• Medical tattoos – a growing trend

    Forget medical bracelets, a growing number of individuals with special medical needs have taken to tattooing their bodies to warn first responders about critical medical conditions; medical bracelets commonly list a person’s allergies, chronic diseases, and end-of-life wishes, but more and more people have started tattooing that information on their bodies

  • High manganese levels making air breathing dangerous in some areas

    In residential neighborhoods near manufacturing industries, a breath of air may be more hazardous than refreshing; research finds manganese concentrations higher in residential neighborhoods than industrial sites, levels vary by region

  • New repellant frightens mosquitoes to death

    Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes carry and spread diseases, including malaria, the second most deadly transmitted disease in Africa; mosquitoes zero in on their next meal – human blood — using their keen sense of smell; a new repellent would bombard the mosquitoes with so many strong odors, it would scare them away from human odors

  • U.S. drug shortages a threat to public health, patient care

    Shortages in the United States of key drugs used to fight infections represent a public health emergency and can put patients at risk; frequent anti-infective shortages can substantially alter clinical care and may lead to worse outcomes for patients

  • New disease tracking system for London Olympics

    To help track and control the spread of infectious diseases at the London Olympic Games, Canadian researchers are teaming up with British authorities to develop a new system capable of tracking diseases at both the global and local level

  • Half of U.S. jails not in national vaccination campaign

    A new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that more than half of U.S. jails are not included in the national flu vaccine campaign, despite the fact that jail and prison inmates are at increased risk of catching infectious diseases

  • Scientists urge more study of use of antimicrobial in food animals

    The FDA the other day banned the use of some antibiotics in food animals in order to preserve the effectiveness of these antibiotics in humans; the EU is set to follow suit; scientists argue, however, that the use of antibiotics in the animal populations is unlikely to be the major source of drug resistance in humans, and question policies that restrict the use of antimicrobials in animals

  • Thousands of deadly bracelets made from toxic plant recalled

    An urgent recall is underway after it was discovered that a bracelet sold in the United Kingdom was actually made from a highly toxic seed; the red and black bracelets were made with the Jequirity bean, the deadly seed from the abrus precatorious plant, which contains the toxin abrin

  • Georgia readies portable hospitals

    On Monday local health and emergency response officials from Georgia’s West Central Health District gathered to learn how to quickly set up a portable hospital in the event of an emergency

  • Thai health officials prevent outbreaks in historic floods

    Thanks to Thailand’s aggressive public health and emergency response operations, the country managed successfully to prevent disease outbreaks following record floods

  • Key to disaster preparedness is “training, training, training”

    Bonnie S. Michelman, CPP/CHPA, the director of police, security, and outside services at Massachusetts General Hospital, recently took the time to speak with Homeland Security NewsWire’s executive editor Eugene K. Chow; in their interview, Michelman highlights the recent technological security measures Massachusetts General has installed, finding the right balance between security and openness, and preventing terrorists from stealing the low-grade radioactive materials that are housed in hospitals

  • Study promises possible therapy for radiation sickness

    Studies of potential radiation therapies suggest they would be effective in humans only if administered within a few minutes or hours of radiation exposure, thus making them impractical for use in response to events involving mass casualties; the larger time window for administering a new 2-drug regimen ofeers the prospect that it could become a mainstay of the response to public health threats such as a nuclear power plant accident or nuclear terror attack

  • Ionized plasmas as cheap sterilizer in tough places

    Scientists show that ionized plasmas like those in neon lights and plasma TVs not only can sterilize water, but make it antimicrobial; these plasma devices could be life-savers in developing countries, disaster areas, or on the battlefield where sterile water for medical use is in short supply and expensive to produce

  • Jefferson County tests flu pandemic vaccination capabilities

    Local public health authorities in Jefferson County, New York are currently testing their ability to administer large quantities of flu vaccines in the event of a pandemic by offering to inoculate its residents for free

  • Mysterious incident leaves more than 20 high-schoolers sick

    Public health authorities in Texas are investigating a mysterious incident that left more than twenty people sick during a high school football game in Houston last Friday; the stadium was immediately evacuated and a Hazmat team dispatched, while a total of twenty-two students were taken to several local hospitals for treatment