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Dr. Keith Van Haren, a pediatric neurologist at Stanford University’s Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital who has worked with Glaser’s team, will present the cases of five of the children at the American Academy of Neurology’s upcoming annual meeting. He said all five patients had paralysis in one or more arms or legs that reached its full severity within two days. None had recovered limb function after six months. “We know definitively that it isn’t polio,” Van Haren added, noting that all had been vaccinated against that disease. Glaser wouldn’t provide the number of illnesses. Van Haren said he was aware...

Bayonne officials are planning to have several health officials on hand and local emergency services available tomorrow when a Royal Caribbean cruise ship which recently cut its trip short due to a gastrointestinal breakout overseas arrives at the Cape Liberty Cruise Port in Bayonne.

Over the past few months there has been a number of concerning reports that desomorphine, a.k.a. "krokodil," a homemade alternative to heroin that is believed to have originated in Russia, may have made its way into the United States. Krokodil is understandably horrifying to a lot of people. The drug gets its name from the Russian word for a crocodile, which gives a little warning of one of its effects —green, scaly skin at the site of injection. Gangrene and amputations are common, while fleshy tissue is eaten away by the corrosive chemicals. Many users are reported to die a...

Today's young parents are confronted with a dilemma; should they obey the clear, strict instructions of the neighborhood school and make sure their child is vaccinated before school starts, or should they 'just say no'. Some folks on side of receiving immunization shots are quick to point out the worrying resurgence of various diseases most Americans thought were almost wiped out. Diseases such as measles, mumps and whooping cough have largely been held in check because of available immunization injections. In 2011 there were 167 cases of Whooping Cough reported. In 2013 there have been 352 so far. These almost...

A deadly brain amoeba that’s killed two boys this year has been found in a U.S. drinking water supply system for the first time, officials said Monday -- in a New Orleans-area system. The Naegleria fowleri parasite killed a 4-year-old Mississippi boy who likely got it playing on a back yard Slip 'N Slide, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials say. Tests show it’s present throughout the water supply system in St. Bernard Parish, directly southeast of New Orleans. “We have never seen Naegleria colonizing a treated water supply before,” said Dr. Michael Beach, head of water safety for...

An outbreak of measles tied to a Texas megachurch where ministers have questioned vaccination has sickened at least 21 people, including a 4-month-old infant -- and it’s expected to grow, state and federal health officials said. “There’s likely a lot more susceptible people,” said Dr. Jane Seward, the deputy director for the viral diseases division at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Sixteen people -- nine children and seven adults -- ranging in age from 4 months to 44 years had come down with the highly contagious virus in Tarrant County, Texas, as of Monday. Another five cases are...

Michael Douglas's announcement that his throat cancer was caused by human papillomavirus, a sexually transmitted disease, has raised awareness about a men's health trend doctors have been alarmed about for years. ... However, a link between oral sex and throat cancer is no surprise to experts. "This is not a surprise by any stretch," Dr. Eric Genden, professor and chair of otolaryngology at Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City, told CBSNews.com. "There's an epidemic of HPV-related throat cancers." Throat cancer, also known as oropharyngeal cancer, refers to tumors that occur in the tonsils, base...

Seven people have been admitted to area hospitals, and two of them have died, in what health officials described Tuesday as a “cluster” of respiratory illnesses with flulike symptoms. Peggy Blakeney, the area administrator for the state Department of Public Health, said officials with the state Department of Public Health in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control are investigating a “cluster” of respiratory illnesses across southeast Alabama. Blakeney said so far, through their ongoing investigation, they know of seven people hospitalized for treatment. She said two of those people have died. Corey Kirkland, the assistant administrator for the area,...

... A new, casually transmittable infection — a unique strain of bacterial meningitis — has cast a pall over the gay night life and dating scene, with men wondering whether this is AIDS, circa 1981, all over again. Seven men have died in New York City, about a third of diagnosed cases, since 2010. And in the last few months, the contagion seemed to be accelerating. It has targeted gay and bisexual men, and nobody knows exactly why. The city’s best hope to curb the outbreak is to vaccinate as many at-risk men as possible, focusing on those most in...

