Super Bug, or Norovirus, May Be in the South Hills

As flu season wanes, a new Super Bug from Australia is taking its place in the spotlight.

A new strain of the highly contagious norovirus has reached the United States from Australia. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that the virus, named GII.4 Sydney because it's believed to have started in Sydney, Australia, is currently the leading cause of norovirus outbreaks in the United States. In the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, released on Friday, the norovirus is described as the leading cause of epidemic gastroenteritis, including foodborne outbreaks, in the United States. Hospitalization and mortality associated with norovirus infection occur most frequently among elderly persons, young children and immunocompromised patients. Time reports that the norovirus is often confused with the…

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Allegheny County Reports Four Recent Flu Deaths

Pennsylvania is reporting high influenza activity, according to the state health department and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Allegheny County certainly isn't immune from the widespead outbreak of influenza reported by the Pennsylvania Health Department and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Allegheny County Health Department reports four local deaths in the last few weeks have been attributed to the influenza Type A virus. All four deaths have been patients 65 years or older, with the oldest victim 98 years old, according to Dr. Jim Lando, acting director of the department's Office of Epidemiology and Biostatistics. "Influenza does take people each year," he said. "That's why we do recommend that people get vaccinated." Lando said that between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31, 2012—the most up-to-date reporting period this flu season—there had been 215 confirmed …

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Health Department Issues West Nile Virus Warning

Dormont and Brookline residents urged to eliminate potential breeding grounds for mosquitoes.

Residents in Dormont, Brookline and throughout the North and South Hills are being urged to check their property for standing water, which could become breeding grounds for mosquitoes, which can carry the West Nile Virus.  Since May, the Allegheny County Health Department has caught ten mosquitoes in various neighborhoods, which have tested positive for the virus, the Post Gazette reported. “Mosquitoes breed in standing water, even in small amounts, so people should make every effort, especially after wet weather, to seek and eliminate accumulations of water,” said Interim Health Director Dr. Ronald E. Voorhees in a statement on the health department’s web site. Approximately 80 percent of people who are infected with West Nile Virus will …

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State Sen. Wayne D. Fontana

Youth in Concussion Sports Legislation

Sen. Wayne Fontana cosponsors youth concussion legislation. The American Academy of Neurology return-to-play guidelines state that 4-in-10 (40%) high school athletes return to play too soon after suffering a concussion.

I am proud to join my colleagues in co-sponsoring legislation that calls for the management of concussions and head injuries for youth athletes in the Commonwealth.  Tomorrow a press conference will be held in the Capitol Rotunda to announce the introduction of Senate Bill 200. The legislation would require that if an athlete is injured during practice or a game, and may be suspected of suffering a concussion or some other type of head injury, the athlete will be removed from play and cannot return until the athlete has written approval from a healthcare professional with training in the management and evaluation of concussions. According to the Centers for Disease Control, 3.5 million sports-related concussions happen every year in the …