In children with autism, repetitive behaviors and gastrointestinal problems may be connected, new research has found. The study found that increased severity of other autism symptoms was also associated with more severe constipation, stomach pain and other gut difficulties. The research, which appears in the journal Autism, found no association between social and communication difficulties and gastrointestinal symptoms.     [...]

MRSA is a significant problem in the community and in hospitals.  This problem has significant connections between Nursing homes and hospitals as well as with other bacteria.   We will also cover where MRSA can be found https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3687037/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6900272/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11405862/ https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaotolaryngology/fullarticle/482358 https://www.nature.com/articles/jes201485 https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/full/10.1289/ehp.1205436 https://www.millersville.edu/athletictraining/mrsa/faq.php#MRSALifeSpanFacts The post MRSA in the Environment appeared first on Healthier Environment Living [...]

Abstract Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, people spent on average around 90% of their time indoors. Now more than ever, with work-from-home orders in place, it is crucial that we radically rethink the design and operation of buildings. Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) directly affects the comfort and well-being of occupants. When IEQ is compromised, occupants [...]

WHEN SMOKE FROM California’s deadliest wildfire blew into downtown Sacramento last November, daylight blurred into dusk and the city’s air became among the world’s most polluted. The Camp Fire has long since been extinguished, but the health effects from the tiny particulate matter in the smoke, which penetrates into the lungs and ultimately into the bloodstream, could linger for [...]

ABSTRACT We compared the abilities of Enterococcus faecium strains (three vancomycin-resistant enterococci [VRE] and five vancomycin-susceptible enterococci [VSE]) and Enterococcus faecalis strains (one VRE and 10 VSE) to survive under dry conditions. Bacterial suspensions of the strains were inoculated onto polyvinyl chloride and stored under defined conditions for up to 16 weeks. All strains survived for at least [...]

Terrorists are likely to have been inspired by the COVID-19 pandemic to launch biological attacks, a top British chemical and biological warfare expert has warned. Rogue states and terrorist cells have undoubtedly scrutinised the “devastating global impact” of coronavirus across the globe, according to Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, the former head of the UK’s chemical, biological, [...]

Drug maker Moderna announced today that it will request an emergency use authorization (EUA) from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, and the company’s CEO hinted that distribution of the vaccine could begin by Christmas. In a press release, company officials said that the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee [...]

COVID-19–related shortages of personal protective equipment and drugs continue to plague the US healthcare system, but now in the third US pandemic wave, nursing and other staffing shortages are sweeping the country. An Associated Press report found that at Hurley Medical Center in Flint, Michigan, the nurse-to-patient ratio went from its recommended 1:1 to 1:4, and Andrew Pavia, [...]

A study of 223 patients younger than 20 years hospitalized with the rare but serious COVID-19–related multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) in New York City found that black children were disproportionately affected. The population-based cohort study, published as a research letter today in JAMA Network Open, involved analysis of the medical records and lab data of all pediatric [...]

Despite case-reporting lulls over the long holiday weekend, the number of Americans hospitalized with COVID-19 continues a record-breaking rise, with no let-up in the pace of deaths. At the international level, the pandemic total today topped 63 million with weekly cases declining for the first time since September, mainly led by declines in European countries that [...]