Health Headlines
More than 150 people in West Virginia exposed to measles: Health officials
KATERYNA KON/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- About 152 people across 30 counties in West Virginia have been exposed to measles, state health officials said Friday.Earlier this week, the first confirmed case of measles in the state since 2009 was identified, according to the West Virginia Department of Health (WVDH). The patient was someone who was undervaccinated and had a history of recent international travel, the department said.State health leaders said that since then, they've learned of dozens of exposed individuals including 128 West Virginia residents and 24 out-of-state contacts from four neighboring states.Of the people who were exposed, 62% don't have documentation proving they are protected against measles and are considered at risk, according to WVDH."The Bureau for Public ... Read More
What to know about the bird flu outbreak in the US after virus fragments found in milk samples
DIGICOMPHOTO/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- Public health officials are continuing to monitor as an outbreak of avian flu, also known as bird flu, continues to spread across the country.The strain, known as H5N1, has sickened several mammals this year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).Several dairy cows have been infected, resulting in milk samples showing inactive remnants of the virus, and one human case has been confirmed.Health officials say the food supply is safe and the risk to the general public is currently low.Here's the latest to know on the outbreak:What is bird flu?Avian influenza, or bird flu, is an infectious ... Read More
Teen births in US fall to record low, as overall total drops by 2%: CDC
Isabel Pavia/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- The overall number of births in the United States dropped in 2023 as teenage births reached a record low, according to new provisional federal data published early Thursday.In 2023, there were 3.59 million births recorded, a 2% decline from the 3.66 million recorded in 2022, according to the report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics.This follows what has been a general decline since the mid-2010s. Between 2015 and 2020, the number of births fell an average of 2% per year from 2015 to 2020, including a decline of 4% from 2019 to 2020.Births slightly rose, by 1%, from 2020 to 2021, and the number remained generally steady from ... Read More
USDA announces changes coming to school meals: What to know
Tetra Images/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- The nearly 30 million kids who eat meals at schools each day in the United States will soon see some changes to the food they are served.On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a series of changes to nutrition standards for school meals, including one that is a historic first.Here are three things to know about the changes coming to breakfast and lunch meals served at school:1. Added sugars will now be limited in mealsThe biggest change announced by the USDA is that, for the first time, there will be limits on added sugars in school meals.Currently, schools only have to meet weekly calorie limits, regardless of the added sugars in the foods they ... Read More
Traces of bird flu virus found in some milk and pasteurized dairy, FDA says
krisanapong detraphiphat/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- As federal agencies and state partners continue investigating outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) -- more commonly referred to as bird flu -- the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says it discovered fragments of the virus in some samples of milk.In an update from the FDA, the agency said it tested milk samples by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and found the presence of fragments of the virus, which is not the same as infectious virus and currently poses no increased risk to human health."Based on available information, pasteurization is likely to inactivate the virus, however the process is not expected to remove the presence of viral particles," the FDA said."At this point, when you ... Read More
Woman becomes first patient to undergo combined heart pump implant and pig kidney transplant
Thir Sakdi Phu Cxm / EyeEm/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- In a first-of-its-kind procedure, a terminally ill patient has become the first person in the world to undergo a gene-edited pig kidney transplant and also have a mechanical heart pump surgically implanted.Surgeons at NYU Langone Health, in New York City, performed the operation in two steps, the first being the implantation of the heart pump. The second took place days later, with the transplant of a genetically modified pig kidney and the pig's thymus gland -- which makes white blood cells to help the immune system fight disease -- to help prevent rejection.The patient is 54-year-old Lisa Pisano, from New Jersey, who was facing heart failure and end-stage kidney disease, NYU ... Read More
Possible measles exposure at Indiana children’s museum during total eclipse event, officials say
Raymond Boyd/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images(INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.) -- People who attended a total solar eclipse event at a children's museum in Indiana may have been exposed to measles, according to museum and health officials.An infected individual traveled to the event at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis on April 8 from out of state, the Marion County Public Health Department (MCPHD) said in a news release late Friday afternoon. Melissa McMasters, administrator of infectious disease and immunizations at the MCPHD, told ABC News the local county department was informed about the infected patient from the state Department of Health."Measles is one of those reportable diseases that's required to be reported by law because of the public health significance of it," she said.No ... Read More
Ground beef potentially contaminated with E. coli, USDA warns
USDA, Food Safety and Inspection Service(NEW YORK) -- A public health alert has been issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service for ground beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli bacteria.Raw ground beef produced by Greater Omaha Packing Co., Inc. on March 28, 2024, is no longer available for purchase so "a recall was not requested." Still, the government agency issued an alert last week to warn consumers and food service institutions who may have the product in their freezers."Consumers who have purchased these products are urged not to consume them and food service institutions are urged not to serve these products," the USDA alert stated. "These products should be thrown away or ... Read More
