The illness causes red blood cells to be shaped abnormally, and that impacts blood flow. Sickle cell disease can be painful and cause further issues with bones, joints and organs.
The health group said this “often-misunderstood condition” causes red blood cells to have an abnormal shape and structure, which impacts blood flow. It can cause pain, as well as issues with bones, joints and organs.
The clinic will help fight a disease that disproportionately impacts people of color.
Quoted: Dr. Nasia Safdar, medical director of infection control at UW Hospital, and Dr. James Conway, a UW Health pediatrician who specializes in infectious diseases.
UW Health is encouraging drivers to keep an eye out for children who are walking or biking on the roads as they return to school in the next week. The number of traffic deaths in Dane County has already exceeded the total for all of 2020, especially when it comes to pedestrian crashes.
Shiva Bidar, vice president for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, will expand the scope of her work to also become the inaugural Associate Dean for Diversity and Equity Transformation for the UW School of Medicine and Public Health, the organization announced on Monday. Bidar starts her new position on Monday, Oct. 11.
The American College of Cardiology awarded UW Hospital with its Platinum Performance Achievement Award Friday.It marks the 10th consecutive year that UW Health has gotten an award for exceptional care of heart attack patients.
This is the tenth year in a row University Hospital has received the American College of Cardiology’s NCDR Chest Pain- MI Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award
After wearing a headlight during long operations gave him neck and back pain, a UW Health transplant surgeon developed a flexible snake light that might improve doctor comfort.
Many schools require students to have health insurance and offer university-sponsored plans, said Jake Baggott, a past president of the American College Health Association and an associate vice chancellor of student affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He said that while some university health programs are equipped to deal with more complex medical issues or diagnostics, others are not. Students need to be clear on the details, such as whether their policy covers off-campus care.
Video: UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank details the university’s plans to combat a likely increase in COVID cases on campus due to the highly-contagious delta variant with in-person classes starting September.
The Assembly Majority Leader said Thursday he is not on board with suing the University of Wisconsin System over control of its COVID-19 policies, as one Republican senator has called on legislative leaders to do.
Wisconsin needs more Tommy Thompson and less Steve Nass.
Thompson, the former Republican governor, put his foot down this week when a meddlesome group from his own party tried to tell him how to run the University of Wisconsin System.
Alverno College announced Thursday that all students, staff and faculty must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Nov. 1.
The second-highest ranking member of the state Assembly said Thursday he does not support suing the University of Wisconsin System to control campuses’ COVID-19 policies, an idea pitched by a fellow Republican earlier this week to legislative leaders.
UW-Madison is launching a new research center to study the applications of certain psychedelic substances. The Center for Research in Psychoactive Substances will study the scientific, cultural and historical aspects of everything from ecstasy to magic mushrooms.
“We typically don’t have significant disease concerns with them,” said PJ Liesch, a University of Wisconsin entomologist. “These floodwater mosquitoes can be a nuisance, and they can lead to lots of bites and things like that, but in many cases they aren’t carrying diseases like West Nile virus.”
Quoted: “This is an appeal, really, to school administrators and other officials in schools, and most importantly to parents and anyone whose decision-making about masks in schools,” said Dr. Ellen Wald, a University of Wisconsin-Madison pediatrician who was one of nearly 500 doctors to sign the open letter from UW Health released Wednesday. “We think this is such an important intervention.”
Wald emphasized that masking everyone in schools has universal support among the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services and other health agencies.
UW System interim President Tommy Thompson won’t be deterred by Republican lawmakers who say he needs their approval to enact COVID-19 regulations on campuses, he said Tuesday.
The University of Wisconsin System will not cooperate with legislative efforts to control campuses’ COVID-19 policies, interim System President Tommy Thompson said Tuesday in his strongest rebuke of Republicans to date.
Column by interim UW System president Thomnpson: The University of Wisconsin System owns a critical responsibility to open our classrooms this September to deliver the in-person education students deserve and parents expect. And we are planning to do just that. Unfortunately, some want us to ignore our unambiguous authority and duty under Wisconsin law to protect the “health, safety, and welfare of the university.”
Noted: We discuss the public and mental health ramifications of climate change and climate advocacy among health professionals with Dr. Claire Gervais.
Claire Gervais, MD is a family practice physician and is a Clinical Associate Professor with the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She is a member of the Wisconsin Environmental Health Network and actively works on a number of environmental issues including climate change and eliminating fossil fuel dependence.
University of Wisconsin System interim President Tommy Thompson says he will not comply with an order from Republican state lawmakers to submit COVID-19 safety restrictions and requirements for their approval. Thompson said he doesn’t think the state Legislature will sue over the matter but said if it goes to court he’s confident the UW will win.
