skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Illinois Flu Numbers Up This Year

play audio
Play

Tuesday, January 31, 2017   

SPRINGFIELD Ill. – Noroviruses are on the rise in Illinois and across the country this winter, prompting some warnings from health officials. The Illinois Department of Public Health says numbers this month are higher than in January during the past two years. More than 800 students fell ill at St. Charles East High School earlier this month, prompting classes to be canceled for two days. Doctors are telling patients to be alert for symptoms, which often can mirror other illnesses.

Dr. Cori Repp, regional director for U.S Healthworks, says they're spread through fecal matter and these painful stomach bugs are scary because they're highly contagious.

"So when someone doesn't wash their hands after they use the bathroom and goes on to touch a doorknob or prepare your food, it can be transmitted to another person," she explained.

Norovirus outbreaks happen throughout the year but the CDC says more than 80 percent occur from November to April. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, fever or body aches. A person usually develops symptoms 12 to 48 hours after being exposed, with the illness typically lasting about one to three days.

While Woody Allen once said 80 percent of success in life can be attributed to simply showing up, doctors advise against that when it comes to norovirus infections or influenza that's also been spreading rapidly around the country.

Dr. Don Bucklin, another regional director for U.S Healthworks, says do your co-workers a favor and stay home.

"You just cough a little bit and you put considerable virus into the air and it's going to hang there for a couple of hours, so you can go to work and get a lot of people sick without trying very hard," he said.

Bucklin says while you can't control whether or not people stay home when they're ill, you can help yourself by making sure you wash your hands often and use an anti-bacterial agent.

"Before I rub my nose or touch my forehead or touch my hair or touch anywhere on my head, I would always give my hands a squirt first because I don't want to transfer virus from whatever I've touched to my face, where it can get into me," Bucklin added.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Many factors affect a customer's bill amount, including energy usage, weather, and the number of days in a billing period, according to Arizona Public Service. (Jason Yoder/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021