These women work to kick colon cancer in ‘Worldclass’ style
(NEW YORK) — A growing number of people under 50 are being diagnosed with more advanced stages of colon cancer, according to the American Cancer Society.
The 2020 death of 43-year-old actor Chadwick Boseman due to colon cancer drew attention to the shift, and “Dawson’s Creek” star James Van Der Beek, 47, announced his Stage 3 colorectal cancer diagnosis in November.
A diagnosis at a younger age was also the case for Brooks Bell, a Raleigh, North Carolina, entrepreneur who ran a data analytics company. At 38, she was alarmed to discover blood after using the rest room.
She said she called a telehealth doctor, who told her it may be hemorrhoids. She decided to get second and third opinions, which led to a colonoscopy referral and diagnosis.
“I found out that it was Stage 3 colon cancer,” Bell told “GMA3.”
In a different case, Los Angeles stylist Sarah Beran’s doctors suspected a parasite could be causing her symptoms. Ultimately, she said a colonoscopy revealed the truth.
“They found over 100 polyps on my colon, a mass on my rectum,” the 34-year-old said. “And that’s when my world changed.”
She had to undergo a colon transplant and 12 rounds of chemotherapy.
Even though the pair lived on opposite sides of the U.S., their experiences brought them together after Bell shared her story online.
“I reached out and asked her how I could get involved and help, so that more people don’t have to go through what we went through,” Beran said. “And we teamed up.”
The duo dreamed up a fashion brand with a cause, Worldclass. The streetwear and athleisure line includes hoodies, crewneck sweatshirts, tees, hats and totes — all designed to break the stigma about colon cancer.
“All proceeds go towards a colonoscopy fund that helps underinsured communities get screened,” Beran said. “So literally saving lives through fashion.”
Convincing people to get screenings has a specific goal, Bell noted.
“With colon cancer, we should be talking about prevention, being able to avoid the entire cancer experience, period, rather than just talking about early detection,” she said.
A proactive approach to health can make a huge difference, according to Beran.
“A colonoscopy is way easier than going through chemo and the surgeries and all the icky stuff that we went through,” she said. “So we’re lucky that we did catch ours in time and that we did advocate for ourselves. And we got in there and got our colonoscopies. And now we’re here now telling our story.”
Flu activity is increasing slightly among children while RSV activity is elevated in the southern, central and eastern U.S., according to data updated Monday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
As of the week ending Nov. 23, the latest date for which data is available, 0.6% of emergency department visits were for flu and 0.4% were for RSV. While the overall percentages are low, they are higher than the percentages at the beginning of October, CDC data shows.
Meanwhile, about 5.6% of weekly tests are coming back positive for RSV and 2.5% are coming back positive for flu, according to CDC data.
Currently 14 states are experiencing moderate levels of overall respiratory illness: Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin. The remaining states are seeing low levels.
Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and chief innovation officer for Boston Children’s Hospital and an ABC News contributor, said the current season is trending similarly to pre-pandemic seasons.
“Compared to the pandemic years, we’re witnessing a return to more traditional seasonal patterns of respiratory illnesses,” he said. “During the pandemic, measures like masking and social distancing significantly reduced the spread of viruses like flu and RSV. Now, with those measures relaxed, the circulation of these viruses resembles pre-pandemic seasons.”
He added, “These are typical seasonal increases. Every cold and flu season is different in terms of start, end and severity but, like clockwork, we see a rise in respiratory viruses during the fall and winter months.”
Brownstein said it is unsurprising that young children are currently the most impacted by these respiratory viruses.
CDC data shows that children aged 4 and under accounted for 6.7% of emergency department visits for COVID-19, flu and RSV compared to 1.1% among those aged 65 and older during the week of Nov. 23. Children aged 4 and under also had the highest rate of hospitalizations over the same period.
“Managing capacity is going to be on the minds of every pediatric hospital for the next few months,” Brownstein said.
The CDC also noted that cases of so-called “walking pneumonia” among young children remain high. The illness is due to a respiratory tract infection caused by the bacteria Mycoplasma pneumoniae.
