health

The humidity of where you live can play a big role in how long airborne viruses can survive. CU Boulder researchers found coronavirus particles released in a low-humidity environment remained infectious for twice as long than those in a more humid chamber.

Two bills related to limiting access to abortion were introduced to their second house of chambers committees and passed on Thursday, Feb. 23, just one day short of the deadline to come out of its second house committee. Although both passed with recommended amendments.

Fentanyl-related deaths in Wyoming have been on the rise since 2015. There were 106 overdose deaths in 2021 alone. Wyoming Public Radio’s Sage Davis spoke with Melissa Hunter, the drug information director at the University of Wyoming (UW) to understand just how dangerous fentanyl can be.

Doctors have always been hard to find and keep in a rural state like Wyoming. So the state created incentives like WWAMI (which stands for the states served by the UW School of Medicine: Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho) to try to get Wyomingites to come back and practice in their home state after medical school. The program has been successful, but recent bills going through the legislature are causing some of those in the program to decide not to come back and help fill the physician gap.

From 2022 to 2023, Colorado is seeing the second-highest increases in monthly private health insurance costs – nearly 20% – compared to the national average of less than 4%, according to an analysis by the finance website ValuePenguin. Wyoming and New Mexico also ranked in the top 5 with increases around 15%.

A bill that would develop a ”plan of safe care” for newborns that are born into a situation where there is addiction or drug misuse has passed its first reading in the Wyoming State Senate. The Senate Labor, Health, and Social Services Committee voted unanimously in its favor before it reached the floor.

Cases of pediatric RSV are spiking around the state. RSV is a virus that is usually seen around this time of the year, but this year has been worse than usual. Hospitals in Colorado have set up a triage center where all hospitals statewide have to report available pediatric beds.Meanwhile, Wyoming is experiencing a surge but not overcapacity said Cheyenne Regional Medical Officer Dr. Jeff Storey.

Vaping and e-cigarettes have increased in popularity in recent years, largely due to the misconception that they are healthier than cigarettes. University of Wyoming researcher Guanglong He is looking into how vaping can cause cardiac failure. Wyoming Public Radio’s Taylar Stagner talked with He about his ongoing research.

Extreme heat is one of the leading causes of weather-related illness and death in the U.S. A new federal project will help pinpoint its impact in four cities, including two in the Mountain West.

A mobile healthcare unit hopes to open in Casper by the end of the year. The unit will be operated by Wellspring Health Access -- the same organization that was planning to open a healthcare facility that would provide abortion services. But someone set the clinic on fire back in May before it could open.