public health
Somebody in Boston has a really big ouchie
By adamg - 2/15/12 - 3:08 pmThe Boston Public Health Commission has a new PSA seeking volunteers for its Boston Medical Reserve Corps, which helps out with large events and disasters. You don't have to have medical experience to apply.
Heartache may not be the only thing Pats fans left Indianapolis with
By adamg - 2/8/12 - 6:46 pmMassachusetts health officials notified about measles carrier at Super Bowl festivities.
Liquid nicotine in a tube now illegal for Boston teens and in the workplace and restaurants
By adamg - 12/2/11 - 9:50 amThe Boston Public Health Commission yesterday enacted regulations that prohibit the sale of e-cigarettes to anyone under 18 - and their use in the workplace. the new rules will also soon make it illegal to sell single cigars and doubles the fines for violations.
Boston Latin Academy student with meningitis dies
By adamg - 11/21/11 - 6:58 pmChannel 4 reports the seventh grader, who fell ill Friday and was hospitalized the same day with meningitis, died today.
Mayor Tom Menino and School Superintendent Carol Johnson issued statements:
"At this difficult time our hearts ache for the family and friends of this young student," said Mayor Thomas M. Menino. "We mourn her loss and join with the Boston Latin Academy in this hour of grief."
"Tonight, the entire Boston Public Schools community mourns the loss of one of our students," said Superintendent Carol R. Johnson. "We send our most sincere condolences to those who loved her. We have assembled a team of counselors who are ready to work with the Boston Latin Academy community in the difficult days ahead."
Boston Latin Academy student with meningitis not doing well
By adamg - 11/21/11 - 1:08 pmUPDATE: Channel 4 reports the girl has died.
Dr. Anita Barry on the meningitis case at BLA.
A 12-year-old Boston Latin Academy student is "very, very, seriously, critically ill" with bacterial meningitis, but poses no risk to most other students, a city public-health official says.
A school nurse recognized symptoms of the potentially fatal disease when the seventh grader came into her office Friday not feeling well and had her rushed to a local hospital, Dr. Anita Barry, director of infection control at the Boston Public Health Commission said this morning.
Boston Latin Academy student hospitalized with possible meningitis
By adamg - 11/21/11 - 1:39 amChannel 5 reports, says officials have not said which form of meningitis the seventh-grader has, but that in any case, the risk to other students is low. The school has posted a fact sheet on bacterial meningitis on its Web site.
Why H1N1 killed otherwise healthy kids
By adamg - 11/7/11 - 2:31 pmCommonHealth alerts us to a Children's Hospital study that found kids infected with MRSA seemed to be especially at risk to death by flu. In some areas, up to 9% of kids now have the antibiotic-resistant bacteria living in their noses; such kids had an eightfold risk of severe and sometimes fatal H1N1 flu infections. And this, they say, is why kids need to get flu shots.
Boston reports first flu-related death of the season
By adamg - 10/6/11 - 6:03 pmA Boston man in his 40s has died after coming down with the flu, the Boston Public Health Commission said today. The man was particularly vulnerable because of unspecified underlying health issues, the commission said.
The commission says everybody should get a flu shot and take other precautions to reduce the odds of contracting or spreading the virus, including frequent hand washing or sanitizing, staying home with flu symptoms and for at least one day after your fever breaks, covering your mouth when coughing and avoiding sick people.
Boston public-health officials move to bar sale of new nicotine delivery systems to kids
By adamg - 9/8/11 - 5:37 pmThe Boston Public Health Commission today approved draft regulations to ban the sale of "e-cgarettes" to minors, prohibit the sales of single cigars and double the fines for violating the city's tobacco-control rules.
The proposed e-cigarette regulations would cover devices that "are made of plastic and metal and heat a liquid nicotine solution in a disposable cartridge to create vapor that the smoker inhales," the board said in a statement.
There are no current laws that bar their sale to minors and already several convenience stores sell them, with more interested in pushing them, the board says. Under the proposed regulations, anybody who wants to sell e-cigarettes would require a city permit and would require the gizmos to be stored behind a counter, like cigarettes, and not sold to anyone under 18.
Fatsmackers
By adamg - 8/26/11 - 11:41 amFrom the Boston Public Health Commission's Fatsmack.org, which has lots more photos of people getting smacked in the face with blobs of fat.
