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Dozens sick with norovirus during monthlong Pacific cruise

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

An outbreak of highly contagious norovirus left 55 passengers and 15 crew members sick during a month-long cruise across the Pacific Ocean.

The Coral Princess, a Princess Cruises vessel, left Singapore on Oct. 17 and headed to Long Beach, Calif. After the outbreak, the healthy crew started enhanced cleaning and disinfection procedures with the ...Read more

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Idaho calls abortion 'barbaric and gruesome' in trial challenging strict ban

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

BOISE, Idaho — Physicians are expected to take the stand in Idaho’s capital on Tuesday to argue that the state’s near-total prohibition of abortion care is jeopardizing women’s health, forcing them to carry fetuses with deadly anomalies, and preventing doctors from intervening in potentially fatal medical emergencies.

Their testimony is...Read more

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The reality of RSV, who should get vaccinated

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, is something many parents know as a cause of bronchiolitis, but others may not have heard of it until recently. RSV causes infections of the lungs and respiratory tract. It's common in children, but it can also infect adults.

"A very common disease, the most common reason why a child under 5 ends up in the ...Read more

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Mayo Clinic Minute: Battling barriers to transplant surgery

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Each year, there are thousands of people waiting for a kidney or liver transplant in the U.S. Some of those transplant candidates are living with diabetes, high blood pressure or obesity, which can sometimes complicate transplant surgery.

Dr. Shennen Mao, a Mayo Clinic transplant surgeon, offers advice on preparing patients for the lifesaving ...Read more

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Cannabis-related emergency department visits up this year as Maryland begins tracking data

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

BALTIMORE — Maryland has experienced a “significant increase” in cannabis-related emergency department visits, according to the Maryland Department of Health.

The health department launched a data dashboard last week to track public health impacts of cannabis and visualize trends pre- and post-marijuana legalization in the state.

The ...Read more

Kansas was sued over delayed psych exams for defendants. Now state hospitals will expand

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Kansas will gain 30 new beds for people charged with crimes who are awaiting psychological assessments and treatment before they stand trial, and another 52 are planned.

The assessments, called competency evaluations, consider defendants’ mental health to see if they can assist in their own defense.

The long wait times for these evaluations ...Read more

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Your standing desk may not be the healthy alternative you think it is

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Standing desks became popular thanks to phrases like “sitting is the new smoking,” which highlighted the dangers of a sedentary lifestyle.

A new study, however, has found standing desks might do more harm than good, not improving heart health but actually leading to circulation problems.

The study focused on 83,000 people who wore devices ...Read more

Why do I feel better when I wake myself up instead of relying on an alarm? A neurologist explains the science of a restful night’s sleep

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com.

Why do I feel better rested when I wake myself up than I do if my alarm or another person wakes me up? – Calleigh H., age 11, Oklahoma

We’ve all experienced this: You’...Read more

Flies carry bacteria – and some of those are resistant to antibiotics. What we found in three South African hospices

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Houseflies live close to humans and domesticated animals and because they are so mobile they can easily spread bacteria that make people sick.

They carry these disease-causing agents on their body surfaces and in their gut.

Owing to their diverse habitats, ability to fly long distances and attraction to decaying organic ...Read more

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Ask the Pediatrician: RSV immunizations and new ways to protect babies

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Nearly all children get infected with respiratory syncytial virus, more commonly known as RSV, at least once by the time they are 2 years old. The virus can be dangerous for infants and some young children. In fact, RSV is the most common cause of hospitalization in infants under 1 year old. The infection can spread to the lungs and cause ...Read more

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As California taps pandemic stockpile for bird flu, officials keep close eye on spending

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California public health officials are dipping into state and federal stockpiles to equip up to 10,000 farmworkers with masks, gloves, goggles, and other safety gear as the state confirms at least 21 human cases of bird flu as of early November. It’s the latest reminder of the state’s struggle to remain prepared amid ...Read more

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Editorial: Migrant health care workers can be ensnared in modern indentured servitude

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

As Western Pennsylvania's population continues to age, and the region's workforce continues to contract, the region will need increasing numbers of caretakers, more than the region can supply.

In recent years, immigrants have emerged as a reliable way to bolster this workforce, but an ongoing National Labor Relations Board case reveals exactly...Read more

Kate Wells/Michigan Public/TNS

After Congress ended extra cash aid for families, communities tackle child poverty alone

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

If you bring a baby into the Hurley Children’s Center clinic in downtown Flint, Michigan, Mona Hanna will find you. The pediatrician, who gained national prominence for helping uncover the city’s water crisis in 2015, strode across the waiting room in her white lab coat, eyes laser-focused on the chubby baby in the lap of an unsuspecting ...Read more

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These Bay Area counties will launch mental health 'CARE' courts. Can they help solve homelessness?

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

As communities across the Bay Area continue to grapple with jarring scenes of human suffering on the street, counties in the region are rolling out new state-mandated mental health courts aimed at getting people with serious psychiatric disorders into treatment and housing.

Statewide, most counties must launch CARE courts — conceived of by ...Read more

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First US case of mpox variant reported in California

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

LOS ANGELES — The first case in the U.S. of a more severe mpox variant has been confirmed in a person who had recently traveled to East Africa and was treated in San Mateo County, the California Department of Public Health announced Saturday.

The person diagnosed with the Clade I variant is isolating at home and recovering, while people who ...Read more

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Walking pneumonia, whooping cough surge in San Diego County

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

SAN DIEGO — San Diego County’s public health department warned local doctors Friday that the region is in the midst of a significant increase in walking pneumonia cases, especially among children ages 2 to 4, echoing a national trend recently observed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And this surge has not arrived ...Read more

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Pharmacies are yanking cold medicines from shelves. So what are the options now?

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Feeling stuffy and ready to reach for NyQuil, Benadryl, or Sudafed PE?

Not so fast.

The Food and Drug Administration has proposed ending the use of oral phenylephrine, a common ingredient found in many cold and allergy medicines — and some pharmacies already are yanking the popular products off shelves.

Florida researchers have been ...Read more

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H5N1 bird flu infects 5 more humans in California, and 1 in Oregon

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

As H5N1 bird flu spreads among California dairy herds and southward-migrating birds, health officials announced Friday six more human cases of infection: five in California and one in Oregon — the state’s first.

A seventh presumptive California case is awaiting confirmation from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

All of ...Read more

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Scientists fear what's next for public health if RFK Jr. is allowed to 'go wild'

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Many scientists at the federal health agencies await the second Donald Trump administration with dread as well as uncertainty over how the president-elect will reconcile starkly different philosophies among the leaders of his team.

Trump announced Thursday he’ll nominate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be secretary of the Health and Human Services ...Read more

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Minnesota health insurers warn of 'dire' premium spikes, lost coverage in 2026

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Chief executives at Minnesota’s four largest nonprofit health insurers are warning premiums could spike and thousands of residents could lose coverage in 2026 if the state’s congressional delegation doesn’t help save enhanced federal tax credits that subsidize coverage bought through the public MNsure exchange.

The extra federal subsidies...Read more