Two respiratory viruses in different parts of the world have captured the attention of global health officials - a novel coronavirus in the Middle East and a new bird flu spreading in China.

All around the Northeast -- from Pennsylvania to Maryland to Connecticut -- billions of cicadas are starting to emerge from the ground after 17 years of underground adolescence mostly spent feeding on the fluid inside tree roots. While this emergence is the biggest in the Northeastern U.S. in a long while, the Southern states have had recent visits too. There are about 15 distinct broods of cicadas that emerge regularly in the U.S. In 2011, the Great Southern Brood popped up across the American Southeast.

France's health ministry on Wednesday reported the country's first case of a SARS-like virus that has killed 18 people so far, mostly in Saudi Arabia. An unidentified person who came back to France from a trip to the United Arab Emirates was diagnosed with the deadly novel coronavirus, the ministry said. "This is the first and only confirmed case in France to date," it added. The patient is currently in intensive care in hospital and has been placed in isolation. The virus, known in medical jargon as nCoV-EMC, was first detected in September 2012 and since then more than 30...

An antibiotic-resistant strain of gonorrhea—now considered a superbug—has some analysts saying that the bacteria's effects could match those of AIDS. "This might be a lot worse than AIDS in the short run because the bacteria is more aggressive and will affect more people quickly," said Alan Christianson, a doctor of naturopathic medicine.

Slut-shaming is at the root of all problems. Well, it seems to be at the root of a lot of mine, anyway. Anyone who’s ever been slut-shamed understands when I say that it can alter your sexual health decisions, erode your self-esteem, and change how you interact with both sexes. And for anyone who’s not familiar with the term, “slut-shaming” is the act of declaring someone a slut (or a whore or any other similar word, or even promiscuous, for that matter) based upon perceived sexual behavior: the clothing someone wears, the way they communicate with potential partners, the people...

Why more patients share rooms with the blood-sucking pests. As if adapting to health-care reform and curbing the “nightmare bacteria” weren’t challenge enough, hospitals are increasingly plagued by another problem: Bedbugs. More than a third of pest management companies treated bedbug infestations in hospitals in 2012, 6% more than the year before and more than twice as many as in 2010, according to a survey released today by the National Pest Management Association. The percentage of exterminators dealing with bedbugs in nursing homes has also almost doubled since 2010, to 46%. Bedbug experts also report seeing them in ambulances. Hospitals...

“Gay” sex is becoming even more dangerous. Health officials are warning sexually active “gay” men about an outbreak of potentially deadly bacterial meningitis in Los Angeles and New York. The disease has infected 22 people in New York and caused seven deaths since 2010. Health officials in Los Angeles are testing to see if the strain infecting “gay” men there is the same one hitting New York. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation began offering free meningitis vaccines today after a “gay” man from West Hollywood was declared brain dead on Friday. Thirty-three-year-old lawyer Brett Shaad died within a week of feeling...

"Health officials work to diffuse fears of national epidemic"“Gay” sex is becoming even more dangerous. Health officials are warning sexually active “gay” men about an outbreak of potentially deadly bacterial meningitis in Los Angeles and New York. The disease has infected 22 people in New York and caused seven deaths since 2010. Health officials in Los Angeles are testing to see if the strain infecting “gay” men there is the same one hitting New York. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation began offering free meningitis vaccines today after a “gay” man from West Hollywood was declared brain dead on Friday. Thirty-three-year-old lawyer...

Around the world, scientists are now beginning to examine samples of the virus with a significant question in mind: Could this strain of the disease cause a global pandemic? This international network of scientists keeps constant watch for good reason. In 1918 and 1919, a flu pandemic killed between 20 million and 40 million people, more than the total death toll of World War I, more in a year than the Black Death of 1347 to 1351. More recently, an H1N1 swine flu pandemic was blamed for more than 284,500 human deaths worldwide between April 2009 and August 2010. So...

Public health officials have launched a new, coordinated effort to contain a persistent outbreak of tuberculosis in downtown L.A.’s skid row, including searching for more than 4,500 people who may have been exposed to the disease.