Health

Image: A cartoon of the fracking process.

ishn.com - July 16, 2014

Hydraulic fracturing or “fracking”  is the process of injecting large volumes of water, sand, and chemicals into the ground at high pressure to break up shale formation allowing more efficient recovery of oil and gas. This form of well stimulation has been used since the late 1940s, but has increased substantially during the past 10 years with the advent of horizontal drilling technology that greatly improves access to gas deposits in shale.

Approximately 435,000 workers were employed in the U.S. oil and gas extraction industry in 2010; nearly half of those workers were employed by well servicing companies, which includes companies that conduct hydraulic fracturing (BLS).

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The Centers for Disease Control plans to take measures to better protect lab workers and the rest of us from dangerous biological samples

scientificamerican.com - by Dina Fine Maron - July 17, 2014

Twenty-one dead lab chickens piled up this spring at a government facility before its researchers could pinpoint why. The team had requested and received what was meant to be a relatively harmless strain of avian flu. Instead, the virus killed all the test birds during experiments.

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submitted by Albert Gomez

miami.cbslocal.com - by Joan Murray - July 16, 2014

WEST PALM BEACH (CBSMiami/AP) — . . . State officials say the number of Florida travelers who contracted the mosquito-borne chikungunya virus since the beginning of the year has risen to 81.

Officials say all the patients documented in Florida contracted the virus while traveling in the Caribbean. . .

. . . Experts said it’s only a matter of time before someone develops Chikungunya in South Florida which is why they are alerting the public to let them know it exists.

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(CLICK HERE - CDC - CHIKUNGUNYA IN THE UNITED STATES)

(CLICK HERE - FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH - CHIKUNGUNYA)

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Deaths due to overdoses of prescription painkillers like OxyContin dropped sharply in Florida, the first such decline in a decade, according to a new report published by the CDC. (Lawrence K. Ho/Los Angeles Times)

latimes.com - by Lisa Girion - July 1, 2014

Public health officials have identified a sharp decline in overdose deaths involving prescription painkillers for the first time in a decade.

Deaths involving OxyContin, Vicodin and other narcotic painkillers dropped by 26% over two years in Florida after a crackdown on pain clinics that dispensed high volumes of the medications, according to a government study released Tuesday.

Lawmakers there barred doctors in these "pill mills" from selling the drugs they prescribed.

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STUDY - Decline in Drug Overdose Deaths After State Policy Changes — Florida, 2010–2012