UW-Madison is starting a center to expand its research on psychedelic drugs such as psilocybin and MDMA, which have shown promise in treating conditions such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
AUW-Madison plan to temporarily house students who are exposed to or infected with COVID-19 in university-owned apartments worries residents who live there, many of whom have young children who cannot yet get vaccinated.
A literature review by UW Health experts has identified chronic pain as a long-lasting symptom of COVID-19.
A new UW Health literature review acknowledges that pain — especially headache and chest pain — has long been associated with COVID-19 infections throughout the pandemic. However, medical director Dr. Alaa Abd-Elsayed says that long-lasting chronic pain indicates the virus may impact the human body in ways experts are just starting to understand.
Catacutan, a Filipino-American college student entering her sophomore year at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said it was hard to cope with the social isolation, virtual learning environment and anxiety over her family’s well-being plus the rise in anti-Asian hate during the pandemic.
Quoted: The U.S. health system excels at the specialized, high-tech care provided by the most advanced neonatal intensive care units in Wisconsin.
“You probably won’t find newborn intensive care that’s any better in the world,” said Philip M. Farrell, a specialist in neonatology and former dean of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.
Quoted: Because schools can’t be separated from their larger communities, some of those cases will spill into schools, as well, said University of Wisconsin-Madison pediatric disease researcher Dr. Greg DeMuri. Those are “primary cases,” or cases of COVID-19 that were picked up at home, at birthday parties and other places in the community. He said the more concerning question is whether there are “secondary cases,” or cases of COVID-19 that were transmitted between students and staff within the school.
“Those are the ones that we really worry about,” he said. “That’s the one that tells you, ‘Hey, it’s dangerous for kids to be in school.'”
Dr. Nicholas Kuehnel, medical director of Pediatric Emergency Medicine at American Family Children’s Hospital, said the trend in these items being swallowed has grown in the past few months to about one case per week in the ER. “We have had several kids require surgery to remove Orbeez from their airway and stomach,” said Dr. Kuehnel. “We’ve also performed several surgeries to remove dead bowel from kids who swallowed Bucky Balls.”
The University of Wisconsin-Madison announced a weekly COVID-19 testing requirement Wednesday for all students and employees who do not show proof of vaccination against COVID-19.
Effective Aug. 30, all individuals that have not shared their proof of vaccination with University Health Services (UHS) will be required to test weekly for COVID-19. In the previous academic year, students and employees were required to test twice a week to access university facilities.
The University of Wisconsin Health System has started accepting appointments for certain immunocompromised individuals who originally received the Moderna or Pfizer forms of the COVID-19 vaccine to receive a booster shot.
University of Wisconsin- Madison students and employees who are not vaccinated against the coronavirus will be subject to weekly COVID-19 testing starting Aug. 30, officials announced Wednesday.
University of Wisconsin-Madison students and staff who can’t or won’t show proof of vaccination will have to undergo weekly COVID-19 testing, the school announced Wednesday.
When I had an opportunity to become vaccinated against COVID-19 last spring, I didn’t hesitate. The vaccine clearly was the best way for me to protect myself and the people I care about from death or hospitalization due to COVID. I was also eager to do my part to help our society beat back this insidious disease.
As more mask requirements return, like Dane County reinstating a mask mandate in all indoor public spaces, people are heading to Amazon or other stores to stock up on masks. A group of engineers from UW-Madison wants to remind the public about the Badger Seal.
Things were finally getting back to normal, or so it seemed. Now, with UW-Madison re-instituting a mask mandate on campus as of Aug. 5 and Dane County Public Health recommending that everyone mask up regardless of vaccination status, it feels in many ways like we’re right back where we started in March of 2020.
With the fall semester fast approaching and in-person classes set to begin on Wednesday, Sept. 8, UW-Madison’s COVID-19 protocol has become central to the campus-wide discourse.
She is enrolled in a pancreatic cancer prevention program at the University of Wisconsin and will undergo screening. Because she had previously had a hysterectomy to treat benign ovarian cysts, ovarian cancer is not a concern.
This followed a demand by state-senate Republicans that the twenty-six campuses of the University of Wisconsin submit all covid safety protocols to legislators for approval. A few hours later, the University of Wisconsin at Madison announced indoor mask requirements to protect students and staff. “Today’s action feels like a political statement,” a university spokesman told reporters, explaining that university leaders “are doing what needs to be done now to safely open for in-person teaching this fall.” (The university system is led by Tommy Thompson, a pragmatic Republican former governor, who once served as the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services.)
As COVID-19 cases continue to surge, UW Health said Monday its clinical trial of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine in children under 12 — the only age group not yet eligible for vaccination in the United States — has already filled up after enrollment opened three days ago.
