Articles by SA STAFF

The measles outbreak in Minnesota is being blamed on Anti Vaccine activists who often target the Somali community with propaganda that falsely connects autism to vaccines. There are now 54 confirmed cases in Minnesota and 48 of them are unvaccinated Somali children under the age of 10. Measles is a highly infectious disease that can even be deadly. The outbreak in Minnesota started less than 6 weeks ago with one unvaccinated child and since then it has spread to 53 people in four different counties. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says “measles is so contagious that if one person has it, 90% of the people close to that person who are not immune will also become infected.” The unvaccinated rate among Somali Americans started plummeting back in 2008 when the anti-vaccine community started organizing events in Somali neighborhoods that linked autism to the MMR vaccine. Prior to that, Somali children had a higher than average vaccination rate of 94% and since then that rate has dropped to 42%. That is a dangerously low vaccination rate and it is being considered an epidemic by health officials in Minnesota. That led many to ask the question, is anti-vaccine propaganda protected under the…

Most of you know that smoking cigarettes is bad for you. The smoke gets into your lungs and over time causes cancer. But you may not know that secondhand smoke – the smoke released into the air by the smoker – is bad for everyone in the room with the smoker! Breathing in secondhand smoke makes it more likely to get lung cancer and many other types of cancer. Breathing in secondhand smoke is also not good for your heart. If you live with a smoker or frequently spend time in the company of people who smoke, this article is for you! It could change your life! Secondhand smoke is the smoke a smoker breathes out and that comes from the tip of burning cigarettes, pipes, and cigars. It contains about 4,000 chemicals. Let me explain more about what secondhand smoke is and why it is so harmful. When you are sitting with a person who is smoking, you inhale the same dangerous chemicals as the smoker. The smoker will inhale only 15% of the harmful smoke into his/her lungs, the rest is blown out in to the room. Everyone in this room breathes in the secondhand smoke into their…

An outbreak that started with two brothers and their friend grew to 20 confirmed measles cases in Minneapolis. All the victims of the outbreak come from the Somali community and were not vaccinated. Health officials are tracing the outbreak back to one unvaccinated child who travelled outside the country. Minnesota Department of Health infectious disease director, Kris Ehersman said, “”This outbreak has nothing to do with being Somali. It is absolutely an outbreak that is driven by unvaccinated children and that is what the source is.” Measles is a serious disease that can lead to death. Symptoms include a high fever, cough, runny nose and watery eyes followed by a rash that typically spreads from head to the rest of the body. It is highly contagious and spreads easily by coughing, sneezing or even being in the same room with someone who has measles. Measles was eradicated in the US back in 2000 and all measles cases since then were linked to international travel. Random cases are reported around the country but are almost always linked to international travel. The last outbreak in Minnesota was in 2001. Before 2008, the vaccination rate among Somalis was considered to be slightly higher…

Women planning to get pregnant have to take steps to make sure that they are healthy. Avoiding exposure to harmful behaviors and toxins before they conceive can decrease the chance of problems during pregnancy and improve the health of their baby. Preconception Care is the care a woman receives before she gets pregnant to help promote a healthy pregnancy. Scheduling a preconception care visit with your doctor can improve the overall chances of a healthy pregnancy. Your doctor will likely recommend you to take the following steps: Develop a Plan For Your Reproductive Life This plan includes your and your husband’s plans for the number and timing of pregnancies based on your values and life goals. Sharing your life plan with your health care provider can help address any potential problems before you conceive.2 Increase Your Intake of Folic Acid Folic acid is a B vitamin (B9). It helps produce and maintain new cells. This is especially important during times when the cells are dividing and growing rapidly such as infancy and pregnancy. The United States Public Health Service recommends that all pregnant women and “women of childbearing age [15 to 44 years] in the United States who are capable…