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Medical copays reduce health care access in MS prisons; Israel planted explosives in pagers sold to Hezbollah according to official sources; Serving looks with books: Libraries fight 'fast fashion' by lending clothes; Menhaden decline threatens Virginia's ecosystem, fisheries.

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JD Vance calls for toning down political rhetoric, while calls for his resignation grow because of his own comments. The Secret Service again faces intense criticism, and a right to IVF is again voted down in the US Senate.

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A USDA report shows a widening gap in rural versus urban health, a North Carolina county remains divided over a LGBTQ library display, and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz' policies are spotlighted after his elevation to the Democratic presidential ticket.

Iowa's Top Doctor Gives Tips for Healthy Holidays

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Tuesday, December 15, 2015   

DES MOINES, Iowa – The holidays are a time for giving and sharing, but some people give more than presents – they share germs that cause illness.

Dr. Patricia Quinlisk, medical director of the Iowa Department of Public Health, says the best thing to do when you're sick is to stay home and skip holiday gatherings.

"Most the time when you're acutely ill, you're coughing, you have diarrhea or whatever it is, that means you're highly infectious, and you just need to stay away from other people so that you don't spread it," she stresses.

Quinlisk encourages those who are ill to also stay away from food preparation tasks, because making Christmas cookies and other holiday favorites to send to neighbors can spread even more germs.

She says people might have heard it a hundred times before, but washing hands often with warm, soapy water is the single best way to stay healthy.

If that isn't possible, she encourages use of an alcohol gel – however, she notes hand sanitizers don't work on every germ.

"While hand gels will kill the influenza virus, it will not kill the norovirus,” she points out. “And that's the virus that causes most of the outbreaks of diarrhea that we see here in Iowa. And, for reasons that we don't fully understand, the alcohol gels will not kill that virus."

Two influenza-related deaths have already been reported in Iowa this season.





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