Agency: Beware of mosquitoes, ticks
The Arkansas Department of Health is warning residents to take steps to avoid tick and mosquito bites -- both of which can transmit disease -- this summer.
Public health experts have said a warm winter and other factors made for increased tick populations this year. Arkansas also has one of the highest rates of some tick-borne diseases, Health Department officials said in a news release.
Tick-borne diseases present in Arkansas include Rocky Mountain spotted fever, ehrlichiosis and tularemia. Lyme disease and other illnesses are also transmitted by tick bites, and mosquitoes in Arkansas can carry the West Nile Virus.
Health officials' tips for warding off the bugs include:
• Use insect repellent.
• Wear long sleeves and pants, and tuck pants into socks while in wooded areas.
• Walk in the middle of hiking trails or paths, rather than through leaves or brush.
• Eliminate standing water in yards and around homes.
• Inspect skin and hair carefully for ticks after being outside, including checking children and pets.
• Watch for symptoms such as fever, chills, rash, fatigue, and aches and pains after tick bites.
People who develop symptoms within a few days or weeks of a tick or mosquito bite should seek medical attention, health officials say.
More information about insect-borne disease is online at healthy.arkansas.gov.
UAMS does HIV kidney transplant
The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences has performed the state's first kidney transplant between a donor and recipient who both have HIV, the health system's officials said last week.
The May 3 transplant surgery was part of a national clinical trial testing transplants from a deceased donor with HIV to someone living with HIV, according to a news release. UAMS is one of 27 trial sites.
The 46-year-old recipient is doing well, according to a news release.
Of about 120,000 people on the waiting list for kidney transplants, about 10,000 have HIV, UAMS College of Medicine transplant surgeon Dr. Emmanouil Giorgakis said in a statement.
Using organs from HIV-positive donors could make as many as 1,000 additional surgeries possible each year, he said.
Arkansas has one of the nation's highest rates of end-stage kidney disease, for which transplants are thought to be the best treatment, health experts say.
Federal data show about 17 people die every day while waiting for an organ transplant.