Four students were diagnosed with MRSA infection at Westford Academy. Even though the bacteria is common, it can cause dangerous infections if it manages to get into the cut skin.  School officials decided to disinfect the school to be sure that nobody is in danger. The first case was found on October, 5.

Bill Olsen, the manager of Westford  Academy, said the school is following the guidelines from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. They also took into consideration advice from the  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This is not the first time when a MRSA case is found at Westford Academy.  There could  be an issue as they are using the same disinfectant as they did in the past. We do not how efficient the clean solution it was having in mind that the infection is back.

The officials said they will not cancel school because they do not have any reason to make this decision. It seems that as long as students are on antibiotics and have their wounds protected, nothing wrong could happen.

Bill Olsen explained that they are going to focus on the locker rooms and the gym because three of the four students who got infected were part of the football team. They also asked the parents to clean their childrens’ towel, gym clothes and bags to make sure they will not get the infection.

School  officials do not know where the virus came from. There could have been from any student, even from someone who is not involved in the Westford Academy community.

It seems that the disinfection of the school began yesterday night. On October 6, the Westford Academy has a planned curriculum night. It was the perfect time to clean the place because there were no students around. However, we are expecting more measures to be taken if the situation will get worse.

MRSA infection is caused by a bacteria that has become resistant to many antibiotics. The good news is that there are still antibiotics able to fight the disease.  To prevent the infection, the first thing you have to do is wash your hands. Moreover, keep your person things private, especially your towels. Another advice would be to cover your wounds because they are the most vulnerable places to MRSA infection.

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It seems that social security numbers will be removed from Medicare cards by April 2019. The decision was taken by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. However, the providers will need some years to keep up with the changes. SSN will be replaced by Medicare Beneficiary Identifiers.

At the moment, there are almost 60 million people who have Medicare cards with Social Security Number. CMS promised to their best in teaching providers and patients about the benefits of the new system.  People are expecting more details about how this change will be done and what impact it will have for the patients.

The new MBIs will be available from April 2018 for all living and deceased Medicare beneficiaries. CMS is hoping that they will have the information systems needed to start the process. The MBIs will be distributed until the end of 2019. Until then, all Medicare patients should have the new cards. CMS will also have a transition period of 20 months. After that moment, they will no longer accept the older cards.

Providers have a lot on their minds at the moment. They need to find the best solutions for the changes that will come. First of all, they will have to change the coding information in their systems. Moreover, they will also have to explain their patients about the new electronic cards. There will be cases when people will come with older cards because they did not know about the new ones.

People will have a lot of questions regarding this matter. They will want to know how much time they will have to wait for the new cards and how much money it will cost. Providers also need to make sure that their patients’ medical care will remain the same or be even better after MBIs will replace the SSN.

The new Medicare Beneficiary Identifier will have alphanumeric characters and it will be 11 digits long. Even though there will be some major changes in the system, CSM is really hoping that Medicare patients will not be affected by the new cards. It seems that we have to say “goodbye” to Social Security Number. How much do you think the health industry will be changed after MBIs will be introduced?

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Exploding E-cigarettes were not believed to be a  common thing, but it seems that the situation has changed. Elisha G. Brownson, M.D., a burn, and trauma physician, confirmed that between October 2015 and June 2016 she treated  15 patients who had injuries due to e-cigarettes. It seems that these devices are not dangerous just for having unhealthy chemicals, but they are also able to explode while we use them.

To understand better the situation, we need to see how things developed regarding exploding e-cigarettes cases. From January 2009 to  August 2014, there were 25 cases reported, in the United States. According to the Food and Drug Administration, there were only four reports reported between 2006 and 2013.

Doctors think  there are more cases, but media does not know about them. For example, Dr. Brownson said that at her hospital there are at least two patients every month who need to be treated because of exploding e-cigarettes.

These injuries are more dangerous than we could think. We are talking about burns to the face and hands. There are cases when patients need to have surgery and after that talk to psychologists because chemical burns can change your life forever.

Why are the e-cigarettes exploding? It happens mostly when the battery fails. Every e-cigarette has a tube where the air is able to flow. When battery stops working, that tube becomes the best way for combustion products to come out. This is when the device breaks and the explosion is taking place.

However, there are people who think that if e-cigarettes are used in the right way, there is no reason to worry. Moreover, it seems that they are no more dangerous than our laptops or smartphones. The companies should be more careful when developing e-cigarettes and test their safety.

Dr. Brownson has another opinion. She explained she would not let her children use those devices and she does not advise anyone to use them.  The biggest problem is that most e-cigarettes consumers are teenagers. They could get scars for their entire life due to an explosion. The government should raise awareness regarding this issue.

It was reported that e-cigarettes are responsible for making more young people to smoke. They are curious to try the device and after that, they will begin to use tobacco cigarettes.  It seems that e-cigarettes are more dangerous than we thought.

