The United States is seeing the biggest outbreak of West Nile virus since 1999, when the disease was first reported in the country. (Dan Bergstrom/Flickr Creative Commons)
This year's outbreak of West Nile virus in the U.S. is on track to be the biggest since the disease first hit the country in 1999, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and U.S. News & World Report has tips on how to avoid contracting it.
KPCC reports on a national study that found wide health gaps among black, Latino and white children and indicated that in nearly every parameter they looked at – alcohol and cigarette consumption, obesity and exposure to violence, to name just a few – white children fared better than their black and Latino counterparts.
Icelandic researchers have found that the number of genetic mutations in kids can be directly linked to how old their fathers were at the time of conception. The BBC says disorders like schizophrenia and autism were linked to newborns' having an older father, and that their father's age was more likely to affect their health than their mother's.
HealthDay has news on a poll that found that many obese Americans report facing discrimination and stigma because of their weight – and that as that weight rises, so does the stigma, affecting folks' work and social lives.
Also on weight: The Huffington Post says doctors are reporting that bariatric surgery – also called weight-loss surgery – can prevent a patient from developing diabetes.
Finally, Canadian researchers have found that low-income kids who spend more than two hours a day in front of a screen tend to also drink a lot of soda, which can "displace consumption of water and milk" and negatively affect health in general.
Photo by Dan Bergstrom via Flickr Creative Commons.
