Noted: UW Hospital has achieved Magnet Recognition status from the American Nurses Credentialing Center for excellence in nursing service.
The hospital joins 11 hospitals in Wisconsin, including St. Maryâ??s Hospital in Madison, that have been recognized by the center for recruiting and retaining high-quality nurses.
This week, a statewide coalition led by the University of Wisconsin and called All Wisconsin Alcohol Risk Education will hold its first public forum in Wausau. Wausau is the first site of a planned six or seven meetings statewide. According to organizers, Marathon County was chosen in part because of the Building Responsible Alcohol Values and Options coalition, which has been working on the issue since 2003.
College students who frequently drink to extremes and are inclined to be thrill-seekers are more likely to be physically injured as a result of their alcohol use, a new study shows.
U.S. researchers found that students who binged heavily on alcohol at least four days a month were five times more likely to be physically hurt than their peers. Male students who had at least eight drinks on each of these drinking occasions and females who had a minimum of five drinks on each of these occasions were considered “frequent extreme heavy drinkers” in the study.
Experts are warning central Wisconsin residents to stock up on bug spray as the number of dangerous deer ticks appears to be increasing.
Steven Weber told a Verona bowling alley bartender last week he was â??going on a shooting rampage and was going to kill his ex-wife,â? according to search warrants filed Monday in connection with the attempt to find him.
Francesca Weber, 47, a well-liked clinic receptionist who had over the past several years bounced from seeking protection from an abusive, drinking husband to futile, painful attempts at reconciliation, was fatally shot twice in the head Saturday night at her apartment in Fitchburg, the warrants say.
….In a statement Monday, UW Health officials said Francie Weber had worked at UW Health-Belleville since January 1997 as a clinic receptionist.
Nowadays you’ll likely find John Knuti with his walker. Three years ago, he never imagined he would need one. He described a moment in 2006 when life changed in a humbling instant.
One by one, UW-Madison graduates Saturday extended their hands on the commencement stage for a bare-handed shake with Chancellor Biddy Martin.
So much for swine flu worries.
About 5,000 students were eligible to participate in one of five graduation ceremonies for the campus this weekend â?? UW-Madison officials said hand sanitizer was available at different locations in the Kohl Center.
In a case that could have broad legal implications for when some patients are allowed to die, an advocacy group is alleging that doctors at UW Hospital broke the law by withholding treatment from two developmentally disabled patients with apparent cases of pneumonia.
….In his grand exchange, the president traded away an essential piece of what he had only recently said he believed. When he campaigned, Obama said he supported the “therapeutic cloning of stem cells.” But as president, he has already traded that position for one that some see as more politically realistic.
Under the compromise plan, the president proposed that federal dollars be allowed to pay only for research on stem cell lines created from surplus fertility clinic embryos, but that funds continue to be barred from stem cell lines created in the laboratory to study particular diseases. Also barred is financial support for creating new, genetically matched stem cells for use in the treatment of disease. That is the very “therapeutic cloning” research that the president supported during his campaign.
According to this university website, there are three confirmed cases of the swine flu at UW-Milwaukee. The school reports that none of those who have the H1N1 virus live in university housing, although UW-Milwaukee anticipates “additional cases will be confirmed given the widespread nature of the virus in Milwaukee (319 confirmed cases in Milwaukee County as of May 11).” The university — in the midst of final exams week — will remain open.
The issue of official commencement handshakes has been in the news recently, with some colleges and universities across the country putting in place additional precautions as a result of H1N1 influenza (swine flu).
University of Wisconsin students whose study abroad trips to Mexico were sunk because of flu concerns are being offered other options.
A memorial was unveiled Friday for the University of Wisconsin Med Flight helicopter crew who lost their lives in last year’s crash.
t was one year ago that three men, who dedicated their careers to saving lives, lost theirs when a University of Wisconsin Hospital Med Flight helicopter crashed in La Cross
Thirty-five University of Wisconsin-Madison students expecting to travel to Mexico this month to begin studies won’t be heading south of the border after the university canceled those programs due to the swine flu outbreak.
Chancellor Biddy Martin issued instructions last week to cancel student programs in Mexico that were scheduled to depart before June 1.
The largest long-term health and development study of children ever conducted in the United States is ready to begin in Waukesha, with the University of Wisconsin-Madison one of the research partners.
The National Childrenâ??s Study will start recruiting volunteers on Monday to be part of the long-term study, which intends to track 100,000 children from birth to 21 years old in 105 study locations across the country.
