Hey, there! Log in / Register

public health

By adamg - 8/8/24 - 4:02 pm
Map and chart showing high rates in Roxbury, Mattapan, Allston/Brighton, Back Bay, and Roslindale/West Roxbury

Chart from BPHC July 28 report.

The amount of Covid-19 viral particles in Boston sewers - an indicator of the virus's presence in the community - soared in July, when levels were 163% higher than in May, - still way lower than numbers around New Year's and especially two years ago - the Boston Public Health Commission said today. Read more.

By adamg - 7/26/24 - 2:59 pm

The Boston Public Health Commission today announced the year's first batch of West Nile Virus-infected biters in Boston, in several neighborhoods. Read more.

By adamg - 6/29/24 - 2:04 pm

The state Department of Public Health reports an "international traveler" who passed through Logan Airport on his or her way from Dartmouth College to Amsterdam on June 22 "was present in public locations that could have resulted in exposure to other people." Read more.

By adamg - 6/27/24 - 5:06 pm

The Brookline Department of Public Health today urged parents to ensure their kids have been vaccinated against pertussis - and adults to get a shot if it's been more than ten years since their last one - after 15 cases of the illness, also known as whooping cough, were diagnosed this month, mainly in students at Brookline High School but also in one student at the Runkle School. Read more.

By adamg - 4/4/24 - 1:05 pm

The Revere Journal reports that the city public-health director said last week a resident had been diagnosed with brucellosis, a bacterial infection more commonly seen in farm animals, but which people can get by drinking unpasteurized milk. She urged residents to be aware that's a risk of drinking the stuff.

By adamg - 3/13/24 - 11:30 am

WFXT reports a "small number" of cases of the highly infectious virus were discovered last month at the temporary shelter at the Melnea Cass recreation center, but that there have been no new cases since public-health workers began vaccinating people there on March 1.

By adamg - 1/11/24 - 10:48 pm

A federal judge today dismissed a Milton Hospital office manager's suit over getting fired for refusing Covid-19 shots because the woman initially failed to provide any details about her religious beliefs and why those barred her from getting vaccinated, but that even after she did, she failed to prove her right to practice her religion outweighed the hospital's right to do everything it could to protect its patients and other staffers from a deadly pandemic. Read more.

By adamg - 12/27/23 - 2:04 pm
Chart of Covid-19 particles in sewage from southern half of MWRA system

Covid-19 particles in sewage from southern half of MWRA system, showing a spike, if nowhere as large as at the end of 2021. Source.

The Boston Business Journal reports that with both Covid-19 and flu numbers spiking in the Boston area, Mass General Brigham will be requiring health-care workers to wear masks if they interact with patients starting Jan. 2. Read more.

By adamg - 10/30/23 - 11:24 am

The Boston Public Health Commission reports that starting Wednesday, the city will offer free Covid19 vaccinations noon to 6 p.m., Thursday through Saturday at the Bolling Building, 2300 Washington St. in Nubian Square and in the 2nd-floor Haymarket room at City Hall, 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Mondays and 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesdays.

Although free, the city requests people register for the shots.

By adamg - 8/18/23 - 1:28 pm

Boston Animal Care and Control reports five rabid raccoons have been recovered of late in Boston - most recently on Mission Hill: Read more.

By adamg - 8/1/23 - 10:45 pm

A federal magistrate judge today dismissed most of a lawsuit by 20 nurses, technicians and other workers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and related institutions over their firings for refusing to get Covid-19 shots in 2021. Read more.

By adamg - 7/8/23 - 9:14 am

The Boston Public Health Commission reports the number of fatal opioid overdoses in Boston increased 7% in 2022, and that the 352 deaths is a 36% increase over the number in 2019 - more than double the increase seen statewide. Read more.

By adamg - 7/1/23 - 9:09 am

Los Amigos, 366 Washington St. in Brighton Center is shut again, this time over a variety of problems a health inspector found on June 23 - just two weeks after it was cleared to re-open following its salmonella outbreak in May. Read more.

By adamg - 5/22/23 - 3:58 pm

A woman who says she ate at the Brighton Center Los Amigos last Wednesday today sued the restaurant for the salmonella infection that hit her full force on Friday - one day after a city health inspector ordered the 366 Washington St. restaurant shut due to a salmonella outbreak linked to it. Read more.

By adamg - 5/21/23 - 10:12 am

The Boston Public Health Commission reports that some raw sewage got into the inner harbor early this morning through combined sewer outflow pipes in East Boston and the South End: Read more.

By adamg - 5/20/23 - 12:01 am

NBC Boston reports city and state health officials are investigating a salmonella outbreak linked to Los Amigos, 366 Washington St. in Brighton Center. Read more.

By adamg - 5/1/23 - 2:02 pm

The Boston Public Health Commission announced today that it's shutting its vaccination sites at the Hyde Park community center and the Fiorentino center in Allston and the Lena Park CDC in Dorchester on May 13, because so few people are now showing up for shots. Read more.

By adamg - 4/6/23 - 1:22 pm

City officials are organizing a pilot for stocking libraries, community centers, schools, shelters and other municipal buildings with menstrual products for women who might otherwise have trouble getting them, City Councilor Gabriela Coletta says. Read more.

By adamg - 4/3/23 - 10:29 pm
Flaherty holds 'crack and meth pack'

Flaherty with a "meth and crack pack" he pulled out of his jacket pocket.

City officials from Chelsea traveled across the Mystic today to tell Boston city councilors how a ban on 50-mil liquor bottles has meant fewer drunken incidents for police and EMTs to respond to and cleaner and even safer streets. Read more.

Subscribe to public health