Washington State Pertussis Epidemic Highlights Importance of Vaccination

In early April, the Washington State Department of Health declared a pertussis (whooping cough) epidemic. The state has seen over 1,200 cases so far this year, and officials suspect there will be at least another few thousand cases before year’s end; levels that haven’t been seen in over 60 years. In response to the declared epidemic, the state has been working to make vaccines more accessible to uninsured patients. Additional response measures have included urging employers to encourage employee vaccination and instructing hospitals to vaccinate new parents.

Pertussis

Q&A: What are Nitrates in Food and Why Should I Worry About Them?

Question: I’ve heard that nitrates in food are dangerous and that I should avoid them. What are nitrates, why are they a problem, and what foods contain them?

Bacon

App for Physicians Also Popular with Patients

Epocrates is one of the most popular medical apps available for iPhones, iPads, Android, Blackberry, Palm, and Windows Mobile. It’s intended to help physicians access medical information — including drug dosing, reference values for vital statistics, and information about diseases — quickly and efficiently. Because the app market is glutted with medical applications, the value of Epocrates is that it combines the most important functions into a single app. In a recent press release, the Epocrates compay referred to the app as a “prescription for medical app overload”:

Mobile apps are only as valuable as they are useful. We’ve advanced the user experience of our world-class drug reference app and added a singular channel to discover, store and access reliable tools. Furthermore, this is a fresh foundation for new partner engagements and opportunities to deliver even more value-add resources to our network.

Mad Cow Risk and Reasonable Precautions

A case of so-called “mad cow disease” was found in a California dairy cow last week. The disease, known to veterinary scientists as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), is fatal, and can be transmitted from cow-to-cow or cow-to-human through the ingestion of contaminated tissue. There is no evidence BSE spreads to humans — the human form of the disorder is called Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease — through drinking milk. As such, authorities claim that the infected animal (which is being held and will be destroyed) posed no risk to humans.

Dairy cows

Gender, Age Influence Symptoms of Heart Attack

A heart attack, or myocardial infarction (MI), occurs when a portion of the heart muscle becomes oxygen-starved due to clogged blood vessels. This can damage or kill the affected portion of muscle. Depending upon the amount of muscle involved, heart attacks range from mild to life-threatening. The best predictor of whether a heart attack sufferer will survive an acute MI is their ability to identify that a heart attack is taking place and get medical help.

Woman with shoulder pain