The Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH) today announced that a pregnant Connecticut woman has tested positive for Zika virus.
According to DPH, the patient became ill with a fever and rash while traveling in Central America. It was during this trip that the patient conceived.
The patient has since returned to Central America, a news release said.
DPH officials contacted the patient’s Connecticut physician today with the positive result and are working to get in touch with the patient or her family to ensure that she seeks medical care while she is out of the country, DPH said.
After a floor debate laced with stories of the toll drug addiction has taken across Connecticut, the House today unanimously passed what legislators described as a comprehensive measure aimed at curbing the epidemic of opioid and heroin abuse.
Sue Kruczek, wearing her son Nick’s memorial hockey jersey, speaks earlier this year in favor of a bill to cap the supply of opioid prescriptions. Nick died at age 20 of a heroin overdose after initially taking prescription opioids. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Arielle Levin Becker for ctmirror.org
The proposal, approved 144-0, would require first responders to carry overdose-reversing drugs, limit initial opioid prescriptions to seven-day supplies in most cases involving acute pain, make changes to a prescription monitoring program aimed at helping prescribers identify patients who could be misusing drugs, and charge the state’s Alcohol and Drug Policy Council with developing a plan to reduce the number of opioid-induced deaths in the state.
Drug overdoses now kill an average of two people in Connecticut each day – more than car accidents. Last year, 723 people died from accidental drug overdoses in the state, and more than 60 percent involved opioids.
“They’re digging graves in every town in Connecticut,” Public Health Committee Co-Chair Rep. Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, said. He noted that more than 50 bills on the topic were submitted to the committee at the start of the session – a sign of the level of concern among lawmakers across the state.
Connecticut’s clean energy future seems bright, according to a Town Hall forum tonight that drew about 25 persons.
Tonight’s clean energy forum praised Westport’s clean energy efforts. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
And leading the way is Westport, cited as “a great example” of a community taking the reins.
The auditorium forum was orchestrated by state Rep. Johnathan Steinberg, who had invited Acadia Center, a nonprofit clean energy advocacy group, to discuss alternative energy advancements over the past decade, plus future efforts.
At the last minute, Steinberg, who had been scheduled to give a legislative perspective on state efforts, was unable to attend due to a family emergency.
The State Department of Public Health (DPH) today announced that the first case of Zika virus in Connecticut has been detected by its state laboratory.
An Aedes species mosquito that transmits the Zika virus. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) CDC photo
According to DPH, the patient, 60-69 years of age, traveled to a Zika-affected area and had onset of illness on the day of return in early March.
The patient’s illness was characterized by skin rash, conjunctivitis, fatigue, chills, headache, and muscle aches, an announcement said. The patient has been seen by a physician and is recovering.
In January, Gov. Dannel p. Malloy directed DPH to test for Zika virus. The tests were conducted at the DPH Laboratory, which was approved for and began testing for Zika virus on Feb. 29, the DPH said.
The connection between the mind and body is the subject of a Staples High School talk next week by a best-selling author, which is open to the public.
John Medina: to discuss brain and body connection. Contributed photo
John Medina, a developmental molecular biologist and founding director of two brain research institutes, will speak at the school on Wednesday, March 23 at 6 p.m, the school district announced today.
He is the author of The New York Times best-selling book “Brain Rules.”
Among his topics—how people learn, the effects of stress on the brain and how physical activity benefits cognition, an announcement said.
Heads Up Westport - Concussion Center will soon open at 25 Imperial Ave. in Westport.
Audrey Paul (l) and Deborah Mogelof: specializing in youngster concussions. Contributed photos
Co-owners are Westport physicians and residents Deborah Mogelof and Audrey Paul.
In addition to her work at the new business, Mogelof said she will remain associated with Westport Urgent Care, 1045 Post Road East, where she has served as a director for the past three years. Paul is a pediatric emergency medicine physician.
“Our practice will provide baseline ImPact (concussion) testing for children 10 and over,” said Mogelof. She said this is something the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends.
Westport has not escaped the surge in heroin and other opiate overdoses in Connecticut.
Heroin overdose deaths have soared in Connecticut and nationally. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed graphic
While no deaths have been reported in Westport, the state’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said this week the number of people in Connecticut dying from drug overdoses continued to skyrocket in 2015.
More than 720 people overdosed, with heroin-related deaths climbing at alarming rates, the office said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, of the nationwide 47,055 drug-overdose deaths in 2014 — an all-time high, and more people than died of liver disease or renal failure, of suicide, or in car accidents — heroin was responsible for over one-fifth.
Susan Lewis’s soccer-adoring son Justin was already through his chemo and radiation treatments for lymphoma and thinking about getting back to his team at Fairfield University when she caught a television report one morning.
Justin Lewis when he was undergoing chemotherapy. Courtesy of Justin Lewis
“There was a story about a soccer player,” she said. “I stopped to watch it, and my mouth dropped open.”
The report was about cancer cases among athletes playing on artificial turf made from ground-up used tires – crumb rubber is what it’s called. Some soccer players in particular had been diagnosed, mostly with lymphoma as well as leukemia. The question posed was whether the crumb rubber was the cause.
“Obviously, as parents of this young man, we wanted to understand why or how this could possibly happen,” she said. The first focus had to be on getting Justin better. “But when that came up, I certainly thought, ‘Wow, could that be the answer?’”
A Westport psychologist, Stephen Temlock, told a Westport Library audience tonight that retirement can often be a stressful event. “Retiring is one of life’s major events,” said the adjunct professor at Columbia University’s Teachers College. “For some, retiring is a good thing, but for others, particularly for those who have been in high level positions, it may cause stress, anxiety and a sense of loss.” He added: “Life is about getting things done, but retirement is not about achievement so there’s often much stress in retirement created by the sudden void.” (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
Green&Tonic, a health food eatery, will open in April at the corner of Jesup Road and Taylor Place, the former site of Crumbs, which closed in November 2015 (see WestportNow Nov. 10, 2015.) The Cos Cob-headquartered business, founded in 2011 by Jeff and Cal Pandolfino, opened in Darien (1098 Boston Post Road) and Cos Cob (7 Strickland Ave.) in 2012, Greenwich (85 Railroad Ave.) in 2013 and New Canaan (5 Burtis Ave.) in 2014. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
