Amid this year’s large national outbreak of the West Nile virus, Georgia has not been hit especially hard so far. Still, the state Department of Public Health has reported 22 cases, including a new one in DeKalb County last week. Three people in southwest Georgia have died from the mosquito-borne disease. And the season is…
Lorri Tanner arrived at work the Friday before Memorial Day with thoughts of a long weekend on her mind, but by the time she had settled into her office at the Walton County Health Department, her plans had drastically changed. Tanner, a registered nurse and the county nurse manager, was informed of a potential case…
Georgia Health News is introducing a new feature: Doctor’s Corner. In it, we will present a Georgia physician’s general advice to consumers on medical issues. Our first Doctor’s Corner column is from Dr. Bob Wiskind, an Atlanta pediatrician and president of the Georgia chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, who writes about how influenza…
Three individuals in southwest Georgia have died from West Nile virus, state officials said Friday. The state Department of Public Health (DPH) also has identified 18 other confirmed cases of the disease in Georgia. Two people died in Dougherty County, and one died in Early County, the state said. The 21 Georgia cases join more…
Georgia has eliminated its waiting list for HIV-infected people to get government drug assistance. Eight months ago, the state had the longest wait list for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program in the nation. “The reduction of our wait list to zero is a remarkable accomplishment, especially considering where we were in 2011,” said Dr. Brenda…
Medicine for hemophilia. Screenings for breast and cervical cancer. Caring for critically ill pregnant women. Patient advocates and medical groups urged the state to sustain or boost funding for these programs and many others, as the Department of Public Health’s board held a hearing Tuesday seeking public input on possible budget cuts. No one spoke…
The city of Watkinsville is thinking about developing a “walking district’’ in its midtown area. “The concept is to create a district of walking, shopping, eating . . . instead of the typical suburban sprawl where there’s nothing but concrete,” Tedd Vaughan, who owns the land for the proposed district, said in an Athens Banner-Herald…
We all appreciate the power of small. The iPod Nano is tiny, lightweight and puts an enormous library of music all in one place. In the worlds of technology and music, this tiny device is huge. But when nanotechology — in which things are much, much smaller, at the scale of one-billionth of a meter…
Updating two Georgia Health News articles: President Obama signed a bill this week promising health benefits for U.S. Marines and families who were exposed to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune, N.C., from 1957 to 1987. The legislation hits home for me. I was a civilian worker at Camp Lejeune from the mid-1970s through 1984, and…
This year, Georgia’s three main health agencies largely escaped the state budget knife. They may not be so fortunate in 2013. Gov. Nathan Deal’s Office of Planning and Budget (OPB) has ordered state agencies to prepare a budget that will have a 3 percent reduction in spending for both the current fiscal year’s amended budget…