Category: Infectious Disease
How washing your hands protects against the flu
To protect yourself, get vaccinated to minimize your risk of getting the flu. To reduce the chance you might catch or spread the flu, wash your hands.
Salmonella cases likely linked to Costco cucumbers
If you bought English cucumbers from Costco between Aug. 18 and Sept. 10 and still have them in your refrigerator, you should toss them out, officials say.
The bacteria that live in and on us: Both friends and foes
Much like Pig Pen in the comic strip Peanuts, we actually carry around a cloud of bacteria in the air surrounding us.
Sixth case of ‘polio-like’ illness reported in Washington child.
A sixth child is reported to have paralyzing condition called acute flaccid paralysis. All cases have had sudden onset of paralysis in one or more limbs.
Meet the trillions of viruses that make up your virome
Every surface of our body – inside and out – is covered in microorganisms: bacteria, viruses, fungi and many other microscopic life forms.
Five children hospitalized with sudden onset paralysis in Washington state.
All cases are among infants and children under age six who all reportedly had symptoms of a respiratory illness in the week prior to developing symptoms of “acute flaccid paralysis.”
Salmonella outbreak linked to Issaquah Costco deli
Public Health is investigating an outbreak of salmonellosis associated with food prepared in the service deli at the Costco in Issaquah
Courts forcing states to provide costly hepatitis C treatment
Courts have ruled states cannot withhold potentially life-saving but expensive medications from Medicaid beneficiaries and prison inmates who have hepatitis C.
King County program boosts hepatic C screening and treatment
Program serving as a pilot program for Washington state.
Why Aren’t More STD Patients Getting This Proven Treatment?
Most patients with an STD get treatment only for their own infection — when they probably could get antibiotics for their partner at the same time.
Discreetly Tracking Down Sex Partners To Stop A Surge In STDs
Oregon’s Clackamas County, health officials are asking patients with an STD who their sexual partners are — and then are tracking those partners down.
Flu plane: are we really ready for a global pandemic?
The 1918 Spanish flu pandemic killed 50-100m people. A major influenza pandemic on this scale will happen again, and we’re unprepared.
E. coli infections in Washington state linked to raw milk
A Washington state child under 5 years old and resident in their 70s became ill with an E. coli infection after drinking Dungeness Valley Creamery raw milk.
Do not eat any Kellogg’s Honey Smacks cereal, warns CDC
Consumers and retailers should not to eat, serve, or sell any Honey Smacks cereal, which is linked to a Salmonella outbreak and continues to make people sick.
Increase in new HIV cases in King County among heterosexuals who inject drugs
Public health has identified a cluster of 8 people with HIV infection in north Seattle. All were living homeless and injected or used illicit drugs.