The Latest On Zika: Infection In Utero May Trigger Mental Illness
The Zika virus, which is spread by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, is strongly suspected to be linked to a new wave of microcephaly cases in Brazil. Babies born with the birth defect have smaller heads and sometimes brains that aren't fully developed, which can result in life-long developmental problems. Zika is currently spreading through Central and South America and the Caribbean, and with the high volume of news about the virus, it's tough to stay up-to-date. Check out our full coverage, or read our daily recaps. Here are seven updates, opinions and developments to know about now: 1. Conf...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - February 22, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
F.D.A. Issues Zika Virus Guidelines for Blood Supply
The Food and Drug Administration is advising some blood banks to import blood from regions without an outbreak and certain at-risk donors to delay making a donation. (Source: NYT Health)
Source: NYT Health - February 17, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: CATHERINE SAINT LOUIS Tags: United States Blood Donation Centers for Disease Control and Prevention American Samoa Food and Drug Administration Transfusions Zika Virus Puerto Rico Source Type: news
The Latest On Zika: Experts Are Divided Over Genetically Modified Mosquitos
The Zika virus, which is spread by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, is strongly suspected to be linked to a new wave of microcephaly cases in Brazil. Babies born with the birth defect have smaller heads and sometimes brains that aren't fully developed, which can result in life-long developmental problems. Zika is currently spreading through Central and South America and the Caribbean, and with the high volume of news about the virus, it's tough to stay up-to-date. Check out our full coverage, or read our daily recaps. Here are four updates, opinions and developments to know about now: 1. ...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - February 16, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
The Latest On Zika: New Countries Are Added To The CDC's Watch List
On Monday the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention added four countries and territories to its growing list of places with active Zika virus transmissions, which means that the cases occurred locally, rather than in travelers returning from a place where they acquired the virus. So far, no local cases of Zika have been reported in the United States. The virus, which is spread by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, is strongly suspected to be linked to a new wave of microcephaly cases in Brazil. Babies born with the birth defect have smaller heads and brains that aren't fully developed, which can result in lif...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - February 2, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
What Pregnant Women Should Know About Zika Virus
On Monday, the World Health Organization declared a "public health emergency of international concern" due to the cluster of birth defects potentially linked to Zika virus. No one is probably more concerned about this connection than the world’s pregnant women, especially those who are living in an area where there is ongoing Zika virus transmission. While the virus’ symptoms (fever, headache, joint pain, conjunctivitis) are no cause for alarm and rarely require hospitalization, the disease is suspected of causing severe birth defects like microcephaly, when a baby is born with an abnormally small head. ...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - February 2, 2016 Category: Science Source Type: news
What you need to know about Zika virus
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Last week, the government of El Salvador gave what might be the strangest public health advice of all time: don’t get pregnant for the next two years. Officials in Colombia, Ecuador, and Jamaica have also warned women to avoid pregnancy, although only for the next several months.
The reason for these unusual recommendations? An outbreak of Zika virus, currently raging in 21 countries in the Americas and the Caribbean, as well as the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Samoa, and Cape Verde.
Until recently, Zika was an obscure virus, confined to equatorial Africa and Asia, and kn...
Source: New Harvard Health Information - February 1, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: John Ross, MD, FIDSA Tags: Children's Health Family Planning and Pregnancy Infectious diseases Prevention Safety Source Type: news
Nonfatal injury incidence and risk factors among middle school students from four Polynesian countries: the Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa, and Tonga - Denny VC, Cassese JS, Jacobsen KH.
