By Amanda Gardner
HealthDay Reporter
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 18 (HealthDay News) — Could this be the flu season that wasn’t?
After the H1N1-linked drama of prior years, the low number of cases of influenza currently circulating in the United States is reassuring, experts said.
But that doesn’t mean the virus couldn’t still become the wily foe it so often is, they added.
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 11 (HealthDay News) — Keeping an eye on Internet search traffic about the flu can provide hospital emergency departments with an early warning system about potential surges in seasonal flu cases, a new study suggests.
This approach may be more effective than waiting for outdated government flu case reports, the Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers said.
THURSDAY, Jan. 5 (HealthDay News) — Giving antibiotics to pregnant women at risk of streptococcus B infection greatly reduces infection rates in newborns, according to a new study.
Use of antibiotics to prevent group B strep is common in high-income nations and should also be used in developing countries, at least until a vaccine becomes available, said study author Dr. Karen Edmond, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in England, and colleagues.
THURSDAY, Jan. 5 (HealthDay News) — More than half of U.S. jails didn’t receive any vaccine to protect inmates during the 2009-10 outbreak of H1N1 swine flu, a new study says.
Jail and prison inmates are at increased risk for exposure to infectious diseases. The steady stream of new arrivals can introduce new types of infectious diseases to facilities, and close confinement makes it easy for diseases to spread, researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention explained.
FRIDAY, December 16, 2011 (Health.com) — Louisiana health officials are warning residents not to use nonsterilized tap water in neti pots after the deaths of two people who exposed their brains to a deadly amoeba while flushing out their nasal passages.
The amoeba, Naegleria fowleri, can be found in lakes and ponds as well as in contaminated lukewarm tap water. The organism doesn’t pose a threat when ingested, but if it becomes lodged in a person’s nose it can end up in the brain and cause an infection. Read More
By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter
FRIDAY, Dec. 16 (HealthDay News) — While the alarming re-emergence in 2009 and 2010 of mosquito-borne dengue fever in the continental United States seems to have subsided, that’s no reason to believe the potentially deadly infection won’t be back, experts warn.
The outbreak of the sometimes-excruciating viral illness centered on southern Florida. Now, researchers have issued an update on the situation for one locale in particular, Key West.
By Amanda Gardner
HealthDay Reporter
WEDNESDAY, Dec. 14 (HealthDay News) — Statins, the drugs that can dramatically lower cholesterol levels, may one day also prove useful in combating serious cases of the flu.
A preliminary study in the Journal of Infectious Diseases finds that patients hospitalized with influenza were less likely to die if they were taking a statin, compared with their peers who weren’t taking one of the drugs. The effect held even after adjusting for heart disease.
By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter
MONDAY, Dec. 5 (HealthDay News) — U.S. health officials used Monday, the start of National Influenza Vaccination Week, to urge Americans to get their flu shot before the season begins in earnest.
Since the H1N1 flu pandemic of 2009, vaccination rates have increased for some people, especially pregnant women and children — the two groups hit hardest hit by the pandemic. Right now, vaccine supplies are ample, but they could start to dwindle over the next few weeks, so officials are hoping more people will get their shot before Christmas.
THURSDAY, Dec. 1 (HealthDay News) — The overlap of the cold and flu season with the holiday season can make it a challenge to stay healthy as you go to parties and get together with family and friends.
Getting a flu shot is important, but other precautions can also reduce your risk of getting sick or of spreading illness to others, according to a Ryerson University news release.
By Denise Mann
HealthDay Reporter
WEDNESDAY, Nov. 30 (HealthDay News) — As many parents can attest, a rough night may follow when their baby has been to the doctor for their first shots, due to increased fussiness or fever from the immunizations. But a new study suggests that the time of day that the shots are given may make a difference in both sleep and immune response.
Research has shown that immunizations “take hold” more strongly when an infant has a long, deep sleep afterward, which is why some parents give acetaminophen (Tylenol) proactively.
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