Once upon a time, if you were unfortunate enough to get gonorrhea, it could be treated with penicillin or several other widely used antibiotics. Not only are those drugs largely ineffective in treating the sexually transmitted disease, but a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a worrisome recent increase in resistance to the drugs that still can be used to treat gonorrhea. [More]
CDC
CDC: Rio Olympics Won’t Increase Risk Of Zika Transmission
By 7.13.16
If you’re planning on traveling to Rio de Janeiro in August for the Olympics, you can worry about your team winning or whether or not you’ll catch a glimpse of a famous athlete, but the Centers for Disease Control says you probably shouldn’t be concerned about an increased risk of catching the Zika virus. [More]
U.S. Now Has Highest Death Rate For Car Crashes Among Comparable Countries
By 7.6.16
The motor vehicle death rate in the U.S. has dropped 31% since 2000, which may sound impressive until you see that these deaths dropped by an average of 56% in 19 other comparable countries during the same period of time, leaving America as the country with the highest vehicle crash death rate among these high-income nations. [More]
Ticks Are Your Enemies. Here Is How To Destroy Them With Your Dryer
By 5.27.16
If you’re going for a hike this holiday weekend to enjoy the beauty only nature can provide, there is one thing you should know: ticks are your enemies, they’re out for your blood, and it’s up to you to destroy them. [More]
Doctors Find Superbug Resistant To Last-Resort Antibiotic In Pennsylvania Woman
By 5.26.16
Welcome to the post-antibiotic world. Doctors say that a 49-year-old woman in Pennsylvania was infected with a “truly pan-drug resistant bacteria,” in other words, a bacteria that will not respond to many known antibiotics. [More]
In Denial About America’s Opioid Painkiller Problem? This Map Might Change Your Mind
By 5.26.16
If you think the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is being alarmist by urging primary care physicians to stop prescribing so many opioid painkillers, or that the fact that 10% of doctors are writing more than 50% of the prescriptions for opioids is not a concrete indicator of a problem, then perhaps this map of overdose deaths in the U.S. will help to drive the point home. [More]
Report: 30% Of Antibiotic Prescriptions Are Unnecessary
By 5.3.16
While the beef, pork, and poultry industries have been heavily criticized for using the large majority of antibiotics sold in the U.S. to fatten up their animals, that doesn’t mean that American physicians are being terribly judicious about the antimicrobials they prescribe. A new report shines a light on just how many antibiotic prescriptions are unnecessary, increasing the risk of developing drug-resistant superbugs. [More]
Dole Restarts Production At Salad Facility That Had 9-Month Listeria Outbreak
By 4.28.16
Back in January, the state of Ohio and federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention discovered and investigated Listeria contamination in salad greens that came from a Dole processing plant in Springfield, OH. The plant has been closed since January, and Dole started limited production this week, but the company announced exactly what the source of contamination was or how they were able to eradicate it. [More]
At Least 52 People Hospitalized, 13 Dead In California After Overdosing On Counterfeit Painkiller
By 4.27.16
Norco is a brand name for a prescription opioid painkiller that combines acetaminophen and hydrocodone. Unscrupulous jerks are also selling fake Norco that contains the powerful opioid fentanyl, resulting in dozens of hospitalizations and and least 13 deaths from overdoses in California, and that’s only in the last few weeks. [More]
CDC: The Dole Salad Listeria Outbreak Is Finally Over
By 4.1.16
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration, the outbreak of Listeria in bagged salad mixes is now officially over. Contaminated salads sent 19 people to the hospital, killing one patient, and made an unknown number of other people sick. How did the greens get contaminated? Was there a problem with the Ohio facility, and is it still shut down? We don’t currently know. [More]
New Warning Labels Coming To Opioid Painkillers
By 3.22.16
A week after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention called on physicians to stop prescribing opioid painkillers when less-problematic therapeutic treatments will do the trick, another federal agency is joining in the effort to alert consumers to the potential risks of using these frequently prescribed medications. [More]
Health Authorities: Raw Milk From PA Dairy Linked To Fatal Case Of Listeriosis
By 3.21.16
While you can’t just buy raw milk anywhere, there are some ways consumers can get their hands on the product, nonetheless, despite warnings from health officials that the unpasteurized product can carry dangerous bacteria. That risk proved fatal in one of two recent listeriosis cases that health authorities say are linked to a Pennsylvania dairy. [More]
CDC Urges Primary Care Physicians To Stop Over-Prescribing Painkillers
By 3.16.16
Physicians in the U.S. write more than 250 million prescriptions a year for opioid painkillers — and that’s not including all the painkiller prescriptions written for patients with cancer or acute/chronic pain. That’s enough for every adult in the U.S. to have their own bottle of pills. Meanwhile, every day more than 40 Americans die after overdosing on opioids. That’s why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is urging primary care physicians — who prescribe about half of all opioids — to rethink how generous they are with their prescriptions. [More]
CDC: Americans Are Eating Too Much Sodium And Food Companies Are Partly To Blame
By 1.8.16
Even if you’re not pouring mountains of salt over everything you eat, you still might be consuming more sodium than the recommended 2,300 milligrams per day. It’s easy to see why, the Centers for Disease Control says, when food companies and restaurants are pouring salt into their products. [More]
Costco Chicken Salad E. Coli Outbreak Found In 7 States So Far
By 11.25.15
When last we discussed the recently announced outbreak of E. Coli illnesses tied to chicken salad sold at Costco, the sick customers had been limited to four states — Washington, Colorado, Utah, and Montana. Last night, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed that the outbreak is more widespread, sickening Costco customers on both coasts. [More]
Costco Pulls Chicken Salad In Western States Over E. Coli Concerns
By 11.24.15
After linking a number of cases of E. coli poisoning back to chicken salad bought at Costco, the warehouse chain has pulled the product from its shelves in the western portion of the U.S. [More]
The CDC Redesigned Its Database For Looking Up Foodborne Illness Outbreaks
By 10.20.15
The question of who is in charge of a given foodborne outbreak can become complicated in the United States: responsibility for testing and recalling different food types and for tracing infectious diseases is split between three federal government and numerous state and local government agencies. Yet there is one great tool that the infectious disease experts over at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have given us: The FOOD database. [More]
Sketchy 10% Of Doctors Are Writing More Than 50% Of Painkiller Prescriptions
By 10.16.15
While most doctors try to honor their oath to do no harm, some physicians just want to be paid (or are really, really, just horrible at their jobs). Take, for example, the 1-in-10 doctors responsible for writing the majority of painkiller prescriptions. [More]