Brownstein said the best way for Americans to stay protected is to stay up-to-date with their vaccinations.
To prevent RSV, there are three vaccines approved for adults ages 60 and older as well as some adults between the ages 50 and 59 who are at higher risk. There is also a vaccine available for pregnant women between 32 weeks and 36 weeks of pregnancy.
For babies under eight months, there are two monoclonal antibody products available. Monoclonal antibodies are proteins manufactured in a lab that mimic the antibodies the body naturally creates when fighting an infection.
“Additionally, practicing good hygiene — like frequent hand washing, covering coughs and sneezes, and staying home when feeling unwell — can significantly reduce the spread of these viruses,” Brownstein said.
(WASHINGTON) — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is updating its recommendations for testing, treatment and protection for workers who may be exposed to animals infected with bird flu.
The update comes after the agency found evidence of dairy workers with positive antibodies, suggesting more bird flu infections that previously reported, according to a new report released Thursday afternoon.
Serologic testing, which looks at antibodies in the blood, found that eight out of 115 workers, or 7%, who were exposed to bird flu during outbreaks among cows at dairy farms in Michigan and Colorado had evidence of recent infection.
All eight workers said their jobs included either milking cows or cleaning a milking parlor. Four workers recalled experiencing symptoms, mainly conjunctivitis, also known as pink eye. The remaining four patients said they did not experience symptoms when the cows were ill.
As a result, the CDC said it is updating its guidance addressing who should be tested for bird flu to include workers who were exposed to bird flu and do not have symptoms.
“There may be individuals infected but who do not recall having symptoms,” Dr. Nirav Shah, the CDC’s principal deputy director, told reporters during a media call Thursday morning. “That means we need to cast a wider net in terms of who is offered a test.”
Secondly, the CDC is now recommending offering oseltamivir – a prescription medication to treat influenza that’s often marketed under the name Tamiflu – to asymptomatic workers who have experienced high-risk exposure to animals infected with bird flu and who did not wear adequate personal protective equipment (PPE).
Shah said a high-risk exposure event could include a splash in the face with raw cow milk, or a culling event without PPE being worn.
He added that the Tamiflu treatment recommendation both reduces asymptomatic cases from becoming symptomatic because they are being treated, and reduces the risk of infected individuals spreading the virus to close contacts.
Lastly, the Shah said the CDC was changing its PPE guidance for workers.
Although the risk of bird flu transmission from dairy cows to humans Is low, the CDC said there have been few reports addressing how PPE is used during work activities on dairy farms.
The new CDC report said the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) and the Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA) offered PPE to all Colorado farms before or during the bird flu outbreak in cows in 2024.
When asked if they had access to PPE before a bird flu outbreak, 88% of workers reported access to gloves, 76% reported access to eye protection such as safety glasses or goggles, 71% reported access to rubber boots or boot covers, and 69% reported access to head covers, according to the report.
“Reported use of many individual PPE items was higher among dairy workers who reported exposure to ill cows in the week before or week after the detection of [bird flu] on the farm compared with those who did not report exposure to ill cows,” according to the CDC report.
Shah said that CDC recommendations will now prioritize what PPE a farm worker should wear based on which farm tasks present the highest risk for bird flu.
“Simply put, the higher-risk activities will call for more PPE use,” Shah said. “The purpose of these actions is to keep workers safe, to limit the transmission of H5 [bird flu] to humans and reduce the possibility of the virus changing,” Shah said.
As of Thursday, there have been 46 human cases of bird flu reported in the U.S. this year, Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, the CDC’s director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said during the media call.
Of those cases, 26 were due to the outbreak in dairy cows and 20 were due to people coming into contact with infected poultry. There is one case in Missouri that had no known animal exposure.
All of the patients experienced mild conjunctivitis or mild respiratory symptoms and all have recovered, according to the CDC.
(DURHAM, N.C.) — As hospitals and health care facilities work to get back up and running after Hurricane Helene slammed into Florida’s Big Bend, affecting several states, the medical supply chain could be at risk.
Baxter International, a health care and medical technology company, announced this week that it must close its largest plant in North Carolina due to flooding and destruction caused by the hurricane.