Every University of Wisconsin System campus in the state has instituted mask requirements or expectations for individuals regardless of their vaccination status as the number of new coronavirus cases rises. The measures come amid an effort by Republican lawmakers to block COVID-19 restrictions at universities.
UW Health has opened its own lab for cancer blood tests and recruited a scientist who helped invent a related technology licensed by Exact Sciences. For some cancer patients whose tumors are hard to reach or might have genetic mutations targeted by available drugs, UW doctors have started ordering blood tests instead of traditional tissue biopsies, typically with quicker results to guide treatment.
UW-Health announced Thursday it will conduct COVID-19 vaccine trials for kids under 12 through Moderna. Madison parents are weighing in on their thoughts about kids receiving the vaccine
Aclinical trial of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine in children under 12 will start enrolling participants at UW Health Friday, as researchers and regulators move closer to potentially authorizing shots for the only age group not yet eligible in the United States.
The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health has been picked as a site for a phase three clinical trial meant to test the safety and efficacy of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for children.
Vaccinating children as young as 6 months of age against COVID-19 may become the new front in the global pandemic fight, if the vaccines prove to be safe and effective.
One such trial by the American pharmaceutical company Moderna will begin enrolling children 6 months through 11 years old on Friday at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. UW will be one of 75 to 100 sites in the U.S. and Canada for the trial, which has been named the KidCOVE study.
The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health has been selected for a clinical trial evaluating the safety and effectiveness of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine in children.
Aclinical trial of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine in children under 12 will start enrolling participants at UW Health Friday, as researchers and regulators move closer to potentially authorizing shots for the only age group not yet eligible in the United States.
A news release from UW Health said anyone who experiences COVID symptoms such as coughing, runny nose, sore threat, fever and loss of taste or smell should get tested. People who have been exposed to the virus or anyone who is travelling should also go in for testing, according to the latest guidelines from state and federal health experts.
In statements to 27 News, UW Health, UnityPoint Health – Meriter and SSM Health defended their decisions to require employee vaccinations. “Ninety percent of our employees were fully vaccinated before we announced our requirement and we’ve received a lot of positive response since the announcement. Our UW Health team understands how important vaccinations are to providing safe care and for ending this long pandemic.”
To illustrate this point, Black, Latino and American Indians were more likely than whites to volunteer for a clinical trial if invited by a member of the same race, according to the “Voices Heard Survey” of more than 400 Wisconsin residents. This shows how tailored messaging can help, says Dorothy Farrar Edwards, faculty director of the University of Wisconsin Collaborative Center for Health Equity, which conducted the survey.
At UW Health, 90% of employees were fully vaccinated before its mandate was adopted last week requiring immunizations by Nov. 1, said spokesperson Emily Kumlien. “Our UW Health team understands how important vaccinations are to providing safe care and for ending this long pandemic,” she said.
Noted: Giulio Tononi, a neuroscientist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, has developed something called the integrated information theory of consciousness (IIT). IIT holds that consciousness is actually a kind of information and can be measured mathematically, though doing so is not very straightforward and has caused some to discount the theory.
Quoted: Epidemiologist Ajay Sethi teaches a class at the University of Wisconsin-Madison called conspiracies in public health. He says misinformation can have serious consequences and if people see or hear something that’s wrong, they should try and counter it, similar to rejecting racist remarks or actions.
“I don’t tell my students to do this, but I tell them maybe we should draw on the principles of calling out racism,” said Sethi. “If you see something, say something, recognizing you may be talking to a Russian bot online. So, we have to decide when our efforts are worth it.”
But the System has so far resisted those calls, taking the same position that the majority of other colleges have in strongly encouraging but stopping short of requiring that students get the shots. Many UW campuses are instead offering incentives such as laptops, gift cards and tickets to sporting events.
Peanut butter sandwiches and canned foods.
That’s what made up most of the diet of one student in the first year of professional school at UW-Madison.
Fresh fruit and vegetables were too expensive; time to prepare much of anything nutritious was impossible.
Quoted: Thomas Friedrich is a professor of virology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and another study author. He said vaccination, while extremely effective, is not necessarily a magic shield.
“This does not indicate that the vaccine is not effective,” said Friedrich. “What it does mean is that in some people who are vaccinated — at least for a certain amount of time after infection — there’s enough virus around in their systems that they could pass the virus on to others.”
Dave O’Connor, also a UW-Madison professor of virology and the third co-author of the study, said it’s important to continue to recalibrate expectations as circumstances change.
“The vaccines are imperfect, but they’re still going to help keep me out of the hospital right now, and we should be really thankful for that,” said O’Connor. “But we also need to be on guard, because just because we might be done with the virus doesn’t mean the virus is done with us.”
