Three cases of a respiratory illness called enterovirus 68 have been identified in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania health authorities reported Tuesday.
The cases of the virus, known as E-68, were identified from specimens collected at a hospital in Philadelphia, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health, which is not identifying the facility.
Read more: http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/6808446-74/identified-virus-cases#ixzz3DXZlW2Qm
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English: Modified IM/IV syringe used for “plugging” heroin. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Elected officials, law enforcement officers and others proclaim there’s a heroin “epidemic” sweeping the country, and it’s taking hold in rural and suburban communities once considered unlikely places to find illicit drugs.
But nobody knows how many people have died.
Nobody knows how many have overdosed and survived.
Nobody even knows for certain where the problem is most severe.
Sam Bernardini had the Bog pretty much to himself Wednesday night.
The Scranton was packed with New Year’s Eve revelers the night before, but Bernardini rang in 2014 at home.
“Amateurs go out on New Year’s Eve,” he said, one of four patrons at the bar. Few city watering holes were open, and those that were had far more barstools than customers, suggesting that a study published by Business Insider might have merit.
The online publication ranked Scranton the “Most Hungover City in America” in a list of 25 communities where citizens were likely to be nursing sore heads and queasy stomachs Wednesday morning.
Read more: http://citizensvoice.com/news/online-publication-scranton-is-nation-s-most-hungover-city-1.1610427
The holidays offer a chance to gather with faraway family and snuggle by the tree. But according to the latest numbers from the state Department of Health, many of us have been sharing a lot more than gifts.
The number of reported flu cases soared the week before Christmas to 2,196, more than double the 933 reported one week earlier. Before Dec. 8, there had been a total of 848 cases statewide. One influenza-related death has been reported as well.
The trend in Pennsylvania is consistent with the numbers nationwide.
“It’s certainly a bigger flu season than we had during the past two years,” said Dr. Luther V. Rhodes, an infectious disease specialist at Lehigh Valley Health Network.
Read more: http://www.mcall.com/news/local/mc-early-flu-season-pa-20121228,0,5869559.story
Editor’s note: Since we are on a roll about bugs, this seems to be a good follow-up!
Updated at 1:37 p.m.) ATLANTA — U.S. health officials reported Wednesday three times the usual number of West Nile cases for this time of year and one expert called it “one of the largest” outbreaks since the virus appeared in this country in 1999.
So far, 1,118 illnesses have been reported, about half of them in Texas, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In an average year, fewer than 300 cases are reported by mid-August. There have also been 41 deaths this year.
“We’re in the midst of one of the largest West Nile outbreaks ever seen in the United States,” said Dr. Lyle Petersen, a CDC official.
Never before have so many illnesses been reported this early, said Petersen, who oversees the CDC’s mosquito-borne illness programs.
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The Center For Disease Control has released their 2009 U.S. state by state obesity rates. Not good news for many Americans.
Colorado had the lowest obesity rate at 18.6 percent. Only Washington DC had a rate below 20 percent, coming in at 19.7 per cent.
Seven states had rates over 30 per cent. Mississippi topped the chart at a whopping 34.4 percent!
Pennsylvania’s obesity rate was 29.4 percent in 2009.
To see all the charts and the article, click here:
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