Minnesota health officials warn of new norovirus strain

Minnesota health officials warn of new norovirus strain

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Health officials say Minnesota is getting hit by a new strain of norovirus, the most common cause of sudden intestinal illness.

And they warned Tuesday that this could mean more norovirus illnesses this winter.

The Minnesota Department of Health says the new strain caused many outbreaks in Asia last winter before arriving in America. It showed up in sporadic cases in Minnesota earlier this year, and the state recorded its first outbreak from it last week.

Foodborne disease epidemiologist Amy Saupe says it’s not known yet if the new strain will mean more increased reports of outbreaks, but it could. She says meticulous about hand washing and handling food properly may limit the impact.

Illness caused by norovirus is often mistakenly called “stomach flu” but it’s not related to influenza.

Airport comfort dogs to help ease holiday travel stress

CHANTILLY, Va. (AP) — A team of professionally trained comfort dogs at Dulles International Airport are helping ease travelers’ stresses this holiday season.

The dogs are part of the United Airlines United Paws Program. For the first half of Christmas week, the airline has invited the comfort animals to seven of its hub airports nationwide. The dogs’ purpose is to reduce stress and anxiety for holiday travelers.

The dogs walk the terminal during a morning and afternoon shift and will continue through Wednesday.

On Monday, the four-legged messengers of calm participating in the event included Rugi, a Great Dane-Labrador mix, Cinnamon, an English bulldog, and Pepper, a rescue blend of retriever, among others.

United spokesman Jonathan Guerin says science proves that simply petting a dog can reduce stress. Plus, they always bring smiles.

Study: Some cardiac arrest victims ignore warning symptoms

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sudden cardiac arrest may not always be so sudden: New research suggests a lot of people may ignore potentially life-saving warning signs hours, days, even a few weeks before they collapse.

Cardiac arrest claims about 350,000 U.S. lives a year. It’s not a heart attack, but worse: The heart abruptly stops beating, its electrical activity knocked out of rhythm. CPR can buy critical time, but so few patients survive that it’s been hard to tell if the longtime medical belief is correct that it’s a strike with little or no advance warning.

An unusual study that has closely tracked sudden cardiac arrest in Portland, Oregon, for over a decade got around that roadblock, using interviews with witnesses, family and friends after patients collapse and tracking down their medical records.

About half of middle-aged patients for whom symptom information could be found had experienced warning signs, mostly chest pain or shortness of breath, in the month before suffering a cardiac arrest, researchers reported Monday. The research offers the possibility of one day preventing some cardiac arrests if doctors could figure out how to find and treat the people most at risk.