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LGBTQ youths struggle with mental health issues, survey finds

November 9, 2020 Georgia Health News

By Madeline Laguaite Riley Kirkpatrick realized he was transgender when he was a teenager. Kirkpatrick, born and raised as a female, says he was always very masculine and was often described as a “tomboy.” It was around the time of his realization — at age 14 — that he began using drugs. Drug use felt normal…

Task gets tougher for contact tracers amid rapid COVID spread

January 19, 2021 Andy Miller

With COVID-19 cases spiking, it’s basically impossible for the state’s contact tracers to reach the burgeoning number of people potentially exposed to the disease. That’s the assessment of the state agency running the program. “With new cases hovering around 10,000 daily, it is not possible to keep up with them,’’ Nancy Nydam, spokeswoman for the…

For deaf people, pandemic brings unique problems

September 30, 2020 Georgia Health News

By Madeline Laguaite When Julie Burton was growing up, she had a hard time communicating with the people and the world around her. Being born profoundly deaf posed many challenges for the young Burton. But life changed for her when she started school at the Alabama School for the Deaf (ASD) and became immersed in…

Tied in knots: Pandemic complicates wedding plans

September 1, 2020 Georgia Health News

By Madeline Laguaite Malisse Haarl got a marriage proposal during a kayaking trip on the Chattahoochee River, and she and her fiancé started planning their wedding soon after. The couple envisioned a beautiful wedding in Asheville, N.C., this October. Now, Haarl, who lives in Atlanta, and her fiancé are still planning — but this time, for a backyard…

The complicated world of contact tracing

August 2, 2020 Georgia Health News

By Madeline Laguaite Many students choose to take it easy during their summer break. But instead of spending the remaining days of her summer vacation sleeping in, Sombal Bari is on the phone for hours at a time to stop the spread of COVID-19 through her job as a contact tracer. Bari, from the southwest…

The ‘last responders’: A new normal for funeral directors

May 6, 2020 Georgia Health News

By Madeline Laguaite Billy Hendrix, a 30-year veteran of the funeral industry, thought he had seen it all. But the last few months have changed his mind. Growing up in Indiana, he spent a lot of time after school at the nearby funeral home — a 37-room, three-story mansion with a second-floor ballroom. He went so…

Volunteer mask makers do their part to fight virus

April 22, 2020 Georgia Health News

By Madeline Laguaite and Jillian Tracy When Holly Maxwell was about 10, her mother began teaching her how to sew. It was a skill that proved useful for Maxwell’s relatives. Her mother sewed for the family, and her paternal grandmother made dresses for various women in Buford, where Maxwell grew up. She recalls how as a…

Quiet but not calm in a virus ‘ghost town’

March 18, 2020 Georgia Health News

By Madeline Laguaite  Peter Dale, a restaurateur and chef born and raised in Athens, had never seen anything like it. On Monday, the streets of Athens were empty. The University of Georgia’s campus was silent. “Last week, UGA was on spring break, so it was already a quiet week. But it was extra quiet,” said Dale, owner…

From a scare in Shanghai to a quarantine in Georgia

March 4, 2020 Georgia Health News

By Jillian Tracy, Madeline Laguaite, Brittany Carter and Andi Clements Before traveling to China in late January, Holly Bik and her husband watched countless news reports and read as much as they could about the novel coronavirus, which had been detected in the country a few weeks earlier. Bik’s husband is from China. (She prefers…

‘Universal’ vaccine may be down the road, but get your flu shot in the meantime

November 11, 2019 Georgia Health News

By Madeline Laguaite University of Georgia researchers are receiving millions of federal dollars to help create a “universal” flu vaccine. But what does that term mean? And will a breakthrough vaccine persuade more Americans to get flu shots? Right now, fewer than 40 percent of adults get a flu shot. And that’s bad. During the…

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