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Health Authorities Closed the School in Greenville

February 20, 2016 By Angelina Stapp

Cheyenne Hicks from Greenville passed away due to flu-related complications.

BEACON TRANSCRIPT – Pending an investigation, the Washington School in Greenville will be closed until Wednesday. The health authorities close the school in Greenville after a young student passed out due to flu-related complications.

Although we are in the middle of the flu season, the symptoms experienced by most people are quite mild. You might have a runny nose, a nasty cough or a slight fever, but, with the proper care and bed rest, these symptoms shouldn’t last more than a week.

Unfortunately for some patients, influenza can prove to be quite deadly. The disease itself is not deadly, but its complications, like flu-pneumonia, can be. Although these cases are quite rare, it would seem that they don’t tend to discriminate. According to the specialists, children, senior citizens, and adults with a weakened immune system have a high risk of developing influenza complications.

This is what happened to a 13-year-old from Greenville. A couple of days ago, Cheyenne Hicks from Grenville was sent home from school after her teachers saw that the pupil was no feeling too good. Alerted by her symptoms, Cheyenne’s family rushed the little girl to the Delta Regional Medical Center.

After consulting the 13-year-old girl, the physicians from the Delta Medical Center made the decision of transferring her to the UMMC. Unfortunately, after a couple of hours, the girl passed away due to flu-related complication. According to the autopsy, Cheyenne’s early demise is due to flu-pneumonia, probably the most severe complication of influenza.

As stated before, flu pneumonia is a rare complication of the disease. This usually occurs when the viral agent manages to enter your lungs. It can also happen if the patient contracts a bacterial infection during his or hers illness. The most common symptoms associated with this rare complication are fever, chills, throbbing chest pains and sweating.

When the disease progresses, the patient might experience other symptoms such as violent coughing, accompanied by bloody or green mucus. Moreover, the patient might also notice an increased pulse and, in many cases, a blue coloring of the nails and lips. The doctors have also observed that some patients experience stomach pains.

The health authorities closed the school in Greenville after a young pupil with influenza died shortly at the hospital. As a precautionary method, Greenville’s health authorities decided to close down the school until Wednesday. Naturally, the physicians will begin to consult all the children who went into contact with the little girl.

According to the CDC, this is the first confirmed case of pediatric death in 2016, which was related to influenza.

Photo credits:www.pixabay.com

BMI could be a Misleading Health Indicator

February 8, 2016 By Angelina Stapp

There are approximately 58 million US citizens who are overweight but in good health.

BEACON TRANSCRIPT – Size cannot be admitted as being a pertinent health indicator, so was the conclusion of a recent study which focused on the link between BMI and the overall health. According to the same study, the BMI could be a misleading health indicator, which, in turn, take a toll on the tax we pay on our medical insurance.

The study in question was performed by a team of psychologists from the UCLA. Throughout this study, the scientists wanted to understand if there is indeed a correlation between the BMI and our overall health. More specifically, they wanted to see whether it is sound to evaluate the health of a patient just using the dreaded fat index.

According to the team which performed this study, there are over 58 million US citizens out there who in spite of having a high BMI, they are, in fact, in perfect health. A. Janet Tomiyama, the lead author of the paper declared that their new finding will benefit not only those who keep thinking that they are obese, based on simple number but also their financial situation as well.

The scientist and her team have discovered that higher BMIs often lead to higher health insurance bill, despite the fact that the patient is in perfect condition. According to the standard method of categorizing health groups based on the BMI, individuals who have a BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 are considered healthy and fit, and those who have a BMI between 25 and 29.9 are overweight. On the other hand, individuals who have a BMI over 30 are, from the start, considered obese.

It is no issue to having found that you have a high BMI, but, as it happens, the higher the number is, the more you have to pay for your health insurance.

In light of this revelation, many companies from around the States are beginning to review their policies regarding health indicators, while other institutions have decided to tax us for those extra kilos. For example, US’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has forwarded several policies according to which the employer will be able to raise the insurance policy by 30 percent if the employee does not meet the 18.5 to 24.9 standard.

In conclusion, the new study suggests that BMI is a misleading health indicator, due to the fact that there are many people who, according to the index are either overweight or obese, but they are in fact in perfect health. The leading author of the study urged all patients to stop considering that being overweight is equal to a death sentence.

As for the big players, the doctor and their team advises that it is in the interest of both parties to review these policies and to come up with more pertinent health indicators.

Photo credits:www.pixabay.com

Misleading Recommendation from CDC Enrages Women

February 7, 2016 By Clayton Meason

CDC recommends that all sexually active women refrain from drinking if they are not on the birth control pill.