Emergency medical services in Dane County are reducing requests for Med Flight, UW Hospitalâ??s helicopter service, in the wake of a deadly crash a year ago.
Paramedics are no longer asking Med Flight to respond to some cardiac arrests, said Dr. Paul Stiegler, medical director of Dane County EMS.
Actor Michael J. Fox is one of the best known Parkinson sufferers. As of 2006, his foundation gave more than $50 millions dollars to Parkinson research. About $1.2 million of that went to the University of Wisconsin’s stem cell studies.
In 2005, Fox visited the Waisman Center on campus. If the cause isn’t known, Fox hoped at least a treatment, or methods of early detection, could be found.
“I realized the best role for me to play was research, and dole out those dollars to researchers,” he said during a news conference at the center on February 1, 2005.
The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and Pfizer, the number one biopharmaceutical corporation in the world, signed a research license this week for the use of human embryonic stem cells.
Madison (WKOW) — Public Health of Madison and Dane County has confirmed there are now 5 cases of H1N1 or “swine flu” in the county.
All five cases are children.
Influenza. When you normally think about this illness, you picture an annoying sore throat accompanied by a mild fever and head congestion. The current variant of this infection, swine flu, has been receiving considerable attention, now considered nearly a pandemic. The responses to swine flu range from humor to concern with some Mifflin-goers donning masks in the midst of resonating caution as the illness continues to spread across the world.
The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) will allow Pfizer Inc. to use some of its patented human embryonic stem cell lines for the development of new drug therapies.
WARF, the private, nonprofit patenting and licensing arm of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, announced the signing of the licensing agreement Tuesday. Janet Kelly, a spokesperson for WARF, said financial terms of the deal were confidential.
The number of confirmed swine flu cases in Wisconsin increased from three to five Tuesday and the state public health officer said it likely will rise higher, even as some schools closed because of the outbreak prepared to reopen Wednesday.
Most of the 119 probable swine flu cases in Wisconsin will likely be confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the coming days, Dr. Seth Foldy told the state Assembly’s Public Health Committee.
Quoted: Dr. Dennis Maki, UW-Madison professor of medicine
Fear over the H1N1 virus prompts school officials at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh to ban hugs and handshakes during their spring graduation ceremonies.
1,400 seniors will have to find another way to celebrate their college degree.
The University says thousands of parents and relatives are expected at the Kolf Sports Center for commencement.
Public Health Madison and Dane County on Tuesday said the first probable case of the swine flu has been identified in Madison. But the state Department of Health Services isn’t yet calling the case probable and said it is “under investigation.”
Dr. Tom Schlenker, the director of Public Health Madison and Dane County, said the case is a 5-year-old Madison boy who became ill while visiting Mexico and is suspected of having the so-called swine flu, or H1N1 virus.
State Health experts discuss the flu virus at a public hearing at the state capitol.
Dr. Dennis Maki, head of Infectious Diseases at the UW Medical School, tells members of the Assembly Health Committee the H1N1 Influenza A is serious.
Medicare wonâ??t pay for genetic tests to determine patientsâ?? best dose of the blood thinner warfarin, discovered at UW-Madison and named after the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, or WARF.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said Monday there isn’t enough evidence that the tests improve patientsâ?? health â?? though the agency agreed to pay for tests in studies that could lead to more such evidence.
Milwaukee County’s suicide rate among males is higher than other metro areas around the country. That was true even when the economy was better. Now that itâ??s worse, some wonder if those numbers could go higher.
For every 100,000 males in large metro areas across the United States 15.7 will commit suicide. In Milwaukee County, itâ??s 18.1. The numbers come from the National Center for Health Statistics and were reviewed by UW-Madison medical student Zachary Baeseman. They were taken during a six-year period ending in 2005. (10th item.)
Ron King loved the Crazylegs Classic so much that he was buried wearing a T-shirt from the event and one of his trademark red bandanas.
King, in return, was so loved that a group of his family and friends continues to participate in the University of Wisconsinâ??s annual 8-kilometer run with T-shirts bearing his name, publicizing the fight against the disease that killed the onetime state Department of Justice employee just over three years ago.
Feeling that one is being treated unfairly is a sure guarantee of unhappiness and can quickly put a person into a sour mood.
But researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Harvard find that it can also be hazardous to your health.
Library Mall is going to the dogs, and stressed-out students will be glad for it.
The Pet Therapy study break on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus will be on Wednesday from 3:30 to 5 p.m. on Library Mall at the western end of State Street, with staff from University Health Services bringing their dogs to the mall so students can pet and play with the puppies.
The “counseling canines” are intended to reduce the stress that students can feel heading into final exams.
