Katie Stiff has stepped into the race for two open seats on Wayland’s Board of Health, giving voters a fresh face with hands-on experience. Though she moved to town only in 2020, she already sits on the board and works daily as a nurse practitioner at a major Boston hospital. Stiff’s path to public
Ottawa just became the latest city to stop shops from selling kratom, a plant that comes from Southeast Asia. The city council made the call official in early April after seeing how people sometimes misuse it. Officials worry that unchecked sales could put residents at risk since the substance isn’t
Most girls in Gambella Town have heard of the HPV vaccine, but many still skip it. The vaccine protects against a virus that can later turn into cervical cancer. Yet in many lower-income places, not enough girls get the shots. Ethiopia is one of those places. Experts wanted to find out why. They as
Michigan has seen a handful of measles cases pop up recently, with seven in Washtenaw County and one in Monroe County. Health experts are urging parents in seven counties to think about giving their babies a measles vaccine sooner than usual. Normally, kids get their first dose around their first bi
Flint is rolling out a free health fair downtown next month. On April 9, from 10 AM to 2 PM, the Genesee County Health Department and the University of Michigan-Flint team up to run their yearly Public Health Expo at the county administration building on Saginaw Street. Anyone can walk in for quick
Many people in La Crosse County rely on private wells for drinking water, but most don’t realize how easily contaminants can slip in. Unlike public water systems that get regular checks, private wells depend entirely on their owners to monitor quality. Experts say the safest approach is testing ever
Health officials in Michigan have raised alarms about measles spreading in seven counties, with eight confirmed cases since March. Most of these cases were in Washtenaw County, and the virus seems to be moving through the area. Even though measles cases aren’t always linked to travel or other outbre
Most people notice old iron pipes in their water system only when the water turns yellow or rusty. What they don’t see are the invisible side effects. Scientists recently traced how these aging cast iron pipes could be quietly creating extra chemicals in drinking water, ones we don’t even test for r
Health workers in Africa face a tough challenge: malaria parasites are changing, making some common treatments less effective. For nearly 20 years, doctors have relied on a method called therapeutic efficacy studies (TES) to check if drugs still work. But this approach has become slow and complicate
Many women who move to Thailand for work endure violence that stays mostly unseen. These women often come from poorer countries hoping for better pay, only to face abuse that can scar them physically and emotionally. A recent study dug into how common this violence is, what kinds of support these wo