BEACON TRANSCRIPT – Usually the CDC’s recommendation are meant to prevent a whole legion of disease. Much are them are based on common sense, if you think about it, and there’s CDC’s latest recommendation which managed to upset quite a lot of women. The misleading recommendation from CDC enrages women because the new guidelines are suspiciously thin.

Basically, the CDC’s recommendation boils down to one single sentence: no birth control pill, then no booze. That seems abrupt even for a fine institution like the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Unfortunately, there’s no fine print to this, only the fact that all fertile women, regardless of age, race or intent are to refrain from drinking if they want to get pregnant someday.

According to the CDC, there is a good reason why women shouldn’t drink alcohol. In their vision, it would seem that women who are either trying to get pregnant or are sexually active should refrain from consuming alcohol if they are not using a birth control pill. Doing otherwise will result in something called the fetal alcohol syndrome.

Fetal alcohol syndrome is another fancy term used to designate a condition that may impact the appearance of a child if his or hers mother drank heavily during the pregnancy. According to the panel of factors, it would seem that children may end up with this syndrome if their mothers were married with the bottle during pregnancy or they’ve added a little cigarette on the side.

Children born with this syndrome may have short heads, feet, and hands. Furthermore, latest research has shown that they are incapable of maintaining their balance and they have poor coordination. And as the years go by, the child will display signs of low intelligence, and will also develop sight and hearing issues.

All of these symptoms sound pretty grim indeed. But it is basically common sense to abstain from drinking and smoking during pregnancy. And then CDC comes along with the ride, telling us that it’s not even remotely ok to drink if you’re not on the pill, regardless of you intention of becoming pregnant.

Doctor Allison Rodgers, a fertility expert, working for a clinic in IIlinois explained why the misleading recommendation from the CDC enrages women. As the doctor points out, alcohol is as dangerous during pregnancy as rubella. And, in the end, it’s common sense not to sip too much wine while you are pregnant.

Moreover, the doctor also pointed out that more than half of the pregnancies out there are unplanned. And the CDC’s recommendation seems a bit awkward if we take into account the spontaneity factor and our individual decision.

It remains to be seen if the CDC comes out with any clarification regarding the newly-released guidelines.

Photo credits:www.wikipedia.org

Dole’s Packed Salads Are Linked to the Listeria Outbreak

January 30, 2016 By Jennifer Licata

7 new cases of listerioris have emerged in Canada and one person has died.

BEACON TRANSCRIPT – A recent investigation conducted by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency in collaboration with the CDC and the FDA has returned some new results regarding the recent listeria outbreak. The Canadian health agency has confirmed that Dole’s packed salads are linked to the listeria outbreak.

Canada’s Food Inspection Agency has determined that Dole Springfield is indeed responsible for the recent listeria outbreak. According to the Canadian health authorities, approximately 7 persons are hospitalized and 1 died after developing listeriosis. It would seem that all of them have consumed products from Dole Springfield.

This fact is also confirmed by the CDC and the FDA, which reported no less than 15 new cases of listeriosis all over the United States. It would seem that the infested products were made and packaged at the Dole’s plant, located in Springfield Ohio.

Thus, the Canadian Health Agency has ordered a massive recall for the salads produced at the Dole plant. According to their statements, the infested products include several varieties of salads such as Fresh Selections, Dole, Simple Truth, President’s Choice, Little Salad Bar and Marketside.

The food recall order was issued on the 22^nd of January, and the Canadian health authorities, together with the CDC and the FDA are urging all customers to return the products or to throw them away. All the infested products are marked with a unique Dole code which begins with an “A”.

Moreover, all the customers who bought any of Dole’s products mentioned above should take a couple of precaution when handling them. Here are some of CDC’s recommendations.

If the package is unopened, then we should place it in a sealable bag. We can either return to product for a refund or we can throw it away. If the product was stored in a refrigerator, then we clean shelf were the salad was kept using a bleach solution.

If we came into direct contact with the salad, we must wash our hand thoroughly using plenty of warm water and soap. Also, we must be careful to wash out all of the kitchen utensils used to prepare the salad. The best solution would be a dishwasher, but if you don’t have one, here’s what you can do.

Wash the utensils using hot water and soap and then rinse them in a special solution, prepared by mixing together one tablespoon of chlorine bleach and a gallon of water.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency, together with the CDC and the FDA has discovered that Dole’s packed salads are linked to the listeria outbreak.

Also, if you ate one of these infested salads, you should carefully monitor your condition. Listeriosis included the following symptoms: nausea, high fever, confusion, muscle ache, loss of balance, headache and a stiffness in the neck. The disease has an incubation period of 70 days. Moreover, the health agencies have discovered that the disease possesses a greater risk to pregnant women, seniors, and infants.

Photo credits:www.wikipedia.org

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