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Expensive does not always mean good. According to FDA, people who take hepatitis C drugs are at a high risk of developing hepatitis B. The Food and Drug Administration asked doctors who prescribe drugs for hepatitis C to screen their patients also for the B type. The drugs, called direct-acting antivirals, could be more dangerous than we think.

Health officials identified 24 cases of hepatitis B reactivation after the patients were treated with direct-acting antivirals from November 22, 2013, to July 18, 2016. This number includes only the cases that were shown to FDA. There could be more patients who got sick because of this disease. From those 24 people, two of them died and one needed a liver transplant.

FDA wants to add a warning on the labels of hepatitis C drugs. This way, people will be aware of the danger. It is hard to know that the drug you take for one disease can reactive another one, but patients have to know the side-effects of their medication.

There are more than 3.2 million Americans who suffer from Hepatitis C. There were times when almost 15 000 people died every year because of it, but the drugs changed that. However, the treatment is expensive for most people. For example, the prices start at 84 000 dollars and can go up to 94 000 dollars.

Almost 1 million Americans suffer from hepatitis B and 3 000 die every year because of it. The main factors are unprotected sex, intravenous drug use and any contact that involves blood from an infected person.  The biggest problem is that there is no cure for Hepatitis B. There are drugs which can make patients feel better and have control over the disease.  Moreover, there are a lot of people who do not know they are infected and they get tested when it is too late.

What we know for sure is that doctors should screen patients for hepatitis B while they are getting treatment for the C type. Researchers are still trying to understand how these two diseases are connected and what makes hepatitis B reactivate.

Health officials do not want to discourage people who need to use hepatitis C drugs. Those treatments can save people’s lives. They just want patients to be informed about the danger and have doctors pay more attention to hepatitis B.

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Antitobacco groups decided to file a lawsuit against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday. They are trying again to make the agency use graphic warning labels on cigarettes.  According to the law, FDA was supposed from 2011 to use color graphics that warned people about the dangers of smoking.

The groups asked the court to give FDA a new deadline for the warning labels.  They said that FDA has not been respecting the law for more than four yeas. The companies involved in the lawsuit are the American Cancer Society, American Lung Association, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and other five public health groups.

Tobacco companies from the United States have avoided graphic cigarette warning labels for many years. They always say they are protected by the First Amendment, the gives the right of commercial free speech. However, the antitobacco groups think that the government should have different limits when it comes to warning labels because they could really decrease the smoking rates.

Until now, FDA officials did not comment on this lawsuit. However, they said they are supporting a new rule for the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco  Control Act. We do not know when the rule will be proposed and what it is about.

It could come as a surprise, but the United States are one of the few countries where graphic warning labels have not ben used. More than 90 countries are using these labels, with decaying teeth or sick lungs, to raise awareness about the disadvantages of smoking. Moreover, in the United Kingdom, the authorities want to eliminate cigarette branding. This way, big companies such as Lucky Strike will lose their unique packages.

The groups said that, according to a study, simple health warning on the labels are not effective. People should really see what could happen to them if they keep smoking. While FDA is sued due to warning labels, there are millions of Americans who still smoke. Most of them know how dangerous this habit can be, but they do not seem to care.

The biggest problem is that people do not think something wrong could happen to them until it is too late. Lung cancer is one of the main causes of death around the world.  Even though you are feeling good at the moment, smoking will reveal its side-effects when you will be older.

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A mother of a transgender teenager decided to sue the Rady Children’s Hospital’s Child for discrimination. She said that her transgender son had bad experiences with the staff while he was on suicide watch. Even though the hospital is one of the best in the country, the mother said that the staff gave his son a lot of anxiety.

Katharine Prescott said that doctors misgendered her 14-year-old transgender son, referring to Kyler as “she” and not “he”.  He went to the hospital on April 5, 2015, after he wanted to commit suicide. The unit’s staff psychiatrist decided to remove the patient after two days because he was not feeling good in the hospital.

Unfortunately, Kyler died by suicide a month later. Even though his mother does not blame the hospital for his death, she thinks that he should not have been treated like that, especially from one of the best hospitals in the country. She believes that the hospital violated the Affordable Care Act and California’s Civil Rights Act. The mother does not understand how discrimination is possible at this hospital, where thousands of children are treated every year.

She wants to make sure that Rady’s is providing the right care to all its patients, no matter what gender they are. According to her, the hospital violated the section which does not allow gender discrimination. As long as the hospital receives federal funding, they should have been treated her son in a different way.

Kyle was admitted to the hospital as a male patient and even his medical bracelet was marked with an M. However,  most of the hospital staff members did not want to recognize him as a teenage boy. He was suffering from gender dysphoria. Moreover, the boy decided to drop public school and have home study because of discrimination. Unfortunately, anxiety won and he decided to end his life.

The mother said she called the hospital many times after her son complained about the way he was treated. However, the hospital blocked her phone number so she was not able to talk with them anymore. She thinks that her child was supposed to stay more days there and get the mental health care he needed.

She is afraid that there will be other transgender teenagers who will need mental care. She wants to raise awareness regarding discrimination.

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