As much needed rain falls across Los Angeles and Ventura Counties and gives firefighters relief from ongoing wildfires, officials are warning crisis-weary residents of new problems in the burn scar areas: flash floods, mudslides, hazardous waste, and toxic ash runoff. NWS Issues Flood Watch for Burn Scar Areas As NPR reports, the National Weather Service […]
Amid a deluge of executive actions during only his first week in office, the Trump administration has directed federal health agencies to halt all external communications, such as regular scientific reports, updates to websites and health advisories, according to sources within the agencies. As CNN reports, the initial orders were delivered Tuesday to staff at […]
January is National Glaucoma Awareness Month. Glaucoma is a leading cause of vision loss and blindness in the United States. It is a condition in which elevated eye pressure may damage the optic nerve, which connects the eye to the brain. There are many different types of glaucoma, but the most common type in the United […]
Last week, the Food and Drug Administration set maximum levels for lead in baby foods like jarred fruits and vegetables, yogurts and dry cereal, part of an effort to cut young kids’ exposure to the toxic metal that causes developmental and neurological problems. As NBC News reports, the agency issued final guidance that it estimated could reduce […]
Earlier this month, California’s Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a State of Emergency in response to the growing threat of the Avian influenza A (H5N1), also known as “Bird Flu.” As Food & Wine reports, according to the governor’s official website, Newsom made the decision after additional cases of bird flu were found in dairy cows on […]
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 […]