INTRODUCTION: The burden of injuries in Pacific Island countries is understudied despite the known challenges associated with many residents having limited access to advanced medical and surgical care when they sustain a serious injury. This paper examines... (Source: SafetyLit)
Source: SafetyLit - January 23, 2016 Category: Global & Universal Tags: Age: Adolescents Source Type: news
CDC expands Zika virus alert; more countries issue pregnancy warnings
Pregnant women should not travel to Barbados, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guadeloupe, Saint Martin, Guyana, Cape Verde and Samoa because of Zika virus, the CDC said Friday. (Source: CNN.com - Health)
Source: CNN.com - Health - January 22, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
An Illustrated Guide To The Zika Outbreak
In October 2015, Brazilian health authorities notified the World Health Organization that an alarming number of Brazilian babies had been born with microcephaly, a rare, debilitating birth defect with lifelong consequences. Researchers quickly linked the spike in birth defects to the outbreak of a little-known tropical disease called Zika virus, which is transmitted by mosquito. Since its discovery in Uganda in 1947, Zika virus has popped up in different African and Asian countries, but no widespread outbreaks had occurred until 2013, when the virus infected an estimated 11 percent of the population of French Polynesi...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - January 22, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
An Illustrated Guide To The Zika Outbreak
In October 2015, Brazilian health authorities notified the World Health Organization that an alarming number of Brazilian babies had been born with microcephaly, a rare, debilitating birth defect with lifelong consequences. Researchers quickly linked the spike in birth defects to the outbreak of a little-known tropical disease called Zika virus, which is transmitted by mosquito. Since its discovery in Uganda in 1947, Zika virus has popped up in different African and Asian countries, but no widespread outbreaks had occurred until 2013, when the virus infected an estimated 11 percent of the population of French Polynesi...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - January 22, 2016 Category: Science Source Type: news
C.D.C. Issues Travel Alert for 8 More Locations Over Zika Virus
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention added eight destinations to a list of countries that pregnant women should avoid to prevent infection. (Source: NYT Health)
Source: NYT Health - January 22, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: CATHERINE SAINT LOUIS Tags: Travel Warnings Ecuador Centers for Disease Control and Prevention St Martin (Caribbean) Women and Girls Pregnancy and Childbirth Bolivia Guadeloupe Barbados Samoa Zika Virus Guyana Cape Verde Source Type: news
Facts & Figures Report: Cancer Rates Vary Widely Among Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders
By Stacy SimonA new report from the American Cancer Society details the rates of new cancer cases and the rates of cancer deaths among Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AANHPIs). The rates vary widely among this population, mostly because of significant differences in exposure to cancer risk factors. The report is published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians and also as a Special Section in Cancer Facts & Figures 2016.Asian American refers to people with origins in the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent. This group includes, but is not limited to, Asian Indians, Cambodians,...
Source: American Cancer Society :: News and Features - January 19, 2016 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: Disparities Source Type: news
Household evacuation characteristics in American Samoa during the 2009 Samoa Islands tsunami - Apatu EJ, Gregg CE, Wood NJ, Wang L.
Tsunamis represent significant threats to human life and development in coastal communities. This quantitative study examines the influence of household characteristics on evacuation actions taken by 211 respondents in American Samoa who were at their home... (Source: SafetyLit)
Source: SafetyLit - January 18, 2016 Category: Global & Universal Tags: Disaster Preparedness Source Type: news
Sugars Added to 68 Percent of Foods: Here's How to Slash It
This is the season for sweet surprises, special treats and indulgent bliss. But the amounts of added sugar year-round, on ordinary days, is staggering. Most of this added sugar is in processed foods, as food makers have learned long ago that to increase sales, just add sugar. Or high fructose corn syrup, or fruit juice concentrate, or any of the other sneaky forms of caloric sweeteners that practically act in the same way in our body. We've come to understand, over the last few decades, that caloric sweeteners not only add to overall caloric intake - leading to overweight and obesity - but also have direct effects on the r...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - December 11, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
From Healthy To Dead: How Coral Bleaching Is Devastating Our Oceans
Sometimes, when things aren't quite right with the oceans, a once-pristine, colorful reef will start to die. Corals that take thousands of years to grow, polyp-by-tiny-polyp, get a little finicky when it comes to temperature or chemical changes in the water. And in the span of just a few months, an underwater rainbow can turn a bright, ghostly white. What's striking when you see the photos is how unnatural it all seems. The phenomenon goes by the dreaded name of bleaching. It's happening now around the planet. Spurred by what scientists expect to be a strong El Nino tropical weather system, reefs are suffering fr...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - December 4, 2015 Category: Science Source Type: news