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New medication to treat child's diarrhea

Note: this article is provided by Ohio Northern University's HealthWise Pharmacy.

A medication to treat diarrhea associated with Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile) is now approved for children.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Dificid (fidaxomicin) to treat children 6 months old and older who have diarrhea associated with C. difficile.

This medication was already approved in tablet form for adults. Now, it can be used in children.

Fidaxomicin is a type of antibiotic. It's available in tablet and suspension formulations. Both of these formulations are approved to be used in children.

Coronavirus vaccine underway

Note: this article is provided by Ohio Northern University's HealthWise Pharmacy.
As the coronavirus outbreak continues, at least one company has said it is working on a vaccine.

Johnson & Johnson announced that Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies (a J&J subsidiary) has started to develop a vaccine against 2019-nCoV, the virus behind the outbreak that started in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, last month.

The company said it plans to use the same technologies as other vaccines for Ebola, Zika and RSV.

Electrophysiology lab opens at Mercy Health - St. Rita’s Medical Center

Mercy Health – St. Rita’s Medical Center has added a new tool to expand the treatment of heart disease with the opening of a new Electrophysiology Lab.

Mercy Health – St. Rita’s Medical Center was the first area hospital to perform minimally invasive transaortic valve replacement (TAVR) procedures in 2018.

With the addition of the new lab – dedicated primarily to electrophysiology (EP) procedures – St. Rita’s team providers have the ability to perform EP procedures five days a week.

Virus outbreak in China: What you need to know

Note: this article is provided by Ohio Northern University's HealthWise Pharmacy.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is closely monitoring an outbreak in China.

A new coronavirus — called the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) — is said to be the cause of this outbreak in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China.

By the end of January, this outbreak had resulted in more than 2,000 reported infections and more than 50 deaths in China, as well as infections in several other countries, according to the CDC. Several countries were screening people arriving from Wuhan.

As of Feb. 6, there were 12 confirmed cases in the US.

How your smartphone can affect your sleep

Note: this article is provided by Ohio Northern University Healthwise Pharmacy.
Americans may be getting less sleep than they have in previous years, and it might be because of smartphones.

Lack of sleep isn't just linked to chronic conditions like type 2 diabetes and heart disease. It's also tied to poor academic performance among children, as well as motor vehicle crashes.

Recommended Sleep Times

The recommended amount of sleep to get each night varies with age. The National Sleep Foundation recommends the following number of hours of sleep each night:

Three new leadership roles announced at Mercy Health-St. Rita's

Mercy Health-St. Rita’s Medical Center announced three new leadership roles effective Jan. 6. They follow:

Matt Owens, MD, is the Chief Clinical Officer. He served as Chief Medical Officer of Mercy Health Physicians – Lima and the clinically integrated network in Lima since 2017. He initially joined the medical staff of Mercy Health- St. Rita’s in 2009 upon completion of his medical training. He is board certified in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.  

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