The growing number of children relying on portable home ventilators to breathe create their own ventilator-dependent lifestyles. But low esteem and social exclusion remain major problems. Professor Jane Noyes’ six-year study included interviews with over 100 children and parents. A third of the home ventilated children had received spinal or head injuries. The other two-thirds had congenital conditions.
University of Utah biologists invented a chemical-free, hairdryer-like device — the LouseBuster — and conducted a study showing it eradicates head lice infestations on children by exterminating the eggs or “nits” and killing enough lice to prevent them from reproducing.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today launched a national public education and awareness campaign on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), a weakening and often devastating illness for millions of Americans. The campaign, called “Get Informed. Get Diagnosed. Get Help”, is designed to increase awareness among clinicians and the public, because 80 percent of Americans afflicted with CFS illness may not know they have it.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) have been following a multi-state investigation by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) into recent illnesses caused by the bacteria Salmonella typhimurium believed to be associated with fresh produce.
It’s flu season, but it may not be the best time to schedule your child’s flu shot, according to one Penn State physician and researcher. Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center pediatrician Ian M. Paul recently studied vaccination records of two high-risk pediatric groups — infants less than age 2 years and children with asthma — and found that year-round scheduling of flu shot appointments contributes significantly to better vaccination rates.
Governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas and Pfizer Inc today announced the formation of Balance It Out: Arkansas, a new school-based community program to reduce the number of children who are overweight or at risk of becoming overweight, effectively diminishing their risk of developing chronic illness. In December 2006, the program will begin in Little Rock, AR, with a health fair for state employees designed to increase awareness of health risk factors and steps to prevent disease. Beginning in early 2007, the program will reach children and their families in the Dollarway (Pine Bluff), Harrison and Paragould school districts.
This is an update of previously posted information on a multistate outbreak of Salmonella Typhimurium caused by a unique molecular strain of this bacterium. This infection has no relationship to typhoid fever, which is caused by another bacterium. Persons infected with Salmonella Typhimurium typically have fever and diarrhea that resolve after about one week.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today announced the results of an investigation by state and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) investigators, which found consuming tomatoes in restaurants as the cause of illnesses in the Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak. To date, 21 states have reported 183 cases of illnesses to the CDC.
Chronic alcohol abuse disrupts the proteins that keep fluids out of the lung, lowers a protective antioxidant, disrupts immune defenses and can lead to a condition known as “alcoholic lung,” according to research to be presented at the conference, “Physiological Genomics and Proteomics of Lung Disease.” The findings give insight into how excessive drinking can harm the molecular life of the lung and lead to serious illness, including pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS.
As it investigates an outbreak of illnesses that may be related to Salmonella typhimurium bacteria in produce, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is reminding consumers of steps they can take to keep their food safe.