Noted: Research being done at the University of Wisconsin, combined with FluGen’s cell-based vaccine production, could prove vital in studying the virus and developing a successful vaccine, officials said.
Another jump in possible Wisconsin cases of the H1N1 flu strain.
As of Monday afternoon, Wisconsin was up to three confirmed and 102 probable cases of Influenza-A, also known as the Swine Flu. The number of probable cases is up from 65 on Sunday, although the number of confirmed cases did not increase.
Milwaukee County currently has the highest number of suspected cases, with 48 probable infections. There are also two confirmed cases in that area. The state’s other confirmed case is in Adams County.
The number of probable swine flu cases in Wisconsin has risen to 66. Meanwhile Wisconsin’s Congressional delegation is backing federal funds to boost research on a new flu vaccine technology at U-W Madison. Gil Halsted reports. (Audio.)
Around Thanksgiving 2005 a teenage boy helped his brother-in-law butcher 31 pigs at a local Wisconsin slaughterhouse, and a week later the 17-year-old pinned down another pig while it was gutted. In the lead-up to the holidays the boy’s family bought a chicken and kept the animal in their home, out of the harsh Sheboygan autumn. On Dec. 7, the teenager came down with the flu, suffering an illness that lasted three days. He visited a local clinic, then fully recovered, and nobody else in his family took ill.      Â
The greatest gift parents can give young children is a healthy, loving, consistent and nurturing relationship, regardless of what other challenges they may face in their environment, says child development expert Nan Brien.
Brien’s talk follows three brain investigators associated with the Waisman Center and University of Wisconsin-Madison who spoke on the impact of such issues as autism, fetal alcohol exposure, maternal depression and preterm birth. She said her role in the series is to offer some of the practical advice and strategies that will help parents and caregivers apply what they have learned about early brain development from the scientists.
Noted: Long before this outbreak of swine flu, University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Vicki Bier imagined the worst. She authored a report in 2007 that makes the case that pandemic diseases aren’t just health problems.
“It’s not just something you can hand off to public health (departments) and say, ‘Fix it for us,'” said Bier, a professor in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering.
Noted: “The volume of specimens coming into my laboratory has been sharply increasing, and we would anticipate that given the public health concern,” said Pete Shult, director of the communicable disease division of the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene, who is overseeing the testing.
Dr. Christopher Olsen, a swine flu expert at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said having this H1N1 influenza A virus go back into swine creates opportunities for it to pick up genetic mutations or swap genes with other flu viruses. Canadaâ??s swine flu caseload swelled Sunday to 101 after health officials in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba Quebec, Ontario and Nova Scotia reported new confirmed cases. Worldwide the WHO confirmed 787 cases in 17 countries.
Another great example of UW-Madison helping ordinary people and the economy in Wisconsin came Friday with the announcement of a $6.9 million federal grant for Alzheimer’s research.
UW-Madison is now home to a major national center focused on Alzheimer’s.
This will boost UW’s ability to attract more brain power and money for further studies. It also will give families struggling with the disease more hope for tests and therapies to prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s terrible symptoms.
Armando Muyolema, an Ecuadorian who lectures on Latin America at UW-Madison, said his eighth-grade daughter came home from school on Wednesday upset.
State public health officials said Saturday that the number of probable swine flu cases in Wisconsin now stands at 66.
State health officer Dr. Seth Foldy told reporters Saturday afternoon that most of the cases appear to be mild.
Earlier on Saturday, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services said the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed three cases of swine flu in Wisconsin. They are the state’s first confirmed cases of the disease.
To date, there are now five probable cases of swine flu identified in Wisconsin. Of all the scientists around the world monitoring the outbreak, one of the leading researchers lives and works right here in Wisconsin. Chris Olsen is a molecular virologist who studies swine flu at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine in Madison. He talked to WPRâ??s Terry Bell about the latest developments. (Audio.)
As the flu continues to spread, Madison is an epicenter of sorts.
Tireless work is happening by experts at the University of Wisconsin while one local company is working to make sure we’re better prepared in the future. The work is grabbing the attention of federal lawmakers.
The problems are worldwide but this is a local fight.
Dr. Yoshihiro Kawaoka is one of the worlds leading experts on pandemic flu. From his home at the UW Influenza Research Institute he’s been in constant contact with the World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
At his flu institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, researcher Yoshihiro Kawaoka is already studying the swine flu virus, prodding its genes for signs of weakness.
At his nearby company, FluGen, Kawaoka is developing vaccines for swine flu, bird flu and regular flu.
