Outbreak

Forecasters are watching an expected outbreak of severe weather from Illinois to Maryland that some are likening to last June's derecho; one meteorologist predicted it would be a "multi billion dollar storm" causing massive power outages. Storms were developing in Illinois and Wisconsin early Wednesday evening, bringing tornado threats from there through Indiana and into Ohio. Meteorologists say conditions could be conducive for those storms to strengthen into a massive squall line packing up to 70 mph winds, large hail and heavy rain.

A lightning strike injured a Cecil County zookeeper, half-dollar-sized hail fell in several counties and tornado sightings sent people scurrying for shelter from Rockville to Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. Yet the worst fears of weather forecasters didn't materialize Thursday. The National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center called the first of two systems that darkened skies and dumped rain Thursday a "low-end" derecho, known for powerful winds that travel in a straight line over hundreds of miles.

Question: : I had severe leg cramps and read about putting a bar of soap under the sheet. I tried this and found it stopped them immediately. Even more astonishing, it also banished my intermittent erectile dysfunction. I checked out the ingredients of Ivory soap and found it contains magnesium sulfate. Paramedics use this compound to treat heart attacks or asthma because it relaxes smooth muscle fibers found in blood vessels and airways. I wonder if magnesium is absorbed from the soap through the skin of the legs and feet, increasing blood flow.

Forecasters are watching an expected outbreak of severe weather from Illinois to Maryland that some are likening to last June's derecho; one meteorologist predicted it would be a "multi billion dollar storm" causing massive power outages. Storms were developing in Illinois and Wisconsin early Wednesday evening, bringing tornado threats from there through Indiana and into Ohio. Meteorologists say conditions could be conducive for those storms to strengthen into a massive squall line packing up to 70 mph winds, large hail and heavy rain.

A new strain of hand-foot-and-mouth disease has been sickening local children and sending many scared parents to the pediatrician and emergency room, according to Johns Hopkins pediatric dermatologists . But the doctors say most cases are benign and clear up in a little over a week without treatment. Hopkins doctors have seen almost 50 cases in recent months and fielded many more phone calls from parents and doctors, according to Dr. Bernard Cohen, director of pediatric dermatology at Hopkins Children's Center . And he said most cases are probably seen in primary care pediatricians' offices.

Technicians at the Cape Apothecary compounding pharmacy in Annapolis spend their days mixing drugs that are no longer sold commercially or creating specialized batches of medicine for patients such as children who can't handle the normal dose. Federal officials have linked a compounding pharmacy in New England to a multistate outbreak of meningitis that has infected 119 people, including eight in Maryland. The owner of Cape Apothecary said there is a big difference between his storefront drugstore and the New England Compounding Center in Framingham, Mass.: size.

The pharmacy at the center of a fungal meningitis outbreak that has hit 19 states said Friday it has declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Massachusetts. The New England Compounding Center also said it plans to establish a fund to compensate those affected by the outbreak. The outbreak has sickened 620 people and killed 39. In Maryland, 25 people have gotten ill and two have died. The outbreak is linked to three lots of a steroid injection used to treat back pain that clinics and medical facilities bought from New England Compounding Center.

The current wave of pandemic H1N1 flu appears to have peaked, with four weeks of declines in several key indicators, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday. Despite those declines, the outbreak is continuing to take a heavy toll of hospitalizations and deaths, especially among children. Widespread activity of swine flu was reported in 32 states in the week ending Nov. 21, down from 43 states in the week before and 48 a month ago. Between Aug. 30 and Nov. 21, there were 29,348 laboratory-confirmed swine flu hospitalizations and 1,224 deaths in the United States, although those numbers are generally assumed to be very low. New figures are expected in a couple of weeks, but two weeks ago the CDC estimated that at least 4,000 people had died from swine flu, 98,000 had been hospitalized and 22 million had contracted the virus.

A national outbreak of fungal meningitis linked to a tainted steroid killed two Marylanders. Nearly two dozen people living with the disease and hundreds of others who may have been exposed fear they may be next. Sheila Smelkinson began suffering in July from pain in her lower back and right leg that kept the Pikesville resident awake for all but a few hours each night. Cortisone shots, one in August and a second in September, relieved her discomfort - until she received a call informing her the medication was among batches contaminated with fungus in a Massachusetts pharmaceutical facility.

Local melon growers and retailers are trying to reassure consumers after listeria linked to cantaloupe from a Colorado farm killed 13 people across the country, including one in Maryland — the deadliest foodborne outbreak in more than a decade. While federal public health officials have warned of the potential for more deaths, state officials are reaching out to retailers to ensure they're aware of the recall, and the produce industry is working to contain the crisis. Meanwhile, some consumers are putting off cantaloupe purchases.

