Hispanic health in the U.S.
Hispanics are the largest racial and ethnic group. Today, there are approximately 57 million living in the U.S. Health risks associated with Hispanics vary by Hispanic subgroups, place of birth and economic status. Foreign born Hispanics are 60 percent less likely to develop cancer, high blood pressure and heart disease but more likely to develop high cholesterol. […]
H5N8 transmission concerns
H5N8 virus, a new strain of avian flu (HPAI), has been tracing an alarming path from its origination in China through South Korea, Russia, Japan, Canada, multiple countries in Europe and the central United States. Researchers believe that since its discovery in early 2014, the virus was carried from Russia to various parts of the world […]
Health literacy importance
Health literacy is a problem when health information is too difficult for people to understand. According to the National Assessment of Literacy, only 12 percent of adults have proficient health literacy. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) say health literate people should be able have an active role in their health. They should be able […]
Lyme disease infection through ticks
Lyme disease infections are close to 300,000 in the United States annually. Only around 30,000 of these infections are reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) by state health departments. Lyme disease is a common tick-borne illness that predominantly affects those living in New England, the upper Midwest, and mid-Atlantic states. Although cases of […]
Asthma awareness month resources
The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA) has set up May as National Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month as it is peak season for asthma and allergies. Approximately 25.9 million Americans have asthma or allergies in the U.S. according to the AAFA. That is about one in 14 Americans costing $56 billion annually. Asthma and allergies affect the […]
Ebola virus treatment options
The Ebola outbreak of the past year was a reminder of the lack of treatment options for people infected. According to the World Health Organization’s Ebola Response Roadmap Situation Report, as of November 2014, 15,935 Ebola cases have been reported and 5,689 deaths. No vaccines or treatments are currently available and interventions are at early stages. Although […]
Malaria transmission via mosquitoes
Malaria was eliminated during the 1950s in the United States with the help of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Yet every year, approximately 1,500 cases of malaria are reported, mainly from returning sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia travelers. According to the World Health Organization, in 2013 alone, 500,000 deaths were reported. A […]
National Infant Immunization Week kicks off April 18
National Infant Immunization Week (NIIW) has been celebrated for 21 years during the last week of April. It serves as the U.S. initiative of the World Health Organization’s World Immunization Week. With the recent measles outbreaks throughout the country, children are vulnerable from diseases that are preventable with vaccines. As seen in a Center for […]
Smallpox vaccination at testing sites
Smallpox testing site employees were evaluated by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention to determine the need to revaccinate them from the highly contagious disease. In 1980, the World Health Organization declared smallpox was completely eradicated after killing one-third of people infected. However, in 2002 the U.S. government declared smallpox a credible bio threat. The […]
H7N9 detection beyond China
Avian influenza H7N9 has not been found beyond mainland China but that does not mean it is not capable of spreading. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Emerging Infectious Diseases Volume 21, whether or not it represents a lack of spread is unclear. H7N9 is a low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) found mainly […]
Electronic cigarette use triples in teens
Electronic cigarette use triples among middle and high school students according to a press release by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). According to Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) there is also no decline in overall tobacco use from the publication’s start in 2011. The report is based on the National Youth Tobacco […]
H5 viruses in birds spread rapidly
Avian H5 viruses have spread rapidly globally according to a report by the CDC’s National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID). The first Eurasian Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) H5N8 was reported in January 2014 in countries such as South Korea, China, Japan, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Italy by December. […]