Last week, a person in Louisiana was hospitalized with a severe case of H5N1 infection, a.k.a. bird flu. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), this is the first severe case reported in the United States. As NBC News reports, the CDC said the patient was likely exposed to the virus from a […]
Cases of whooping cough (pertussis) have surged all across the United States to higher than even pre-pandemic levels. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 17,500 pertussis cases have been reported in the U.S. so far in 2024, compared with only 3,962 cases for all of 2023. According to the Children’s […]
National Handwashing Awareness Week is recognized the first full week of December each year. Personal hygiene begins and ends with our hands. And though we’re taught as youngsters to wash our hands before dinner, it’s important to remember that germs don’t care what time of day it is. Clean hands prevent sickness. So it’s especially […]
Thanksgiving Day often involves family, friends, food and football, yet sometimes the cooking, eating and traveling frenzy over the holiday weekend can lead to an unexpected trip to the emergency room. “There is usually light volume on Thanksgiving Day, but post-Thanksgiving dinner is when we usually see a surge in the ER,” Dr. Poonam Desai, an […]
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday confirmed the country’s first case of H5N1 bird flu infection in a child. The good news is that the patient is reported to have experienced mild symptoms and is currently recovering from the illness. As Reuter’s reports, California’s public health department had reported the […]
The U.S. syphilis epidemic slowed dramatically last year, gonorrhea cases fell and chlamydia cases remained below prepandemic levels, according to federal data released Tuesday. As AP News reports, the numbers represented some good news about sexually transmitted diseases, which experienced some alarming increases in past years due to declining condom use, inadequate sex education, and reduced testing and treatment […]
A food poisoning outbreak tied to McDonald’s Quarter Pounders was caused by a common type of E. coli bacteria that can cause serious illness and death. As AP News reports, about 50 people have fallen ill in the McDonald’s outbreak, and one has died, with ages ranging from 13 to 88, according to the Centers for Disease Control […]
A nasal spray version of the annual flu vaccine can now be taken at home, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says. As Live Science reports, in a statement published Sept. 20, the FDA announced that it had approved the nasal spray influenza vaccine, called FluMist, for use at home. This allows people ages 18 to […]
The nation recorded one of its worst totals for child deaths from the flu this past season, coinciding with troubling drops in U.S. vaccination rates, federal health officials warned. As USA Today reports, nearly 200 children died from influenza-related complications in the 2023-24 season, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Officials announced […]
Sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month It is a time to promote healthy growth in children. Weight gain occurs when an individual’s energy intake exceeds their energy expenditure — in other words, when calories in exceed calories out. What is less well understood is the fact […]