Mom of three survives stroke after giving birth, followed by car crash
Christina Aleksanian(GRANADA HILLS, Calif.) -- A mom-of-three in California is speaking out after surviving two near-death experiences in a span of six weeks.Christina Aleksanian, 36, of Granada Hills, was recovering in the hospital after giving birth to her third child, a daughter named Stephanie, when she said she felt her hand start to go numb.Aleksanian said she thought she was getting a migraine, but as she was talking to her daughter's pediatrician, who happened to be in the room at the moment, she became unresponsive."My pediatrician came in and was trying to talk to me and I don’t remember after that," Aleksanian told "Good Morning America." "My husband describes me as laying there with a very blank face."Aleksanian's husband, Gary ... Read More
New race-neutral kidney evaluation moves thousands of Black patients up transplant waitlist
Thir Sakdi Phu Cxm / EyeEm/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- Jazmin Evans is one of more than 14,000 Black kidney transplant candidates who found out that an outdated medical test may have inappropriately calculated their need for a transplant.Evans, 29, was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease in January 2012. She started dialysis and was put on the kidney transplant waitlist in 2019."I just remember feeling, like, this is never gonna happen for me," she said, speaking with ABC News.The U.S. faces a dire kidney organ shortage, meaning patients with kidney failure must meet certain criteria to be considered good candidates for a transplant.One of those considerations is a test called the "eGFR" calculation, which is a measure of a person's kidney ... Read More
ParkRx aims to provide ‘prescription for wellness’ by getting more people outside
ABC News Medical Correspondent Dr. Darien Sutton walks through Rock Creek National Park in Washington, D.C. with Walk with a Doc board member Chaun Hightower. (Paul Dougherty/ABC News)(NEW YORK) -- A community health initiative that partnered with the National Park Service has doctors writing a "prescription" for wellness by getting more people outdoors."When I look across our medical system and the ability of doctors to use all the tools that they can — our parks prescription program is probably a key to that," National Park Service Director Chuck Sams told ABC News. "Getting [people] outside into the national parks, or any park for that matter, so that they can enjoy and get through recovery, so that they can reduce their ... Read More
4-year-old who received new heart after waiting 1,025 days goes home from hospital
Texas Children's Hospital(NEW YORK) -- A 4-year-old girl was discharged from Texas Children's Hospital on Thursday after waiting on the organ transplant waiting list for 1,025 days, or nearly 3 years.The staff at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston lined the halls on April 18 to give 4-year-old Arctura, who received a donor heart on March 29, a celebratory send-off parade."I like my new heart," Arctura said ahead of her discharge, adding that she was looking forward to seeing "the ducks and the turtles" at the local park.Arctura's journey has been a long one. According to her parents and doctor, the 4-year-old was born with a congenital heart defect, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes is the most ... Read More
Trans care restrictions force some families to travel hours, spend hundreds for treatment
Flavio Coelho/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- Misty Stamm was working tirelessly to figure out the details: waking up early, the hourslong drives, booking hotels and finding doctors who could legally administer gender-affirming hormone therapy to her 16-year-old transgender daughter.Stamm is living in one of the 24 states where legislation is restricting gender-affirming health care for transgender youth, so she and parents like her must make long, expensive trips out of their home states to find the care their children need, according to a new report from the Southern Equality Research and Policy Center.“If we didn't have the care, I don't think she'd be alive,” said Stamm.Stamm, who lives in Tennessee, drove five hours to get her daughter to a gender clinic ... Read More
Couples allege IVF provider destroyed their embryos in toxic solution: Lawsuit
Carlos Duarte/Getty Images(LOS ANGELES) -- Two couples have filed lawsuits against in vitro fertilization provider Ovation Fertility alleging its clinic destroyed their embryos when a lab employee wrongly used hydrogen peroxide instead of a sterile solution in an incubator.The couples allege that the clinic still used the embryos despite knowing they were nonviable. Neither woman got pregnant.In two nearly identical lawsuits filed on Thursday against Ovation Fertility in Newport Beach, California, two unnamed couples are asserting multiple claims, including negligent misrepresentation, fraud, negligence and medical battery. The couples are not revealing their names in the lawsuits to protect their privacy, according to the suits.Embryos belonging to likely dozens of patients were destroyed by hydrogen peroxide in the latter half of ... Read MoreER visits for heat illness rose in 2023 amid record-breaking temperatures: CDC
SimpleImages/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- Heat-related emergency room visits increased in 2023 in the U.S. compared to previous years, according to new federal data.Between Jan. 1, 2023 and Dec. 31, 2023, there were a total of 119,605 ER visits for heat-related illnesses, with 92% of those visits occurring between May and September, according to a report published Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.July and August had higher than average ER visits due to heat than other warm-season months, including May, June and September, according to the report, which looked at data of ER visits caused by heat in 2023 and compared it t visits between 2018 and 2022. These findings are "consistent with record-breaking temperatures observed … in ... Read More
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