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Baby boomers should be screened for hepatitis C
by Nancy Reau, MD
While it often shows no symptoms, this infection can cause inflammation and damage to the liver over time.
In August of 2012, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) made a monumental addition to long-standing viral hepatitis screening guidelines and recommended that all individuals born between 1945 and1965– the baby boomer generation – should receive a one-time test for exposure to viral hepatitis C (HCV).
This recommendation is important because 75 percent of the four million Americans living with hepatitis C don’t know they are infected, but for a majority of people, the virus can be cured.
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Who knew? Kids’ song has dire meaning
by John Musico
In 1800’s England, the song and dance, “Ring around the rosies,” appeared. We all know it:
“Ring around the rosies,
pocket full of posies,
ashes ashes,
we all fall down.”
But what do these seemingly nonsensical lyrics mean?
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How Blossom changed history
by Anne-Phelan-Adams, MD
Dr. Edward Anthony Jenner, a country practitioner with a particular interest in small pox, scrapes some pus onto a wooden stick from the lesions on the hands of Sarah Nelmes, a milk maid who has caught cowpox from a cow named Blossom, and deliberately injects the material into the arms of eight year old James Phipps.
12 November 1749, Chestershire, England. Mary Langston Livingston packs up the few remains of her personal belongings that have not been torched and heads by coach to the family farm in Gloucestershire. The last of her four children were buried this morning. Her eldest, John, had been working in a factory in London when the epidemic broke out.
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10 steps to protect you from hospital acquired infections
by Kathleen Rokavec, MD
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 90,000 patients die each year from infections they acquire while in the hospital or other medical facility. Thousands of others require prolonged hospitalization, weeks of intravenous antibiotic therapy, and multiple surgeries – costing $50,000 to $100,000 per case. Despite these alarming numbers, progress is being made.
Following a checklist can reduce the numbers
By adopting specific standards, some hospitals have been able to significantly reduce or eliminate certain types of infections. One of the most deadly types of healthcare-acquired infection is a bloodstream infection
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The COLD truth
by John Musico
Though an age-old malady, there still persist many misconceptions about the common cold.
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We hear less about HIV. Is it no longer a threat?
by Ho-Sheng Lin, MD
HIV/AIDS is one of the most significant medical issues facing the world today. It affects every nation and impacts every human being, either personally or through indirect global effects. Although HIV infections are most common in certain areas of the world (Africa, the former Soviet Union, and Southeast Asia), over two million people continue to contract the virus each year, including thousands here in the United States. Worldwide, nearly 7,000 new HIV infections occur each day.
This article, in a “true” or “false” format, addresses important issues regarding HIV that everone should know.
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MRSA - The Not So Super-bug
by Bruce Hirsch MD, FACP
There have been many news stories about the new “super-bug.” Previously healthy teenagers and young adults have died from a germ called MRSA (pronounced MER-suh.) What is this bacterium and how does it cause disease? Is it new? How dangerous is this germ? How is it spread? What precautions should we take? How can MRSA be treated? How can MRSA be prevented? Is MRSA really a “superbug”?
What is MRSA?
MRSA is a kind of Staph germ that is resistant to standard antibiotics. MRSA stands for Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Methicillin is an older antibiotic related to Penicillin.
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