Fall has arrived! The leaves are turning colors, the air is getting cool and crisp…and you’re sneezing? Allergies don’t just occur as things bloom in the spring and summer. Fall allergies have different triggers than spring and summer allergies, but they can be just as annoying. Ragweed is a common culprit. The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America report that 10 to 20 percent of Americans suffer from ragweed allergy or hay fever. Ragweed begins releasing pollen in late summer and continues

“To be fair, death is hard!..We can’t make death fun, but we can make learning about death fun. Death is science and history, art and literature. It bridges every culture and unites the whole of humanity! Many people, including me, believe that we can control some of our fears by embracing death, learning about it and asking as many questions as possible. In that case, when I die, will my cat eat my eyeballs?”

As the flu season approaches in the United States, health experts are warning that the addition of another respiratory illness on top of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic could overburden the health care system, strain testing capacity, and increase the risk of catching both diseases at once. Although the infection fatality rate of flu is roughly 10 times less than that of COVID-19, it still kills 30 to 60,000 Americans every year. However, unlike COVID-19, the flu is a familiar foe, and a safe and

You might hear it referred to as “Long COVID” or “Post-COVID Syndrome” and the people who have it, “Long Haulers.” Johns Hopkins Medicine describes it as, “lingering health problems” people who were diagnosed with COVID-19 have, “even when they have recovered from the acute phase of the illness.” Some of them may have been hospitalized with COVID, while others had mild cases, but what these 10-30% of COVID survivors have in common now may be breathing issues, heart problems, kidney damage,

“Walk had once climbed that tree with Vincent King, in a time so far from now it would barely count. He rested a shaking hand on his gun, the other on his belt. He caught sight of the girl, moving against the crowd, her brother’s hand in hers as he struggled to match her pace. Duchess and Robin, the Radley children. He met them at a half run because he knew all there was to know about them. The boy was five and cried silent tears, the girl had just turned thirteen and did not ever cry.”

Respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, is a common respiratory virus that usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms. Most people recover in a week or two, but RSV can be serious, especially for infants. RSV is the most common cause of pneumonia in children younger than 1 year of age in the United States.The CDC reports that RSV infections typically occur in late fall and winter.The American Academy of Pediatrics noted that masking and social distancing meant infants and young children who would have

“...and so infidel-like he would call me a whore and concoct the most wild stories as to my behavior and then he would strike me in the name of discipline as if I were an untutored child.” From the Petition for Divorce filed by Mary Deerfield, 1662.

On June 15, 2020 the American Red Cross began testing all blood, platelet and plasma donations for COVID-19 antibodies. An antibody test screens for antibodies in your blood, which are formed when fighting an infection, like COVID-19. An antibody test assesses whether your immune system has responded to the infection, not if the virus is currently present. Positive antibody test results do not confirm infection or immunity; just potential prior exposure to the virus. Donors who test positive for

“A person of talent hits a target that no one else can hit; a person of genius hits a target that no one else can see. A talented person deals skillfully with the immediately evident world. A genius, however, sees what is hidden from the rest of us.”

The American Red Cross reports that although an estimated 38 percent of the U.S. population is eligible to donate blood, less than 10 percent of that eligible population actually donate each year. Donations at high school and college blood drives account for as much as 20 percent of the supply during the school year, but during the summer months, these donors are not as accessible. When vacations disrupt other regular donors’ schedules, we are faced with a summer blood shortage. Despite many