Paul Alexander, Polio Patient With Iron Lung and Positive Outlook, Dies at 78
DALLAS — Confined to an iron lung after contracting polio as a child, Paul Alexander managed to train himself to breathe on his own for part of the day, earned a law degree, wrote a book about his life, built a big following on social media and inspired people around the globe with his positive outlook. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Alexander died Monday at the age of 78 at a Dallas hospital, said Daniel Spinks, a longtime friend. He said Alexander had recently been hospitalized after being diagnosed with COVID-19 but he did not know the cause of death. Read More: To Fight COVID-19, Ford Is Plan...
Source: TIME: Health - March 14, 2024 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Jamie Stengle / AP Tags: Uncategorized News Desk overnight wire Source Type: news

A Deadly Amoeba Is Linked to Neti Pots. Here ’ s What to Know
NEW YORK — For years, scientists have known people who use neti pots can become infected with a brain-eating amoeba if they use the wrong kind of water. On Wednesday, researchers linked a second kind of deadly amoeba to nasal rinsing. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a report that for the first time connects Acanthamoeba infections to neti pots and other nasal rinsing devices. Officials also renewed their warning that extremely rare, but potentially deadly, consequences can come from flushing nasal passages with common tap water. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] “We...
Source: TIME: Health - March 13, 2024 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Mike Stobbe/AP Tags: Uncategorized healthscienceclimate wire Source Type: news

Chicago Migrant Shelter Reports Measles Outbreak
TUESDAY, March 12, 2024 -- The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has sent a team to Chicago to help contain an outbreak of measles that has sickened four.The Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) reported on Monday that two... (Source: Drugs.com - Pharma News)
Source: Drugs.com - Pharma News - March 12, 2024 Category: Pharmaceuticals Source Type: news

Measles Cases Climb to 4 at Chicago Migrant Shelter Outbreak
TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2024 -- As the number of measles cases at a migrant shelter in Chicago climbed to four on Monday, a team from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has headed to that city to help contain the outbreak.The Chicago... (Source: Drugs.com - Daily MedNews)
Source: Drugs.com - Daily MedNews - March 12, 2024 Category: General Medicine Source Type: news

Column: Republican states would rather keep poisoning children with lead than pay for a fix
Kansas Atty. Gen. Kris Kobach doesn’t seem to care about high levels of lead in children’s blood. Here are a few things we know about lead in drinking water: ◆ There is no known safe level. More than a decade ago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ceased setting minimum acceptable…#kansasatty #kriskobach #cdc #flint #mich #kriswkobach #kansas #kobach #ussenate #kansans (Source: Reuters: Health)
Source: Reuters: Health - March 12, 2024 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news

Prevalence of Self-Reported Hypertension 30 Percent in 2017 to 2021
MONDAY, March 11, 2024 -- The overall age-standardized prevalence of hypertension was about 30 percent in 2017 to 2021, according to research published in the March 7 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and... (Source: Drugs.com - Pharma News)
Source: Drugs.com - Pharma News - March 11, 2024 Category: Pharmaceuticals Source Type: news

The Isolation of Having Long COVID as Society Moves On
When Karyn Bishof started experiencing Long COVID, there wasn’t a name yet for the symptoms that lingered after her infection in March 2020. “I had these continued, prolonged symptoms that I wasn’t hearing about initially,” says Bishof, who founded a group called the COVID-19 Longhauler Advocacy Project to help advocate for those suffering with Long COVID. She experienced extreme fatigue, nausea, and insomnia, among other things, but doctors kept testing her for COVID-19, or telling her her symptoms were psychosomatic. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] March 11 marks four years s...
Source: TIME: Health - March 11, 2024 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Simmone Shah Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 feature News Desk Source Type: news

More than 100 kids have died of flu this year. Many were previously healthy
More than 100 children have died of the flu this season, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Friday. The number of pediatric deaths — 103 so far — is not a seasonal record. While kids with underlying health problems are more at risk for severe outcomes from the flu, the latest…#cdc #aliciabudd #kristinabryant #nortonhealthcare #louisville #kentucky #alexandrayonts #yont #icu #giannawehrkamp (Source: Reuters: Health)
Source: Reuters: Health - March 9, 2024 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news