The plant, located in North Cove, 60 miles northeast of Asheville, primarily manufactures IV fluids and peritoneal dialysis solutions, according to Baxter. It is the largest manufacturer of such solutions in the U.S., employing more than 2,500 people, the company said.
“Our hearts and thoughts are with all those affected by Hurricane Helene,” José Almeida, chair, president and CEO of Baxter, said in a statement. “The safety of our employees, their families, and the communities in which we operate remains our utmost concern, and we are committed to helping ensure a reliable supply of products to patients.”
“Remediation efforts are already underway, and we will spare no resource – human or financial – to resume production and help ensure patients and providers have the products they need,” the statement continued.
Baxter said it implemented a hurricane preparedness plan ahead of Helene, which included evacuation plans for staff and moving products to higher ground or to secure storage. However, heavy rainfall and storm surge “triggered a levee breach,” which led to flooding in the facility.
Among those impacted by the Baxter plant closing is Duke University Health System (DUHS), in Durham, North Carolina, according to William Trophi, DUHS interim president vice president of supply chain.
“[Baxter has] published their action items, and they have announced to us that they’re putting a hold on all distribution for 48 hours to understand what they have in their supply line, and then they’re going to be setting up pretty strict allocations based on prior usage to make sure that everyone is getting their fair share based on their volume and their needs,” he told ABC News.
Trophi said DUHS and Duke University have not seen major disruption to their supply chain following Helene’s landfall, but notes there may be delays in the future if the Baxter plant closure lasts for several weeks, if more plants close, and depending on how long the dockworkers’ strike on the East Coast and the Gulf Coast lasts.
“What we’re doing internally is we’re looking at conservation models, so similar with our IV solutions, we’re going to look at what can we be doing differently to treat our patients in a safe, effective manner to conserve IV solutions,” he said. “And we’ll start to look at other high, critical, sensitive items that could be impacted by this, and look at what can we be doing differently to conserve the way in which we treat our patients in a safe, effective manner.”
Paul Biddinger, chief preparedness and continuity officer for the Boston-based Mass General Brigham health care system, told ABC News that facilities typically begin stockpiling and taking inventory of supplies prior to a natural disaster. After the event has happened, health care centers will work to identify what products are affected by supply chain issues and which patients are using the products.
In the case of the Baxter plant, the products are primarily used by kidney patients, cardiac patients and urologic patients, Biddinger said, adding that hospitals and other health care facilities will typically try to conserve as much of the affected product as possible, and will also investigate any alternatives or substitutions for the product.
“If the shortage is so severe that we just can’t continue with normal usage, even with conservation, then we have to start a process of allocating across our clinical services, of course, prioritizing lifesaving care and emergency care, and then going down our list for more scheduled or more elective kinds of procedures,” Biddinger said.
Samantha Penta, an associate professor of emergency management and homeland security at the University at Albany in New York, said one really important factor to consider when understanding the implications of Hurricane Helene is just how large the affected area is.
“We’re not just talking about a couple of counties. We’re not even just talking about one state. This has affected multiple states very significantly,” she told ABC News. “One of the things that organizations, in general, including hospitals, long-term care facilities and like – really, anything in the health care sector – does, is you can rely on neighboring facilities.”
Penta said if health care facilities need to send patients to a neighboring facility because they’re running low on supplies or space, or if their facility is damaged, they typically can do so. The same holds true if one facility is running low on supplies; another facility might send them some of their reserves as part of a mutual aid agreement.
But in the case of Helene, “effectively, the people who need help, their neighbors are also being affected. So, any given hospital, the closest hospitals to them, are likely dealing with the same issues,” Penta said. “That further complicates it, because things have to come from even farther away, whether that’s working within a network or ordering from different vendors.”
Over the weekend, North Carolina became the latest state to have a public health emergency declared by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) in response to Hurricane Helene.
The HHS’s Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response deployed about 200 personnel to the state, including Health Care Situational Assessment teams to evaluate the storm’s impact on health care facilities such as hospitals, nursing homes and dialysis centers, and Disaster Medical Assistance teams to help state and local health workers provide care.