TheRepublic.com - Public health News

Pascagoula council approves smoke-free ordinance

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 05:25:04 -0400

PASCAGOULA, Mississippi - Smokers will no longer be able to light up in public buildings in Pascagoula.

Especially grim encephalitis toll feared in India

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:53:02 -0400

GORAKHPUR, India - A mosquito-borne disease that preys on the young and malnourished is sweeping across poverty-riven northern India again this monsoon season in what officials worry could be the deadliest outbreak in nearly a decade.

Records sought in fungal meningitis outbreak

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:40:01 -0400

NASHVILLE, Tennessee - Three Tennessee clinics have received subpoenas for documents related to drugs from a Massachusetts specialty pharmacy linked to a fungal meningitis outbreak last year.

Oregon Editorial Rdp

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:25:51 -0400

Editorials from Oregon newspapers

Lawrence officials take aim at bed bug problem

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 05:06:32 -0400

LAWRENCE, Kansas - Lawrence officials are taking aim at a bed bug problem that's emerging at apartment complexes with new rules allowing the city to tell people how and when to exterminate the critters.

Report: US adult smoking rate dips to 18 percent

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 04:58:08 -0400

ATLANTA - Fewer U.S. adults are smoking, a new government report says.

Ukraine kids at risk from low vaccination rates

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 03:01:40 -0400

KIEV, Ukraine - When the time came to vaccinate her 4-year-old daughter, Yelena Hlushko hesitated, spooked by widespread fears in Ukraine about vaccines and by a boil her older child developed after an immunization shot. Eventually she decided to follow the government's recommendation - only to find her local health clinic was out of the vaccine.

Agency links S. Ore. smoothies, hepatitis exposure

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 17:55:29 -0400

MEDFORD, Oregon - The Jackson County health department says people who drank what an Ashland coffeehouse calls a "Radically Free" smoothie may have been exposed to hepatitis A.

Paper: CDC didn't check Legionnaires records

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 12:55:51 -0400

PITTSBURGH - Federal health officials believe a fatal outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System started in 2011, but they did not check hospital records that show Legionella bacteria appeared nearly four years earlier, a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review investigation found.

Some Charlotte area hospitals to require flu shots

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 08:29:07 -0400

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina - A company that runs four hospitals in The Charlotte area says it will require health care workers to get flu shots.

Saudi Arabia: 4 more deaths from SARS-like virus

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 04:38:03 -0400

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - Saudi Arabia says four more people have died from a new respiratory virus related to SARS, bringing the total number of deaths to 32 in the kingdom at the center of the growing crisis.

Flu cases in Ohio make huge jump over past years

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 11:14:33 -0400

DAYTON, Ohio - The number of Ohioans hospitalized with the flu since last September jumped dramatically over the previous year, but health officials say there isn't an easy explanation for the increase.

Ala. offering food safety training

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 08:01:04 -0400

OPELIKA, Alabama - The Alabama Cooperative Extension System is offering food safety training to producers who sell at farmers markets.

Paper: Legionella found repeatedly before outbreak

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 22:47:32 -0400

PITTSBURGH - Documents show the bacteria that causes Legionnaires' disease was repeatedly found at a Pittsburgh VA hospital in the five years before a fatal outbreak.

Yale doctor's mindfulness training helping smokers

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 03:05:16 -0400

NEW HAVEN, Connecticut - A Yale doctor's research into a technique called mindfulness training and how it can help smokers quit is now available as an app.

Mass. insurer ends coverage of compounded drugs

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 11:41:13 -0400

BOSTON - The second largest health insurer in Massachusetts will soon stop covering specialty medications known as compounded drugs because of cost and safety concerns.

Lawsuits filed over SC tuberculosis outbreak

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 10:29:15 -0400

GREENWOOD, South Carolina - Several lawsuits have been filed against education officials and the Department of Health and Environmental Control over a tuberculosis outbreak at a Greenwood County school.

2 sue WVU to stop smoking ban from starting July 1

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 09:34:12 -0400

MORGANTOWN, West Virginia - A student and a research assistant are suing West Virginia University to stop a campus-wide smoking ban from going into effect July 1.

KC hospital gets $200K EPA grant

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 05:07:56 -0400

KANSAS CITY, Missouri - A Kansas City hospital has been awarded a $200,000 federal grant to teach health care students about environmental hazards that can affect children in their homes.

Ala. company issues recall for beef jerky

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 19:53:33 -0400

EUFAULA, Alabama - An Alabama-based company has issued a recall for about 1,800 pounds of beef jerky, saying the products are misbranded and don't include information about an allergen.

Suit filed in New Mexico over Hepatitis A outbreak

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 18:27:09 -0400

ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico - A lawsuit has been filed in New Mexico against an Oregon company linked to a Hepatitis A outbreak.

California produce company recalls chicken salad

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 18:19:30 -0400

TRACY, California - A Northern California produce company says it's recalling its chicken salad because the product label fails to disclose one of the dressing's ingredients.

HIV drug can also protect injection drug users

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 17:01:24 -0400

ATLANTA - Doctors should consider giving a daily AIDS drug to another high risk group to help prevent infections - people who shoot heroin, methamphetamines or other injection drugs, U.S. health officials said Wednesday.

Hawaii warns of possible syphilis outbreak

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 15:38:29 -0400

KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii - Hawaii health officials are warning the public about a possible outbreak of a sexually transmitted disease on the Big Island.

Zydus recalls single lot of blood thinner warfarin

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 12:22:14 -0400

PENNINGTON, New Jersey - Zydus Pharmaceuticals is recalling a single lot of the drug warfarin after receiving a complaint that some of the tablets are too large.