When dealing with West Nile virus, prevention is your best bet. Fighting mosquito bites reduces your risk of getting this disease, along with others that mosquitoes can carry. Take the common-sense steps below to reduce your risk:• avoid bites and illness• clean out the mosquitoes from the places where you work and play;• help your community control the disease.Something to ...
Rocky Mountain spotted fever, a potentially deadly tick-borne infection, is increasing throughout the country, most notably in suburban areas, according to research presented at the 45th annual meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA). In five years, reported incidence of the disease nearly tripled. Rocky Mountain spotted fever is caused by the Rickettsia rickettsii bacteria, which typically are ...
A team of dermatologists and dermatopathologists at UT Southwestern Medical Center has identified nine North Texas cases of an infectious skin disease common in South America, Mexico and in the Middle East, where it is sometimes referred to as a “Baghdad boil.” Numerous cases of the disease, called leishmaniasis, have been reported in troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. But ...
Scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)and their collaborators have for the first time successfully identified Marburg virus infection in a common species of African fruit bat (Rousettus aegyptiacus). Marburg virus causes severe, often fatal, hemorrhagic fever in people and non-human primates. Bats have been suspected of carrying the virus, but until now, evidence of Marburg virus ...
Veterinarians who work with birds are at increased risk for infection with avian influenza virus and should be among those with priority access to pandemic influenza vaccines and antivirals, according to a study conducted by researchers in the University of Iowa College of Public Health. The investigators, led by Kendall Myers, a doctoral student in occupational and environmental health, and ...
A Nevada television station reporter tested two Las Vegas homes for various kinds of disease-causing bacteria, swabbing tile floors, carpeted areas, the soles of shoes, and even the family pet’s paws. The samples were taken to the Silver State Analytical Labs and scientists there found mold, fungus and coliform found ...
BALTIMORE -- New vaccine requirements will affect anyone who is applying for an immigrant visa for entry into the U.S. and anyone seeking adjustment of status for permanent residence. Applicants must show proof of vaccinations against vaccine-preventable diseases, as recommended by the U.S. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. Passport Health, ...
As Midwest floodwaters recede and clean-up efforts get underway, the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) offers advice to help reduce the risk of infection:Nothing beats hand hygiene – It’s critical to remember to practice basic hand hygiene during the emergency period. Always wash your hands with ...
Georgia Tech associate professor Pinar Keskinocak, graduate student Faramroze Engineer and executive secretary of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the CDC Larry Pickering (left to right) display the new online tool they developed that allows parents and pediatricians to ensure that the missed vaccines and future vaccines are ...
Research shows that only 20 percent of consumers use thermometers, and a mere 30 percent are aware that they should have them in their refrigerators. Several experts addressed home-based food safety issues in “Consumers’ Refrigerators: A Danger Zone” Monday at the Institute of Food Technologists’ annual meeting and food expo ...
Bacteria and viruses are the microscopic organisms – otherwise known as germs -- that are responsible for causing and transmitting illness and disease. These microbes are so small, that according to the American Society for Microbiology, if the smallest of all microbes was the size of a baseball, an average bacterium would then be the size of the pitcher's mound, and just one of the millions of cells that make up your body would be the size of the ballpark!