Today Is Your Last Chance to Order Free COVID-19 Tests
March 8 is your last day to order free rapid COVID-19 tests, as the U.S. government prepares to suspend its at-home test program. Households in the U.S. can receive at least four rapid antigen tests, free of charge, simply by entering a name and address. The federal government has been shipping free tests since early 2022. The program was suspended for a few months in 2023, after the U.S. government stopped considering COVID-19 a public-health emergency, but was reinstated this past fall, as new variants began to spread and cause upticks in infections and hospitalizations. Now, the free testing initiative is again comin...
Source: TIME: Health - March 8, 2024 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Jamie Ducharme Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 healthscienceclimate Source Type: news

Thousands of children are landing in the ER after ingesting melatonin without supervision
Melatonin products have become increasingly popular among US adults and a new report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says about 11,000 children have landed in the emergency room in recent years after ingesting it while unsupervised. Melatonin is a hormone produced by the…#melatonin #cdc #melatoningummies #nccih #coracollettebreuner (Source: Reuters: Health)
Source: Reuters: Health - March 8, 2024 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news

Mayo Clinic Minute: Managing respiratory illness at home
The influenza season may have peaked, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it is far from over. If you or a family member has the flu or other respiratory infection, Dr. Tina Ardon, a Mayo Clinic family medicine physician, says there are ways to manage most respiratory infection symptoms at home. Watch: The Mayo Clinic Minute https://youtu.be/KFQSgUF3FDE Journalists: Broadcast-quality video (1:03) is in the downloads at the end of this post. Please… (Source: News from Mayo Clinic)
Source: News from Mayo Clinic - March 8, 2024 Category: Databases & Libraries Source Type: news

Melatonin Overdoses Are Spiking In Young Kids
More adults are using melatonin to get to sleep at night. Unfortunately, that means more young children are finding their parents’ tablets and gummies and taking them by accident. A new analysis in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, which is published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, finds that melatonin was responsible for a surprisingly large share of emergency-department visits—7%—among infants and young kids who accidentally ingested a medication from 2019 to 2022. During that time span, melatonin caused about 11,000 such incidents. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”tru...
Source: TIME: Health - March 7, 2024 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Jeffrey Kluger Tags: Uncategorized medicine Source Type: news

Popular Acne-Treatment Products Found to Contain High Levels of Carcinogenic Chemical
Hand sanitizers were tainted by benzene. Sunscreens and dry shampoos too. Now acne treatments are joining the list of widely used consumer products found to contain high levels of the chemical linked to cancer. Acne products from brands including Proactiv, Target Corp.’s Up & Up and Clinique have elevated levels of the carcinogen, an independent testing laboratory said in a petition filed with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration late Tuesday. The lab asked the FDA to recall the affected treatments—all of which contain the active ingredient benzoyl peroxide—while regulators investigate. [time-bri...
Source: TIME: Health - March 7, 2024 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Anna Edney / Bloomberg Tags: Uncategorized News Desk overnight wire Source Type: news

Is COVID-19 a Seasonal Virus Yet?
The most common respiratory viruses that cause flu, colds, and RSV tend to cluster in the fall and winter months. Though that means months of elevated risk for sickness, “cold and flu season” is a convenient time for public-health officials to remind people to get vaccinated and wash their hands more frequently. Experts had hoped that COVID-19 would follow that same pattern, but so far, that’s not the case. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] COVID-19 occurs in every season Both flu and RSV tend to plummet to near negligible levels in spring and summer before surging again in the fall ...
Source: TIME: Health - March 6, 2024 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Alice Park Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 healthscienceclimate Source Type: news

CDC: Meeting of the Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF)
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will hold a virtual public meeting of the Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF) on April 17-18, 2024. The CPSTF is charged with identifying community preventive programs, services, and policies that increase healthy longevity and improve quality of life while saving money. Agenda items include deliberation on systematic reviews of the literature on substance use, public health emergency preparedness and response, oral health, and social determinants of health. Registration is required. (Source: Federal Register updates via the Rural Assistance Center)
Source: Federal Register updates via the Rural Assistance Center - March 6, 2024 Category: Rural Health Source Type: news