flu

A doctor is looking into a woman's eye with magnifying device

How coronavirus changed our health behaviors

November 2, 2020 by Liora Engel-Smith

How coronavirus changed our health behaviors - North Carolina Health News

From driving demand for contact lenses, supplements and flu shots to delaying health screenings, coronavirus has altered people’s health behaviors in surprising ways.

By Liora Engel-Smith Coronavirus has invariably changed life as we know it in some big ways. With thousands of cases, deaths and hospitalizations from the novel virus in North Carolina, some of these changes are obvious. Others are now a given in our socially distanced world: medical appointments take place via computer or phone, in-car […]

Screenshot from a press conference, in a box on the upper left, a woman in a blue dress holds up a hand to indicate a high number, below her, in a box, is a sign language interpreter. On the right in the photo is a graph showing an overall trend line of COVID cases rising with time.

Coronavirus Today – Oct. 15 – Highest single-day COVID case count; First flu death in NC; Vaccine distribution plan almost complete

October 15, 2020 by Anne Blythe

Coronavirus Today – Oct. 15 – Highest single-day COVID case count; First flu death in NC; Vaccine distribution plan almost complete - North Carolina Health News

One state, two different takes from the governor and the president on the COVID-19 pandemic in NC.

By Anne Blythe Two very different messages about the coronavirus pandemic came from two different podiums in North Carolina on Thursday. In Greenville, at the Greenville-Pitt Airport, President Donald Trump downplayed the pandemic to the crowd gathered for a campaign rally. “North Carolina, tell your governor open up your state, open up your schools,” Trump […]

shows schematics of two different viruses, the new familiar grey and red representation of SARS_CoV2, commonly known as COVID-19 on the left and the flu virus on the right.

Coronavirus Today – Aug. 13 – Pandemic snarls seasons: Sports, flu, back-to-school; Unemployment aid push and pull

August 13, 2020 by Anne Blythe

Coronavirus Today – Aug. 13 – Pandemic snarls seasons: Sports, flu, back-to-school; Unemployment aid push and pull - North Carolina Health News

NC’s trends and metrics are going the right way, DHHS secretary says, but that ‘progress is fragile.’

By Anne Blythe As college sports officials spent Thursday weighing pros and cons of moving ahead with an Atlantic Coast Conference football season in the coming weeks and month, public health officials in North Carolina, where many of those teams play, raised the specter of a different fall phenomenon. Flu season is coming amid the […]

shows a beer in a brewery, some of which are opening back up after the COVID-19 stay at home order

Coronavirus Today – May 22 – Restaurant effort to boost confidence; craft brewery confusion; NASCAR and Atrium team up

May 22, 2020 by Editor

Coronavirus Today – May 22 – Restaurant effort to boost confidence; craft brewery confusion; NASCAR and Atrium team up - North Carolina Health News

Restaurants are back with a new campaign to boost customer confidence as dining moves back inside.

By North Carolina Health News staff Count On Me NC campaign Now that restaurants can serve diners inside again with new social distancing requirements, a large question looms: Will diners feel comfortable enough to return? With that in mind, the North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association has helped develop the Count On Me NC program […]

diagram shows the structure of coronavirus

Four things North Carolina’s coronavirus data tells us — and what it doesn’t.

April 14, 2020 by Liora Engel-Smith

Four things North Carolina’s coronavirus data tells us — and what it doesn’t. - North Carolina Health News

The coronavirus outbreak has brought on an onslaught of data, but what do these numbers actually mean?

By Liora Engel-Smith From case numbers to deaths to the number of open intensive care beds in the state, there isn’t a lack of numbers when it comes to discussing the coronavirus pandemic in North Carolina. But all data is limited in what it can and cannot tell us. If you want to understand how […]

State health Sec. Mandy Cohen stands with her head bowed before March 31 press briefing on coronavirus.

Coronavirus Today – April 1 – Managing limited PPE supplies, tracking the spread, face masks for healthy people

April 1, 2020 by Editor

Coronavirus Today – April 1 – Managing limited PPE supplies, tracking the spread, face masks for healthy people - North Carolina Health News

State officials said that they are working on shoring up North Carolina’s supply of protective equipment. Meanwhile, the health department is working to create more accurate predictions of how the virus will affect the state.

By North Carolina Health News staff In search of an accurate disease model As North Carolina works through its first week of a statewide stay-at-home order, state department of health secretary Mandy Cohen cautioned that it’s hard to predict exactly how the outbreak will play out in North Carolina. Various models for the spread and […]

The A Duke Vaccine Institute worker in front of a hood. Duke is working to develop a universal flu vaccine.

A universal flu vaccine in their sights

March 24, 2020 by Sarah Ovaska

A universal flu vaccine in their sights - North Carolina Health News

Coronavirus isn't the only deadly virus making the rounds. Duke researchers have tapped by the federal government to work on a vaccine that could save thousands of lives struck down by flu.

By Sarah Ovaska A team of Duke University doctors and researchers are racing to stop – or at least dull – the deadly rampage of the influenza virus, a pathogen that claims the lives of between 12,000 and 61,000 Americans annually. The Duke Human Vaccine Institute, emboldened with up to $400 million in federal grants […]

Test for coronavirus (COVID-19) in padded box. Aside from handwashing and social distancing, there aren't many specific measures for coronavirus.

NC health centers ramp up COVID-19 outreach to vulnerable patients

March 9, 2020 by Liora Engel-Smith

NC health centers ramp up COVID-19 outreach to vulnerable patients - North Carolina Health News

As coronavirus spreads across the nation, health centers across the state are racing to educate some of their most vulnerable patients.

By Liora Engel-Smith As the state contends with its second COVID-19 case, this one in Chatham County, North Carolina’s community health centers are stepping up their outreach to some of the most vulnerable members of every community: the uninsured and medically fragile. By recent count, more than a million North Carolinians lacked health insurance. About […]

An image of the coronavirus, the virus responsible for the coronavirus pandemic, a virus that has many points protruding out of it. The virus has disproportionally affected African Americans. This is also used in stories about coronavirus in North Carolina

Hospitals in NC have been under pressure. Would they be able to manage a surge of coronavirus patients?

March 2, 2020 by Liora Engel-Smith

Hospitals in NC have been under pressure. Would they be able to manage a surge of coronavirus patients? - North Carolina Health News

Experts from in and out of the state say that the prospect of worst-case scenario for the likely spread of coronavirus in the U.S. expose weaknesses in the country’s hospital ecosystem.

By Rose Hoban and Liora Engel-Smith As the World Health Organization warns the new coronavirus has “pandemic potential,” state and national experts worry that in the case of a widespread and sustained outbreak, an influx of patients could lay bare the glaring resource inequities between urban and rural hospitals. Since the pathogen was first identified […]

shows a man sneezing. Flu symptoms include sneezing, cough, fever and aches.

Flu cases starting to subside in N.C., country, but kids still at risk

February 27, 2020 by Sarah Ovaska

Flu cases starting to subside in N.C., country, but kids still at risk - North Carolina Health News

This year’s flu season has been among the deadliest for children in the last 15 years.

By Sarah Ovaska While public health officials issue warnings about a newly emerged strain of coronavirus reaching the United States, the country is still battling with another deadly respiratory virus — influenza. This year’s flu season has hit children particularly hard, with the emergence early on of the influenza B strain that tends to affect […]

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