suggests. The study included 194 people age 65 or older. All of them had peripheral artery disease. This is a narrowing of leg arteries. It causes pain when people walk even short distances. People in the study were randomly divided into 2 groups. One group attended weekly sessions that encouraged them to walk. This part of the study lasted 6 months. Then, for another 6 months, they got weekly phone calls from the group leader. The leader encouraged them to walk at least 5 days a week. People in the other group also went to weekly meetings on health topics. But they did not get any messages about exercise. After 12 months, 80% of those in the exercise group were able to climb a flight of stairs or walk one-quarter of a mile without help.