Cancer and Vaccinations

Australia Day 2017, when I was recognised with an Order of Australia award, was a bitter-sweet moment, as the day before I had received my first dose of chemotherapy for potentially curable Hodgkins lymphoma. After eight months off work, I too became a ‘cancer survivor’. My treatment team didnt talk to me about vaccinations, and I suspect you may be in the same situation. In 2020 my nephew, a general practitioner, called me and said I needed to be vaccinated for shingles, pneumonia, and whooping cough, especially because of my previous cancer treatment. I started doing my own research to help me and my own patients. In Cancer and Vaccinations: Taking Control, learn: Which vaccines to have before or after your cancer treatment. What vaccines to avoid during your cancer treatment. How to reduce your chances of an unwanted infection. The common and uncommon complications after vaccination. How to avoid lymphoedema after a vaccination. All about the COVID-19 vaccines in the context of previous cancer. The risk of rare blood clots or heart inflammation after COVID-19 vaccination. How to reduce the risk of shingles, pneumonia, and whooping cough.