Flu activity is high in seven Southern states, including Georgia, according to the CDC. The state’s Department of Public Health reported that 5.31 percent of Georgia outpatient visits were reported as influenza-like illnesses during the week ending Nov. 23. That percentage has steadily climbed since the flu season began. Nancy Nydam, a Public Health spokeswoman,…
Johnecia Mason’s pregnancy was going along fine until at six months, she developed preeclampsia, a complication characterized by high blood pressure. Soon afterward, her son was born prematurely, at 26 weeks, weighing just 1 pound, 8 ounces. He died in the hospital 12 days later. “It was very hard,’’ Mason says now. “He was our…
Georgia had a spike in its rate of uninsured children between 2016 and 2018, according to a report released Wednesday. The state in 2018 had an uninsured rate among children of 8.1 percent, up from 6.7 percent two years before. Only Tennessee’s rise of 1.5 percentage points was a greater increase in the U.S. over…
The CDC on Thursday announced a big jump in the number of confirmed and probable patient cases of lung injury associated with e-cigarette product use, or vaping. Those cases now total 805, up from 530 reported just last week. The Atlanta-based health agency also said there have been 12 deaths in 10 states, including one…
Georgia’s uninsured rate rose slightly in 2018, to 13.7 percent, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Tuesday. That gives Georgia the nation’s third-highest rate of people without health insurance. The state trails only Texas and Oklahoma. Georgia had the fourth-highest percentage in 2017. The national uninsured rate also rose in 2018, from 7.9 percent of Americans,…
Alivia Linnekin, 7, has been battling acute myeloid leukemia since March. She has had several long stays at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite, where she recently had a bone marrow transplant. When a child is diagnosed with cancer or another major disease, it can be devastating to the entire family. “It has been…
Georgia has joined other states in investigating possible cases of severe respiratory illness that may be linked to vaping. Vaping is the use of e-cigarette devices, which mimic cigarettes but produce inhalable vapors instead of smoke. The devices are marketed as alternatives to smoking, but health experts say they cause problems of their own. The…
A new van that will deliver health care to Georgia children continues a trend of bringing medical services to schools. Peach State Health Plan is partnering with Kids’-Doc-On-Wheels, a pediatric organization, to run the new mobile health clinic. It will offer well-child exams, asthma and allergy monitoring, immunizations and behavioral health care, along with other…
A Georgia physician who visited migrant border facilities last month says she was alarmed by the signs of children’s stress there. Dr. Sally Goza of Fayetteville, president-elect of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said Monday that the visit by herself and other pediatricians underscored the organization’s position that the Border Patrol facilities are not a…
Let’s face it: Fireworks are fun. And they’re as much a part of the Fourth of July as the American flag. But they also can be dangerous. In 2017, eight people died and more than 12,000 people were injured badly enough to require medical treatment after fireworks-related incidents, according to the National Safety Council. And…