Nancy Shute, expert writer on all things parenting for US News and World Report, has just described the current salmonella outbreak as the ’scariest’ she’s ever seen.  Her fears don’t stem from the number of people sickened (491 and counting)…

Think of Salmonella infection and most people think about food.  The current outbreak of infection traced to peanut butter and last year’s tomato scare put food-borne outbreaks in the headlines but food isn’t always the source for Salmonella outbreaks.  Other…

Twenty-year-old Brazilian model Mariana Bridi da Costa has died at a hospital early Saturday morning following a long fight with Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection.  She once told friends she was “living the dream” but a series of medical complications has turned that…

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is investigating salmonella outbreaks in 42 states that may be linked but the original source of contamination is still unknown.  Problems began as early as September 3 and, thus far, 388…

Fruits and vegetables contain a substance, quercetin, that has shown promise as an anti-viral agent in multiple studies. A new study, however, has isolated the effects of quercetin on the influenza virus and the results seem to be that it’s…

Measles, mumps, and whooping cough outbreaks have been reported in the United States in recent months.  In other countries, children have become ill with the measles and polio.  All these diseases, once common to childhood, can be avoided by a…

The biotechnology research firm, Novavax, announced impressive results in a human trial of the vaccine it is developing for the H5N1, or Indonesian, strain of bird flu discovered in 2005.  This particular strain of bird flu has made 385 people…

Between January and July of this year, 131 cases of measles have been reported to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). One single outbreak in Illinois affected 30 individuals but people in 15 states and the District…

Who would have thought that mosquitoes, the scourge of many an otherwise lovely summer evening, would leave us alone if we only smelled worse?  New research says the trick to the success of DEET, a chemical often used as the…

The typical vaccination for influenza contains three strains of the influenza virus, carefully chosen to bring the greatest relief to the largest audience. One or two of those virus strains changes each year, based on year-round, worldwide collaboration on influenza…

More than two weeks after public health officials in the United States issued a warning to consumers against eating certain types of tomatoes linked to more than 800 cases of salmonella infection, the source of the tainted tomatoes remains a…

All ground beef sold in Kroger stores throughout Michigan and in Colombus and Toledo, Ohio, between May 21 and June 8 has been recalled by the grocer because of an outbreak of E. coli traced back to their stores.  The…

Travelers to Mexico and many other locations around the world are warned to beware of Montezuma’s revenge and don’t drink the water.  Doctors refer to Montezuma’s revenge as travelers’ diarrhea and it does come from drinking the water and eating…

Speaking Tuesday on behalf of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Julie Zawisza, an agency spokesperson, said the agency is getting closer to locating the source, or sources, of the Salmonella contamination in fresh tomatoes that has spread across…