“I work on anything about the flu,” said the renown scientist, who received a sample of the swine flu virus last week from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Forget the face masks and stethoscopes, UW researcher Vicki Bier uses calculators to study the spread of the Swine Flu.
She says public health professionals, businesses, and local governments need to consider how a health emergency can threaten jobs.
MADISON, Wis. — Health officials are now reporting nine probable cases of swine flu in the state.
The latest probable case is in Rock County, while Waukesha County authorities have reported at least three probable cases of swine flu and closed three schools for at least a week.
Rock County Public Health Officer Karen Cain said the case there involved an adult male who had traveled to an infected area before developing symptoms.
The Rock County Health Department was notified Friday that a probable case of swine flu was identified in an adult male in the county.
Wisconsin also reported three other cases Friday in Waukesha County, while Gov. Jim Doyle has declared a health emergency. The state lab ramped up testing, and experts said the danger lies in the potential of the virus to kill more than regular flu does.
Laura J. Knoll, associate professor in the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health, has been named one of 12 winners of the 2008 Hartwell Individual Biomedical Research Awards, the UW announced.
In light of the stateâ??s first probable cases of the H1N1 swine flu, Gov. Jim Doyle signed an executive order Thursday declaring a public health emergency in Wisconsin.
A hundred cases of swine flu in the U.S.? Health officials say there are likely more. Just how many is not important, they say. As the world faces a potential pandemic, swamped labs are not testing all possible cases. Getting an exact tally has taken a back seat to finding new outbreak hot spots or ways to limits its spread, health officials said.
“The specimens are coming in faster than they can possibly be tested,” said Dr. Jeffrey P. Davis, state epidemiologist in Wisconsin, where a lab helped spot the nation’s first known case, in a 10-year-old boy from San Diego.
In the last two days, the Wisconsin State Laboratoy of Hygiene “had a huge spike,” about 150 samples of suspected swine flu cases, said its communicable disease chief, Pete Shult. Wisconsin has five probable cases awaiting CDC confirmation.
Gov. Jim Doyle signed an executive order Thursday declaring a public health emergency in Wisconsin as the result of the swine flu outbreak.
A number of American universities are calling off faculty and student travel to Mexico, and at least one is evacuating students from the country. The list includes campuses from Western Illinois to Dartmouth College in New Hampshire and Tulane University in Louisiana.
(UW-Madison is mentioned.)
Quoted: ‘Let’s not lose track of the fact that the normal seasonal influenza is a huge public health problem that kills tens of thousands of people in the U.S. alone and hundreds of thousands around the world,’ Dr Christopher Olsen, a molecular virologist who studies swine flu at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine, told reporters.
Gov. Jim Doyle declared a public health emergency Thursday after two more probable cases of swine flu were identified, bringing the state’s total to five.
Doyle signed an executive order giving the state health department the power to take all necessary steps to prevent and respond to flu cases and distribute anti-viral stockpiles, among other things.
Wisconsin reported two more probable cases of swine flu Thursday, as Gov. Jim Doyle declared a health emergency, the state lab ramped up testing and experts said the danger lies in the potential of the virus to kill more than regular flu does.
The new cases are in young adults from Ozaukee County and Sheboygan County, north of Milwaukee, said Dr. Seth Foldy, state health officer. Three probable cases were reported Wednesday â?? two in Milwaukee and one in Adams County.
UW-Madisonâ??s Alzheimerâ??s disease research program, which runs the countryâ??s largest study of children of parents with the disease, is about to expand significantly.
The university is now home to one of 17 major national Alzheimerâ??s Disease Research Centers, officials will announce Friday.
A leading expert in Wisconsin on swine flu virus is urging caution, before there’s any projection about the potential of this current disease strain.
UW-Madison School of Veterinary School of Veterinary Medicine swine flu virus expert, Dr. Christopher Olsen has been quoted by ABC News, and L.A.Times and other national news outlets that this current epidemic may not be much different than regular flu outbreaks.
“My reason for making those comments is that we have some framework in which to rationally think about what has happened up to this point,” Olsen said.
Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle declared a public health emergency Thursday after two more probable cases of swine flu were identified in Wisconsin.
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services said Thursday afternoon that probable cases have been found in “young adults” in Sheboygan and Ozaukee counties. Local health officials said neither person has needed to be hospitalized.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison has done a study looking at the effects of a pandemic on schools, businesses and the working poor in Wisconsin.
Professor Vicki Bier said she and others tried to stay away from recommendations in the study. But, for example, it says if local health departments close schools, they should do it early to be effective.
