What Is Hepatitis C?
Many people have heard of the type of hepatitis that is spread by water or food contaminated with the hepatitis A virus. A diagnosis of hepatitis C, however, is often more puzzling. Your doctor has probably given you some basic facts about hepatitis C…
Learn MoreHepatitis C Support Groups
The rules are simple at Monday’s lunchtime hepatitis C support group in the Oasis Clinic: Only one person speaks at a time, people’s stories don’t leave the room, and you can’t have more than two slices of pizza. Larry Gonzalez (not his real name), a …
Learn MoreHepatitis C and Clinical Trials
What are clinical trials?Clinical trials are the means by which new drugs and treatments are tested to determine if they work. They are the engine that drives progress in medicine. For patients who have run out of other options, clinical trials offer …
Learn MoreAlcohol and Hepatitis C
If you’ve been diagnosed with hepatitis C, your doctor has probably advised you to give up alcoholic beverages. For some people, this can be one of the most difficult lifestyle adjustments to make. But it’s also one of the most important. Several stud…
Learn MoreHow Does Hepatitis C Spread?
Unlike cold or flu viruses, the hepatitis C virus (HCV) does not spread easily. It is transmitted by direct contact with blood that carries the virus. Before screening donated blood for hepatitis C became mandatory in 1991, most transmission occurred …
Learn MoreWhooping Cough (Pertussis)
Whooping cough (pertussis) is a disease that should be rare by now. We’ve had an effective vaccine against whooping cough for decades, but the illness continues to thrive. An unusual whooping cough outbreak in California in 2010, for example, sickened…
Learn MoreCold Sores (Children)
What are cold sores?Cold sores, also known as fever blisters, are small red blisters that crop up near the lips or on them. More rarely, they sprout on the roof of the mouth. (Some people confuse them with canker sores, which are painful crater-like s…
Learn MoreChildhood Immunization Chart
What’s newEvery year the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the American Academy of Family Physicians revise their schedule of childhood immunizations.The scheduleFor a PDF version of the CDC’s 20…
Learn MoreHeat Rash
What is heat rash? Heat rash, also known as prickly heat, is a red pimply skin eruption that can appear when your child overheats. It shows up most often in folds of the skin and on parts of the body where clothing fits snugly. These places include th…
Learn MoreHand, Foot, and Mouth Disease
What is Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease? Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease (HFM) is a common childhood illness caused by a virus and marked by painful mouth sores. Symptoms may include blisters in the mouth and small, grayish red blisters on the palms of th…
Learn More