Health standards

The Top 10 foods most likely to make you sick
Some of the healthiest foods are also the most dangerous, causing most food-borne disease in the United States; the leading illness-carrying foods: leafy greens, eggs, and tuna
- Read more
Trust for America's Health calls on Senate to reform U.S. food safety
Approximately 76 million Americans — one in 4 — are sickened by food-borne diseases each year. Of these, an estimated 325,000 are hospitalized and 5,000 die. Medical costs and lost productivity due to food-borne illnesses in the United States are estimated to cost $44 billion annually
- Read more

The risks of pet-borne disease
Small mammals, birds, and reptiles may offer companionship to people in situations when dogs, cats, or larger animals are not practical or permitted — but these smaller creatures require particular care to prevent illness; beware especially of salmonella, tularemia, psittacosis, and lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus
- Read more
CDC again cautions against using rapid flu tests for H1N1 detection
RIDTs, which typically yield results in thirty minutes, can still be used to detect seasonal flu and suggested they may have value in certain settings
- Read more

Turning water fountains into infection control units
Toronto’s Farrow Partnership Architects sees future in infection-control units
- Read more
Detecting counterfeit pharmaceuticals
Researchers develop a method which quickly and cheaply identifies counterfeit drugs in the health care industry
- Read more

The state of public health and biodefense
- Read more
Mandatory automated tracing of food stuffs nears
There indications the the FDA may soon require food companies to maintain lot and batch information records electronically better to facilitate forward and backward traceability
- Read more

Hawaii H1N1 preparedness test disburses medicine
Hawaii tests emergency response to swine flu outbreak; supplies were distributed to more than 40 locations statewide in about seven hours; said incident commander for the exercise: “We consider that a great success”
- Read more
Indian Schools screen kids for flu with sensors
Indian schools deploy heat sensors to check the temperature of kids as they walk into class; if the temperature is above 100 degree Fahrenheit, parents are informed immediately
- Read more

African governments neglect tropical diseases
To appreciate the staggering scope of African governments’ indifference to the welfare of their people, consider this: There are 890 million people on the African continent; an estimated 500 million of them are suffering from neglected tropical diseases (NTDs); these debilitating and sometimes deadly diseases produce profound physical and mental deficits in children
- Read more
Government's flu season recommendations for companies
Toughing it out is not the solution; the U.S. government hopes that workers who think they may be coming down with something will stay home so as not to infect their coworkers
- Read more

Food safety moves up on Americans' agenda
The problem of food safety has been very much on the minds of Americans this summer; the government and the private sector are doing more to address the problem
- Read more
1957-58 flu pandemic can offer clues to planning for H1N1
During the 1957 pandemic, 25 percent of the U.S. population became ill, and excess mortality due to pneumonia and influenza occurred; much can be learned from looking at this previous pandemic that had similar patterns
- Read more
Novartis starts human testing of swine flu vaccine
The Swiss company began testing its swine flu vaccine in 6,000 people of all ages in Britain, Germany, and the United States; the vaccine will likely be on the market before the trial finishes
- Read more

More headlines