State health officials don't know how often Marylanders use medications mixed in facilities lacking safety oversight, like a Massachusetts facility linked to three deaths here, but a newly passed law could tell them — and help demonstrate a gap in federal regulation. Batches of sterile drugs from so-called compounding pharmacies will be subject to state review under the measure Gov. Martin O'Malley signed this month. And pharmacists and doctors who perform compounding, in which drugs are somehow altered from their Food and Drug Administration-approved form, will face an extra layer of permits and inspections for drugs used in Maryland.

A global nonprofit that battles the spread of viruses has moved into the University of Maryland BioPark after sprouting from the university's Institute of Human Virology. Global Virus Network is the west side research park's newest tenant. It moved from incubator space in the virology institute, within the University of Maryland School of Medicine. GVN combines the resources and expertise of 30 virology research centers in 21 countries, helping them to share information and ideas to explore vaccine development, understand virus behavior and respond to viral outbreaks.

A national outbreak of fungal meningitis linked to a tainted steroid killed two Marylanders. Nearly two dozen people living with the disease and hundreds of others who may have been exposed fear they may be next. Sheila Smelkinson began suffering in July from pain in her lower back and right leg that kept the Pikesville resident awake for all but a few hours each night. Cortisone shots, one in August and a second in September, relieved her discomfort - until she received a call informing her the medication was among batches contaminated with fungus in a Massachusetts pharmaceutical facility.

The pharmacy at the center of a fungal meningitis outbreak that has hit 19 states said Friday it has declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Massachusetts. The New England Compounding Center also said it plans to establish a fund to compensate those affected by the outbreak. The outbreak has sickened 620 people and killed 39. In Maryland, 25 people have gotten ill and two have died. The outbreak is linked to three lots of a steroid injection used to treat back pain that clinics and medical facilities bought from New England Compounding Center.

John C. "Jack" Millhausen, an 84-year-old Fallston resident, is at least the second Marylander to die of fungal meningitis in a national epidemic that experts say is slowing but about which many questions remain. Millhausen died Nov. 15 at Gilchrist Hospice Care in Towson, his family said, not long after receiving a spinal shot of a contaminated steroid, several batches of which have caused nearly 600 cases of infections and 37 deaths across the country. Maryland health officials confirmed a second death in the state from the outbreak on Monday but would not confirm that it was Millhausen's, citing confidentiality rules.

A second person has died in Maryland in connection with a fungal meningitis outbreak tied to tainted steroid injections that has resulted in hundreds of infections across the country, according to new statistics released Monday. In all, 25 cases have been identified in the state, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Details of the death were not immediately available. The first Maryland death was reported in October. Nationally, a total of 590 cases have been identified and 37 people have died in the outbreak, which involves patients who received steroid injections tied to the distributor New England Compounding Center in Framingham, Mass.

Will preparations for pandemic flu incorporate important lessons from Hurricane Katrina? President Bush unveiled a $7.1 billion plan Tuesday that concentrates on expanding production and stockpiles of vaccine and antiviral medicine. It may still fall far short of what is needed. The Bush plan has prioritized protection of pharmaceutical company profits with broad protection against liability suits but did not suggest how low-income families without prescription medicine coverage will pay for medications.

Baltimore Health Department investigators say they have controlled an outbreak of tuberculosis among gay and bisexual men who belong to African-American social clubs that stage dance competitions along the East Coast. The department found 19 active and 23 dormant cases of TB, a serious respiratory infection. The outbreak came to light in mid-1998 and was contained within a year when health officials traced the disease to members of clubs known as "houses." More than half of the men who contracted tuberculosis were also infected with the AIDS virus, which lowers defenses against disease.

- Pikesville resident Gerald Cohen was an active 71-year-old retiree, filling his free time with gardening, volunteering and enjoying the company of his grandchildren despite persistent back pain - until he sought relief for it. Treated with steroids in the past, he received spinal injections of the medication again in August and September at a Baltimore-area clinic. But this time, side effects came quickly and severely - nausea, neck stiffness, fever and eventually a stroke. Aside from the physical ailments, he grew irritable and started seeing a psychologist over nightly worries that he wouldn't wake up the next morning.

Naomi Morgan reached her limit when her doctor recommended a third surgery for chronic back pain. Tired of being cut open only to have the pain return, Morgan, a 65-year-old nursing assistant, began looking for a less invasive and hopefully more effective way to treat her ailment, which she thinks started from lifting patients or moving furniture. She turned to a chiropractor, whom Morgan credits for helping her manage her back pain for the past 21 years with stretching, realignments and other treatments.